Soaring inflation and expected interest rate hikes spur housing downgrades in Canada and the USA. In related news: how labour and supply chain challenges impact building material choice. In other Business news: Mercer is expanding its solid wood operations in Germany; Resolute ratifies labour agreement at eight Quebec mills; PotlatchDeltic reports positive Q2, 2022; Ampine LLC mill destroyed by fire in California; and the Forest History Society is searching for its next CEO.
In Forestry/Climate news: Biden’s wildfire restoration plan includes tripled spending on tree planting; Saskatchewan takes on Dutch elm disease; the UK studies the link between timber use and deforestation; and PEFC suspends PEFC Russia. Meanwhile, wildfire updates from: Nordegg, Alberta; Lytton, BC; Yosemite, California; Boise, Idaho; and the EU.
Finally, US portable wildfire shelters, and Scottish Tree Hugging Championships.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
MONTREAL
MARTELL, California —Crews have contained a fire at a fiber plant in Amador County that largely wrecked the building. The fire broke out around noon at Ampine in Martell, northwest of Jackson. The Amador County Sheriff’s Office said… “It appears Ampine is a total loss.” All employees have been accounted for and there are no nearby evacuations. There were about 40 people working at the time when the fire started, the Amador Fire Protection District said. The cause of the fire is not known. A spokesperson with the fire department said the mill, which employed 150 people, was about to celebrate its 50th year in business at the beginning of August. …It’s a press board manufacturing. They make everything from ping pong tables to high-quality cabinets.
Mercer International announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the parent company of HIT for consideration of €270 million. HIT owns, among other things, 100% of a timber processing and value-add pallet production facility in Torgau, Germany (the HIT Facility) and a wood processing facility in Dahlen that produces garden products. The Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. The Transaction is expected to close in the third or early fourth quarter of 2022. The HIT Facility is a modern, high performance, fully integrated wood processing facility and its production capabilities include wood pallets, lumber, biofuels (briquettes and pellets), garden products and bio-electricity. …Mr. Juan Carlos Bueno, CEO, stated: “This acquisition will allow us to capitalize on synergies with our German operations, including complementing our Friesau sawmill. 
NEW YORK — With the Federal Reserve set to jack up interest rates again this week, Wall Street is on alert for signs of recession, and recent housing data suggests the sector may be a harbinger of a cooling economy. Homebuilder stocks, sales and mortgage data show that previously booming housing market is falling back to earth amid a broader economic cooldown. Surging mortgage rates, exacerbated by Fed hikes this year, have begun to reverse a demand/supply imbalance. The ensuing drop in inventories, along with a scarcity of lots, materials and construction labor, has launched home prices into orbit. Combine that with the highest home loan rates in a generation, and affordability has evaporated along with demand.
Russian food industry players have requested the country’s authorities to approve new standards for food packaging which would reduce the required sizes of labels, and increase the sizes of packaging for particular products. 
A company that transforms trees damaged by mountain pine beetles and other elements into value-added engineered wood products is expanding, thanks to a boost from the Province. The Province has provided Deadwood Innovations, a joint venture with the Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation, $200,000 over the past two years to support the creation of jobs in rural communities, and to accelerate Indigenous participation in the forest sector. …Deadwood Innovations has used the funding to assess, engineer, procure and build a pilot-scale manufacturing plant at the site of the former Tl’Oh Forest Products mill in Fort St. James. …The plant design is scheduled to start in September 2022. Deadwood Innovation’s facility will process low-quality, damaged and underutilized fibre into value-added engineered wood products. Its technology is creating new market opportunities by producing engineered wood products that can be customized to meet specifications for industrial wood products and solid biomass fuels.
Don’t miss WoodTALKS™ at the Global Buyers Mission – a Manufacturer & Specifier Collaboration Series featuring an expansion site tour of BC Passive House. Join us by charter bus for a scenic drive from Whistler to Pemberton to tour BC Passive House – a full-service prefabrication company specializing in the design and construction of high-performance panelized building systems, specialized structural panels (including CLT, DLT & NLT), heavy timber packages and a range of hybrid systems. Their recent facility expansion has added an additional 22,000 sq/ft reaching a total facility size of 38,000 sq/ft. This site tour will provide specifiers an opportunity to see highly automated tools used to facilitate fast and efficient production of buildings. This includes BCPH’s Hundegger K2i CNC machine which is fully linked to the companies in-house drafting software. This machine promotes cutting accuracy and offers new features that speed up both light frame panelization and heavy timber carpentry.
LONDON, ON
A large wildfire burning near Lytton, B.C., is smaller than was previously believed, but still remains a threat amid a new heat wave. The BC Wildfire Service says new mapping has found the Nohomin Creek fire, burning about 1.7 kilometres northwest of Lytton, is just under 2,200 hectares in size. The fire, which remains classified as ‘out of control,’ had previously been estimated as more than 2,223 hectares in size. “A warming and drying trend will continue to bring hot and dry conditions this week which could cause an increase in fire behavior,” the wildfire service said in a Monday morning update. Environment Canada has issued heat warnings for much of the province, including the Fraser Canyon area, due to a ridge of high pressure expected to stay in place for about a week.
Vast swathes of fire-ravaged pine forest must be replanted and managed differently to avoid future blazes fuelled by global heating, French experts have said, as wildfires – several caused by arson – continued to burn across France and Spain. Officials in the south-west Gironde département said on Monday that two huge fires … were both under control, although still burning. …As thoughts turned to replanting, French forestry experts say that not only the choice of species but also much tougher forest management rules would be critical in combating future wildfires amid the growing climate crisis. …France’s civil protection service said a top priority must be easy access for firefighters. …Other measures include public information campaigns, starting as early as primary school, on the significantly increased risks of forest fires, with statistics showing that about 90% are originated – either accidentally or deliberately – by humans.