The NAHB urge Congress to address housing costs, including a suspension of duties on Canadian softwood. North American lumber prices are down from their most recent peak while UK focus is on price inflation and labour supply. All the while, mass timber continues to grow in popularity; in the US, new hardwood and hybrid CLT panels show promise; increased use pushes insurers to see mass timber in a new light; more funding from the USDA for wood innovation; and the numbers are in – 139 mass timber buildings worldwide today.
In Climate and forests a new report on landslides and flooding in BC; US Forest Service Chief criticized for pausing prescribed burns; and Canada hosts climate leaders in Sweden to advance Paris Agreement goals.
Finally, as New Mexico crews make progress on the largest wildfire, additional blazes flare across the state.
Sandy McKellar, Tree Frog Editor
HIGH PRAIRIE, Alberta — Alberta Occupational Health and Safety has approved a phased approach to accessing Tolko’s High Prairie site following the fire on May 20, 2022. On May 26, tradespeople were allowed on site to start restoring power to areas that are unrestricted, and on May 30, operations teams will be able to start clean-up in unrestricted areas. Damage and repair options are being evaluated, and it is anticipated that it will take several weeks to determine the detailed repair plans and the timing for a restart. During the downtime, the mill will be shipping out its existing products and Tolko will re-direct incoming logs from High Prairie to its To division near Slave Lake, Alberta.
How things change, and fast. Back in March, wood prices were high, hitting $1,464. …Now? The spot market closed at under $700 on May 27, according to data from Nasdaq and was at $679 at one point on Tuesday. What’s going on is likely a combination of factors. One is the economics of markets. Josh Goodman, vice president of inventory and purchasing at Sherwood Lumber… “We believe that they will trade above long-term averages for the balance of the year. However, in the short term, lumber is down more than 50% from the most recent peak. The market is trying to determine where the new price equilibrium compared to slowing demand and increased supply.” There are too many unknowns—stability of the world economy, housing starts backlogs because of slow completions, and strong building permits. 
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on May 27 announced more than $32 million to fund 2022 wood innovations and community grants. Projects to support bioenergy, biofuel and biobased products production are among those to receive funding. According to the USDA, the 2022 funding is bolstered by $12 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Funding awarded through the programs also leverages $93 million in partner funds, bringing the total to more than $125 million for the 99 funded projects. “Wood innovation and community wood grants projects like these show us how we can tackle problems like the wildfire crisis and climate change while creating new markets, supporting jobs, building affordable housing and improving conditions on our forests at the same time,” Vilsack said.
Demand for sustainable building is increasing as efforts to cut carbon emissions accelerate and alternative materials are being used more frequently in construction in response to the supply chain crisis. However, some insurers remain wary of the risks, especially if products and techniques are untested in the field, experts say. A growing number of buildings are pursuing sustainable certifications, such as LEED and WELL and other resiliency standards… Initially insurers priced coverage for mass timber projects like light wood frame because there was no loss history for the product in the U.S. Now it is priced somewhere between light wood frame and steel and concrete construction, said Michelle Luster, corporate risk manager at Swinerton Inc. “My hope is that we can get insurers comfortable enough at some point in the near future to price it much the same way as they would type 1 concrete and steel,” she said
An audit of tall mass timber buildings turned up 139 such structures around the world either complete, under construction, or proposed. The audit of mass timber structures of eight stories or higher by the 
The B.C. government should do a better job of forecasting potential flooding and recognize that activities such as logging, road-building in forests, and the growing threat of wildfires contribute to flood risks, concludes a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The report — based on interviews with nearly a dozen experts, including a former head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre — calls on the province to enact reforms such as incorporating information on wildfires, logging and roadbuilding into flood forecast models to increase their effectiveness. …“The provincial government needs to listen to what these experts are saying. There are things clearly in the province’s control that could reduce the prospect for devastating floods and provide vulnerable communities with ample warning of troubles that lie ahead,” said the report’s author, Ben Parfitt, a resource policy analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
A recent commentary “30×30 not the answer to stop destructive wildfires” by Jerry G. Schickedanz, has numerous inaccurate assumptions about wildfire. His comments repeat many common misunderstandings of fire ecology and how natural systems function. He advocates more logging to solve large wildfires. It may seem intuitive that the removal of trees will reduce large blazes, but what is intuitive isn’t always accurate. …Mr. Schickedanz asserts that land protection by the Wilderness Act and other policies has resulted in a “non-use, no-management plan has produced a tinder box for intense wildfires.” If Mr. Schickedanz is correct, we should find the largest fires occurring in areas with the greatest biomass or fuel. …But these coastal forests seldom burn. Why? Because the climate is cool and moist. Climate/weather, not fuels, drives most large western fires.
The forest ecosystems of Europe, which include both natural and planted forests, provide habitats for numerous species and are havens for much of Europe’s biodiversity. In a comprehensive new European Forest Institute study, a multidisciplinary team of 13 authors from 10 countries have analysed how to effectively maintain and enhance forest biodiversity in Europe. …In addition, the study explores thoroughly how forest biodiversity is more than just a mixture of species. It concerns gene pools, structural and functional diversity as well as scale aspects that range from a single tree to entire regions. …Policymakers should note that a considerable time lag between biodiversity responses to new policies has to be taken into account, given the slow pace of forest development and related management interventions. Long-term commitment and societal support for biodiversity policy is therefore a must.
WorkSafeBC is holding a virtual public hearing on proposed amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulation. The virtual public hearing will be streamed live on June 21, 2022, in two sessions. The first will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.and the second from 3 to 5 p.m. The links to view the virtual public hearing and information to dial in will be posted here. The virtual hearing will cover proposed changes to the following parts of the OHS Regulation: 
Firefighting personnel worked to fight the nation’s largest active wildfire, making progress on Monday. The merged Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires in New Mexico are now 50% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The flames have spread over 315,627 acres and there are more than 3,000 people working to battle the blaze. The Forest Service said Tuesday that community meetings for the incident would be cut back, in collaboration with the Santa Fe National Forest. “This change is a direct result of the positive progress firefighters have made in containing this fire and limiting fire growth. …The Forest Service highlighted that San Miguel County had lifted evacuation orders for several areas and downgraded pre-evacuation warnings in others.