Daily News for September 10, 2025

Today’s Takeaway

Firefighters contain yard fire at Georgia-Pacific Englehart, Ontario mill

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 10, 2025
Category: Today's Takeaway

A significant yard fire at Georgia Pacific’s Englehart, Ontario mill was contained without impacting operations. In other Business news: Oregon fined Stella-Jones $1M for environmental violations, Nova Scotia weighs bidding on Northern Pulp’s assets; West Fraser’s Minnesota OSB mill received a job creation grant; Drax is under pressure again in the UK; and Domtar adjusted communications on its Kingsport digester project. Meanwhile, Weaber Inc. filed for bankruptcy before its sawmill fire; TAPPI named Kim Nelson board chair; CMHC says Canada’s housing starts are flat; Russ Taylor calls lumber’s price drop “crazy”; and the US Fed signals that 3% inflation is the new 2%.

In Forestry news: Walbran Valley protesters persist as the TLA calls for resolution; BC officials change their mind on link between CN Rail to the Lytton fire; the Mi’kmaq blockades continue in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; the US Forest Service will allow masks for wildfire crews; Montana advocates push to rescind the Roadless Rule, and South Australia battles giant pine scale.

Finally, California crews are fighting to save a grove of sequoias from the Garnet Fire.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor

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Business & Politics

Firefighters contain large industrial fire at Englehart, Ontario Mill

By Dan Bertrand
CTV News
September 9, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

ONTARIO — A significant fire at the Georgia Pacific mill in Englehart, Ontario, required a multi-department response early Sunday morning, with crews working for more than ten hours to contain the blaze and protect surrounding assets. …The fire involved a large pile of waste Oriented Strand Board in the mill’s yard. …The department responded with 18 firefighters, two pumper trucks and a tanker. Due to the fire’s remote location within the yard and the long distance to the nearest fire hydrants, local fire officials called for assistance. …As the threat diminished, mutual aid units were suspended around 11:45 a.m. The Ministry of Natural Resources was also called in by mill managers and arrived early Sunday afternoon to assist with further exposure protection for the surrounding wooded area. …“We do not anticipate any impact on operations since the fire was contained outside,” said Rick Kimble, for Georgia Pacific.

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Nova Scotia government weighing whether to bid on Northern Pulp assets

By Michael Gorman
CBC News
September 10, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Tory Rushton

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says government officials are “actively monitoring” the process for the sell-off of Northern Pulp’s assets, but no decisions have been made about whether the province will get in on the bidding. Regardless, Rushton said he thinks the timberlands on the auction block have been “active forestry lands for the sector for many years and they should continue to be” used as such. …The primary assets are timberlands owned by the company, as well as a nursery. There is precedent for the province buying such land. In 2012, the NDP government bought land in western Nova Scotia from Bowater before the Queens County-based mill eventually shut down. …One of the reasons Rushton is taking a way-and-see approach to how any future leases look is because he expects there will continue to be demand for the wood.

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TAPPI welcomes new Board Chair Kim Nelson

TAPPI (Technical Association of the US Pulp & Paper Industry
September 8, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

This past January, TAPPI CEO Larry Montague announced his plan to retire at the end of 2025. …He will work closely with the Board of Directors Executive Committee on a succession plan to ensure a seamless transition to new leadership. …TAPPI is excited to welcome its new board chair, Kim Nelson. Nelson serves as CTO for GranBio USA. An entrepreneurial scientist and business manager, she holds nine patents and 120 patents-pending in the biorefinery and nanocellulose fields. The board’s new vice chair is Mike Farrell, VP of Paperboard Manufacturing Division at Graphic Packaging. This past March, the TAPPI Board of Directors elected two new directors: T. Scott Frasca, Director of Sales-CASE and Nonwovens at MiniFibers, Inc., located in Johnson City, TN; and Daniel J. Goymerac, VP, Industrial Business Development at Miron Construction Co., located in Neenah, WI.

