Wildfires dominate today’s headlines — from the fast-growing blaze near Port Alberni to Europe’s heatwave-fuelled infernos — while rain relief is forecast for BC and Atlantic Canada. On the trade front, Trump’s lumber tariffs spur fresh debate, with the US Coalition claiming homebuilders are ‘peddling unfounded scare tactics’, and BC mills warning of closures.
For more coverage on these stories, and the Global Buyers Mission’s tariff panel, please go directly to our website. As noted, the Tree Frog News is taking a short break this week and our coverage may be “lighter” — without the detailed Takeaway.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
The US and Canada are fighting about lumber once again. The neighbors have feuded over softwood lumber since the 1980s. The US has periodically put in place duties to counteract what it claims are unfair subsidies and sales of lumber priced below market value. …Canada has long resisted changing its trade practices on lumber. But as the Trump administration has become more bellicose about its trade relationship with Canada, the country’s stance may be softening. On July 16, BC Premier Eby said that Canadian officials are now open to putting a quota on the amount of lumber exported to the US. The increased fees will benefit foresters in the US South… but the US would struggle to offset the lumber it gets from Canada in the short-term, potentially driving up housing prices. Here’s what to know about the commodity that has long dominated US-Canada trade tensions. [to access the full story a Bloomberg subscription is required]
Lumber futures fell toward $610 per thousand board feet, retreating from the May-2022 high of $695.5 seen August 1st as weakening demand, recovering supply and tariff-driven trade distortions jointly sapped pricing power. Demand has cooled sharply with US single-family starts slipping to an 11-month low and building permits plunging, a direct consequence of elevated mortgage rates that curbs the core market for lumber. On the supply side, sawmills remain under-utilized but production has stabilized and Canadian mills are ramping output off a curtailment-heavy base, Statistics Canada shows production and shipments recovering into mid-2025, keeping physical availability ample. Tariffs meant to restrict Canadian flows are, in this oversupplied environment, simply redirecting trade and encouraging inventory build rather than creating scarcity, so inventories remain high and limit upside even as duties rise.
Box demand touches nearly every industry, from flat-screen TVs to packaged food, all of which see sales fluctuate based on how flush shoppers feel. …Sales of corrugated cardboard used to make boxes are slumping, signaling that retail demand across industries may be due for a correction. US box shipments fell to the lowest second-quarter reading since 2015, with companies like International Paper Co. and Smurfit Westrock Plc reporting drops in box shipments. The drop in packaging demand appears to be tied to President Donald Trump’s mixed messaging on tariffs, with companies not stocking up on packaging while they wait to find out how the levies will affect costs and demand. [to access the full story a Bloomberg subscription is required]
With recent U.S. decisions increasing countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber to over 35%, there’s an unprecedented level of uncertainty about how the market will be impacted. These escalating tariffs threaten to disrupt supply chains, inflate costs, and reshape the forestry industry. At BC Wood, we’re dedicated to helping you navigate these challenges. Which is why we will be hosting a Tariffs Panel at the Global Buyers Mission (September 4, 2025). Introduced by Minister Ravi Parmar, the panel will bring together top leaders to analyze the challenges, opportunities, and strategies amid escalating trade tensions. Moderated by Mo Amir, GM of SPF Precut Lumber, the panel will include: Nick Arkle, CEO, Gorman Brothers Lumber; Liz Kovach, President, Supply-Build Canada; and Kurt Niquidet, President, BC Lumber Trade Council.
The human side of forestry is often overlooked but always present. Seeing the forest for the trees in this case means connecting the dots between the many ways that people interact with, benefit from and shape natural spaces, and the consequences these activities are having on everything from environmental sustainability to community wellbeing. In this issue, we delve into the social sciences of forestry, highlighting how the academic work, career paths and actions taken by our UBC Forestry community are shaping the future for the sake of humans and the planet.
