The US Fed interest rate hike of .75 points is the biggest jump in 28 years. In related news: US housing starts decline as rising inflation and mortgage rates weaken overall builder confidence. In other Business news: US home builders urge Congress to take action on softwood; US lumber dealers meet with Quebec delegation; Canada pledges money for Lytton rebuild; and Alberta leaders call for rail service upgrades.
In other news: an Ontario coalition calls for a green building workforce; BC estuary a showcase for reclamation; the Tsawwassen First Nation’s Youth Centre features cedar; the University of Maine’s mass timber revolution; and University of Idaho’s new natural resource degrees. Meanwhile, SFI Awards go to Louisiana Pacific, Weyerhaeuser/NFWF, Quebec’s Implementation Committee, and SFI’s Paul Trianosky.
Finally, industry titan George Weyerhaeuser Sr. died June 11th at the age of 95.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
ALBERTA — There is plenty of new technology being deployed and developed in the fight against climate change. But one of our most effective climate change tools is 200-year old technology. Our railways offer great potential to take hundreds of thousands of vehicles off the road and make a massive dent in carbon emissions. But there is a rub. The service needs to be reliable. And right now, our rail service in Canada is abysmal. Several forestry mills are experiencing this poor service firsthand in rural and northern Alberta. …From a carbon standpoint, replacing rail with trucks is not the direction we want to go. The Railway Association of Canada estimates that rail is three to four times more carbon-efficient than trucking. A single locomotive can replace upwards of 300 trucks and haul a tonne of goods 210 kilometres on just one litre of fuel. …It’s time to take a practical step by fixing our underperforming rail service.
New US home construction dropped in May by more than forecast, highlighting the impacts of ongoing supply chain challenges and sinking sales as mortgage rates rise. Residential starts declined 14.4% last month to a 1.55 million annualized rate, the lowest in more than a year. …April construction was revised sharply higher to a 1.81 million rate, which was the strongest since 2006. Applications to build, a proxy for future construction, fell to an annualized 1.7 million units, the lowest since September. The monthly decline in starts was the largest since spring 2020 and suggests residential construction is coming under pressure. Still, with the pace of building permits exceeding starts, homebuilding in the near-term may hold up. …The government’s report showed single-family housing starts declined 9.2% to an annualized 1.05 million rate, the slowest since 2020. Construction of multifamily dwellings plunged 23.7% to a 498,000 rate, the weakest since November.
The Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) opened the doors to their new Youth Centre in late May, and in conjunction with Dürfeld Log & Timber hosted a tour of this iconic, culturally inspired building. Although it has been in use since 2021, due to Covid restrictions this was the first tour and visit provided for non-Tsawwassen guests. The tour began with a traditional drum song sang by Jesseca Adams, a welcoming prayer by Elder Ruth, and a historical overview of the Tsawwassen Nation by Karl Morgan. The TFN Youth Centre showcases the results of in-depth collaboration between Dr. Nancy Mackin Architecture, AIBC, AIA and Tsawwassen First Nation leaders, youth, artists, and elders. Their goal was to design a building that truly represents the culture and history of the Tsawwassen people, while meeting the needs of the community’s youth. During Covid the building was used not only as a youth centre but as a school for TFN children as well.
TORONTO — The building sector faces important challenges: labour shortages, the housing crisis, the need to implement innovative technologies while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That is why organizations representing the whole value chain of Ontario’s building sector are collaborating in the Workforce 2030 Coalition to implement low-carbon training solutions and advance best practices on new materials. On June 1, the Workforce 2030 Coalition met to discuss the construction industry’s future and recommendations for the new Ontario government. …Meeting this unprecedented challenge requires Ontario’s building sector to add apprentices, experienced tradespeople, or recently reskilled workers. Eliminating emissions from buildings will require workers from across specializations including building material manufacturing, design, construction and trades, as well as in the operations of high-performance buildings. …Ontario can be a leader and set an example by releasing a clear path and timeline for the Ontario Building Code to be net-zero emissions ready. 
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) program and timber-sale licence holders in the Stuart-Nechako Natural Resource District during the week of June 20, 2022. Auditors will examine whether timber harvesting, roads, bridges, silviculture, fire protection activities and associated planning, carried out between June 2021 and June 2022, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act. The audit area extends from Stuart Lake, near Vanderhoof, about 450 kilometres north to the headwaters of the Skeena River. The district is known for its lakes like Stuart, Pinchi, Talka and Tezzeron, and rivers, such as Tachie and Stuart. …Of the 12 BCTS programs in the province, two BCTS programs are randomly chosen each year for audit. Audit selections are not based on complaints or on the past performance of the BCTS program.
PORTLAND, Oregon — Oregon health officials say the impacts of climate change, including more devastating wildfires, heat waves, drought and poor air quality, are fueling “climate anxiety” among young people. Their findings have been published in a