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Oregon fines Stella-Jones more than $1 million for environmental violations

By Tracy Loew
The Statesman Journal
September 9, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

SHERIDAN, Oregon — The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has fined a Yamhill County wood treating company $1,055,825 for numerous violations of environmental regulations for water quality, hazardous waste and spill response and cleanup. DEQ issued the penalty to Stella-Jones, located in Sheridan, because wood preserving chemicals pose a risk to public health and the environment when not properly managed, the department said in a news release Sept. 8. Those chemicals include pentachlorophenol (penta or PCP), a human carcinogen. Most of the fine, or $877,225, is for costs and expenses the company avoided by not complying with environmental regulations. In 2023, DEQ issued an order requiring corrective action, which the company complied with. It has since issued three pre-enforcement notices outlining additional violations. …In addition to the DEQ penalty, Stella-Jones and the Oregon Department of Justice agreed to a settlement in late August 2025 in a parallel state criminal case based on water quality violations.

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West Fraser Bemidji OSB mill in receives Minnesota job creation grant

KAXE.org
September 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

BEMIDJI, Minnesota — The West Fraser wood engineering plant west of Bemidji was one of three companies to receive part of $4.2 million in business expansion grants from the state. The state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development stated in a news release that the three projects are expected to create or retain 587 jobs and leverage more than $270 million in private investment. West Fraser plans to renovate an existing building and improve the operating site in the small community of Solway. The operation there produces engineered wood products, such as OSB or particle board, that are used widely in construction and other industries. The project will receive more than $1 million in financing from the state’s Job Creation Fund, with the company expected to invest $137 million. The project is expected to retain 132 jobs.

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Domtar adjusts communication on digester project, demo continues

By Jorgelina Manna-Rea
Johnson City Press
September 9, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

KINGSPORT, TN — Domtar is making two changes to how it communicates information around its anaerobic digester project: making the project timeline the landing page of its website and sending quarterly updates to public officials. … The anaerobic digester is a new wastewater treatment system that Domtar is constructing to mitigate odor emitting from its Kingsport mill. Digester construction officially began in August. The company decided to make communication changes after it met with the Kingsport Board of Mayor & Aldermen, the seven-person board who governs the city, on Aug. 18. Domtar will start sending quarterly updates to “key leaders in the community” in the next month, in addition to the updates given at monthly KEDB meetings. …“We’re moving that project schedule and delivery to the front of the website to make sure that people understand and know it,” Vice President of Strategic Capital Projects Charlie Floyd said.

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Weaber Inc. filed for bankruptcy month before large sawmill fire, records show

By Grace Miller
WHP CBS21
September 9, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US East

LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. — A large fire at Weaber Lumber comes just over a month after the company filed for bankruptcy. Weaber, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 1, according to online records. The company also filed a WARN notice in July at its distribution center on 25 Keystone Drive. In that notice, the company said 145 people would be laid off from July 26 through Sept. 9 of this year. The fire broke out Monday night around 10 p.m. at the company’s headquarters at 1231 Mt. Wilson Road, and it took firefighters until Tuesday morning to bring the blaze under control over eight hours later.

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City boss calls for Drax chief to be sacked and brands ‘renewable’ power station as ‘toxic as working for tobacco’

By Emily Hawkins
This is Money UK
September 9, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Louis Bacon

A City billionaire has urged Britain’s biggest ‘renewable’ power station to sack its boss, claiming the business is now as ‘toxic as working for tobacco’. Louis Bacon, the American founder of hedge fund Moore Capital, lambasted energy company Drax’s ‘egregious’ failings in a scathing letter published on Tuesday, calling it an ‘environmental and ethical calamity’. He called for chief executive Will Gardiner to be sacked just days after the City watchdog said it would investigate the company regarding the sourcing of wood pellets used in its biomass plant in North Yorkshire. It is another embarrassment for Energy Secretary Ed Miliband after he agreed to extend subsidies for the company, which has long drawn fire from environmental groups. Biomass power stations – which create electricity by burning resources such as wood – have long drawn criticism from campaigners, who say their claims of producing ‘renewable’ energy from imported pellets are exaggerated.