…as climate change fuels more frequent and intense wildfires, governments can reduce the damage and protect lives with proactive, targeted actions. That means strengthening policies that guide where and how we build, investing in land and fuel-management strategies, supporting Indigenous leadership and stewardship, expanding emergency-response capacity and accelerating emissions reduction. The solutions are within reach, but they require governments to lead with urgency, coordination and commitment. …Here are five key actions governments can take to reduce wildfire risk — noting that no single strategy can solve the problem by itself: Stop encouraging building in harm’s way; Make new development fire-resilient; Manage forests and reduce wildfire fuel; Strengthen firefighting capacity; and Cut carbon pollution to avoid runaway risk. Governments at all levels face a clear choice: continue with business as usual and see fire seasons grow worse or take bold action to reduce risk, protect people and ensure public resources are spent wisely.
CNC’s Applied Research team received a $170,775 Applied Research Tools and Instruments (ARTI) grant through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for the creation of a state-of-the-art remote sensing lab. …The grant allows for the acquisition of terrestrial LiDAR scanners, allowing researchers to capture, analyze and better understand individual tree characteristics, forest structure, and wildfire hazards, among other forest attributes. CNC research fellow Dr. Pablo Crespell will lead research activities related to remote sensing lab purchases and operation, including drones, LiDAR sensors and scanners, multispectral sensors, software applications, and computer hardware. Grant funds will also be used to support the costs of relevant training for CNC research staff, such as drone pilot training and new analysis approaches.
Ottawa is offering $45.7 million for projects in B.C. and across Canada that advance knowledge about wildfires. The projects will be focused on protecting Canadians from the growing threat of wildfires, strengthening wildfire risk assessments, and improving mitigation and adaptive forestry practices. …The Vancouver-based Métis Wildfire Community Research Initiative is among the funding recipients. “Our approach is different because we are building strong relationships with local people.” said Joe Desjarlais, Director of Research for the B.C. Metis Foundation. “We’re training them to do wildfire research, to recover their own knowledge for their own benefit, to give them a voice.” …Natural Resources Canada said annual national costs for fighting wildland fire total over $1 billion. It says fire-suppression costs could double by 2040.
The number of trees planted in British Columbia is set to decline for a third year in a row, falling a combined 135 million seedlings short of a B.C. government’s election promise to increase planting amid a string of devastating wildfire seasons. In B.C., the logging industry is legally required to reforest after harvesting. But as harvest levels have dropped, so too has tree planting. The province planted 281 million tree seedlings in 2024. But by the end of the 2025 season, that number is expected to drop to 238 million, according to the Ministry of Forests. By the end of 2026, projections from the Canadian Tree Nursery Association (CTNA) suggest the number could fall even further to 226 million — far short of the 300 million trees promised by the NDP government in the last election.
The Trump administration wants to scrap a rule that protects tens of millions of acres of national forest from road-building and large-scale logging—but its zeal to log will face a reality check from government downsizing, possible litigation, and even a soft timber market. The US Forest Service is grappling with budget cuts and staffing shortages. At the same time, environmental groups are already gearing up for legal battles, arguing the so-called Roadless Rule safeguards endangered species, clean water, and biodiversity. “The administration can sprint and rescind the Roadless Rule, but then what?” said Murray Feldman, at Holland & Hart LLP in Boise. “It seems like a moonshot to try to reverse decades of national forest management plans by revoking one specific set of rules. But we’ll see.” …The Forest Service hasn’t taken any official steps to rescind the Roadless Rule since Rollins’ announcement in June. 
PATRAS, Greece,/MADRID – Wildfires caused by arsonists or thunderstorms and fanned by a heatwave and strong winds wreaked destruction across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning homes and forcing thousands of residents and tourists to flee. Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares in the eurozone so far in 2025, double the average for the same period of the year since 2006… Authorities ordered residents of a town of about 7,700 people near Patras to evacuate on Tuesday and issued new alerts on Wednesday, advising residents of two nearby villages to leave. On the Greek islands of Chios, in the east, and Cephalonia, in the west, both popular with tourists, authorities told people to move to safety as fires spread. In Spain, a volunteer firefighter died from severe burns and several people were hospitalised as state weather agency AEMET warned that almost all of the country was at extreme or very high risk of fire.