A UN report advocates big increases in sustainable forestry and wood production. In related news: mass timber through a life cycle lens; a timber robot to show off its moves; and BC and Finland collaborate on wood innovation. In other Business news: the supply chain crisis persists; lumber prices drop as DIY cools off; Kruger completes acquisition of Kamloops mill; Kalesnikoff wins National Family Enterprise award; and Paper Excellence releases sustainability report.
In Forestry/Climate news: Calgary prof seeks to model wildfire disasters; looming tree planter shortage worries companies; a First Nation group pans glyphosate spraying in New Brunswick and the ideology of wilderness in Australia.
Finally, forest observation deck or massive moose head. Check it out!
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
Costs for shipping goods in containers have been dropping since March, though experts say it’s too early for retailers to celebrate as congestion in the global supply chain lingers and consumer spending shifts. …Since March, prices have tumbled by 19 per cent, according to two shipping-container indexes. Global events including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and lockdowns in China have also reduced the number of shipping containers in use, freeing up supply. As a result, the containers are down to their lowest prices since June of 2021. …Port bottlenecks and land transport delays, however, continue to slow the price decline. Yet prices remain high compared with prepandemic levels. …After two years of expensive shipping costs, cargo companies have prospered – in some cases doubling their revenue year over year – while retailers have struggled to find adequate shipping capacity as their margins thinned. That trend is finally starting to reverse, some retailers say. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription may be required]
Lumber prices have tumbled over the past 10 weeks as consumers retreat from do-it-yourself projects and builders slow the pace of housing starts. Despite the 46-per-cent drop in prices since mid-March, relief won’t likely trickle down to consumers for at least four weeks, and recent prices are still twice as high as two years ago. Cash prices – what sawmills charge wholesalers – are at US$750 for 1,000 board feet of two-by-fours made from Western spruce, pine and fir (SPF), according to Random Lengths, an Oregon-based company that monitors wood markets. The survey by Random Lengths shows prices fell US$150 last week to their lowest level in six months. …It will likely take four to six weeks before lower wholesale prices start being reflected at retail stores. Many outlets first need to sell inventory bought at higher prices, and those prices vary regionally. [Access to this story requires a subscription to the Globe and Mail]
The days of pricey lumber might finally be over. Lumber futures are toppling to levels not seen since November amid fears of a softening housing market and economic recession. Futures fell as low as US$604.50 per 1,000 board feet in Chicago on Wednesday, extending a slump to about 46 per cent this year. The commodity’s collapse is a stark reversal from all-time highs set in 2021 during a pandemic-fueled homebuilding boom. “Lumber markets are probing for a floor,” said Kevin Mason, managing director of ERA Forest Products Research, noting concerns about collapsing home sales and rising interest rates are pushing prices lower. …Lumber prices may fall in the range of US$400 per 1,000 board feet in the next two months before producers curb production to remove excess supply, Mason said.
The USDA Forest Service announced more than $32 million in funding for wood innovation and community wood grants — including three projects in Michigan. The grants aim to expand the use of wood products, strengthen emerging wood markets, and support active management to improve forest health and resilience. Michigan’s trio of funded projects through the wood innovation grants program total more than $750,000, and include:
The Kitasoo Xai’xais and Nuxalk First Nations, along with BC Parks, have signed an agreement that could lead to shared compliance and enforcement responsibilities within provincial protected areas in both Nations’ territories. Once established, the Guardian Shared Compliance and Enforcement Pilot Project will designate select Indigenous guardians with the same legal authorities as BC Parks rangers, making it the first project of its kind in B.C. “Our Nation has stewarded our traditional territory for millennia. Our traditional laws, knowledge systems and practices, combined with the legal authorities envisioned under this pilot project, create a unique opportunity to ensure the land and all of its natural and cultural values are protected for the long term,” said Chief Doug Neasloss of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation.
Conservation groups are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its assessment of the Flathead National Forest’s road-building policy in grizzly bear and bull trout habitat. Last year, the U.S. District Court in Missoula ordered FWS to reevaluate its 2018 biological opinion which stated that the way in which the Flathead National Forest closed roads didn’t threaten grizzly bears and bull trout. Both animals are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and roads are known to restrict movement of grizzlies and impact stream quality for bull trout. During last year’s case, Friends of the Wild Swan and the Swan View Coalition argued that closing roads by blocking entrances with logs or boulders allowed continued use by off-road vehicles, and the court agreed.
A new law encouraging the development of wood-fired combined heat and power plants in Maine is drawing praise for its potential to benefit the economy and the environment. But some climate activists are skeptical, saying questions remain about whether the program will cut carbon emissions as intended. The legislation, signed by Gov. Janet Mills in April, establishes a program to commission projects that will burn wood to create electricity and also capture the heat produced for use on-site — heat that would go to waste in a conventional power plant. Proposals for these facilities are expected to come from forestry or forest products businesses that could use their own wood byproducts to fuel the plants, saving them money on heat and electricity costs and providing an extra revenue stream when excess power is sold back into the grid.
Rain-soaked Northwestern Ontario got off light for forest fires in April and May, in marked contrast to the same period last year, the province says. According to the Aviation Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) department, only 5.3 hectares have been burned across the region since forest fire season officially began on April 1. Most of the fires so far this season have occurred in eastern parts of the province. The total amount burned — about 24 square kilometres — is much less compared to the spring of 2021. In 2021, about 1,770 square kilometres had been burned across Ontario by the end of May, and there had been 136 fires compared to 77 so far this season. “It really shows the kind of variability we can experience year to year,” Dryden-based AFFES spokesman Chris Marchand said Tuesday.