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Vietnam Imposes Provisional Anti-Dumping Duties on Fiberboard Products from Thailand and China

ASL Law Firm Vietnam
September 10, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

On September 5, 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision No. 2491/QD-BCT on the application of provisional anti-dumping duties on certain fiberboard products originating from Thailand and China. Under this decision, the provisional duty rates applied to the investigated goods range from 2.59% to 39.88%. During the course of the investigation, pursuant to the Law on Foreign Trade Management, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in coordination with relevant authorities, conducted a comprehensive review and assessment of the dumping practices of imported goods from Thailand and China, as well as their impact on the domestic industry. The preliminary findings indicate that the dumped imports from the two countries have posed a significant threat of material injury to the domestic fiberboard industry.

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Finance & Economics

Canadian housing starts flat in first half of 2025 amid declines in condo projects

The Canadian Press
September 9, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its fall housing supply report stating growth in overall housing starts was flat during the first half of the year compared with 2024. …CMHC says growth in overall housing starts was flat during the first half of the year compared with 2024, though there were significant regional differences. The agency says cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, Ottawa and Halifax built homes at paces that were either at or near records or in line with historical averages in the first half of the year. However, slowdowns in Canada’s two most expensive real estate markets weighed on the overall number of housing starts. Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, deputy chief economist for CMHC, says the ongoing construction slowdown in the housing market presents risks to future housing supply.

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‘Absolutely crazy’ lumber price drop makes now the perfect time to build

By Matt Sexton
Mortgage Professional America
September 9, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Russ Taylor

With new duties being levied against Canadian lumber, most industry experts thought the price of lumber would continue to rise. Strangely, the opposite has happened, and it might be the right time to consider new construction loans. A report in The Wall Street Journal reported a 25% drop in wood futures markets since hitting a three-year high in August. And if not for some mills cutting back production, the drop may have been larger. “It’s been, quite honestly, very, very strange,” Russ Taylor, a wood market expert and analyst said. “Prices have absolutely tumbled. With western SPF from British Columbia, if you look at August before the new 20% duty kicked in, going from 14.4 to 35.2%, prices were creeping up a little bit. …Because everyone is overstocked, and because demand for lumber has been so low due to high interest rates, Taylor thinks it may take a while for the market to balance back out.

Related coverage in Newsweek, by Giulia Carbonaro: US Housing Market Warning Signal From Lumber Prices

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Lumber prices haven’t bottomed yet. Here’s when they will

By Brian Donovan
The Globe and Mail
September 9, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

A “normal” annual softwood lumber price cycle sees prices dropping from Labour Day until early in the new year when buying starts again for the spring construction season. We are also expecting three interest rate cuts this year from the US Federal Reserve. With lower mortgage rates expected, will we see increasing demand for lumber? …The short term outlook for lumber prices continues to see weakness with price projections as low as US$450 per thousand board feet until the spring construction season. Looking into 2026 and 2027, prices are expected to recover to the mid-US$500 to low-US$600 per thousand board feet range. Ongoing duties, the upcoming court rulings on tariffs and the protracted housing shortage will all impact the price of lumber over the next two years. [to access the full story, a Globe & Mail subscription is required]

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U.S. Fed rate cut now signals 3% inflation is the new 2%

By Jamie McGeever
Reuters
September 9, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

ORLANDO, Florida – The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates next week even though inflation is still around 3%, a full percentage point above the official goal. This raises an uncomfortable question: is the central bank’s 2% inflation target still viable? Data on Thursday is expected to show that annual core CPI inflation held steady in August at 3.1%. Annual core PCE inflation, the Fed’s preferred measure, was 2.9% in July. …The prospect of the Fed easing policy for the second time in a year with core inflation at 3% is a big deal – and may be yet another sign that the economic orthodoxy of recent decades is being tested or trashed. Inflation hawks fear it’s the latter. …But it’s difficult to argue that financial markets are overly worried about the potential loosening of the Fed’s 2% target. 

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Canadian Wood Council’s WoodWorks Program Welcomes BarrierTEK as National Partner

Canadian Wood Council
September 9, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

Ottawa, Ontario — The Canadian Wood Council (CWC) is pleased to welcome BarrierTEK as a new national partner of its WoodWorks program. This collaboration aligns two organizations committed to supporting safe, innovative, and low-carbon construction practices across Canada through education, technical excellence, and strategic market development. As the construction sector responds to climate imperatives, shifting societal expectations, and progressive building codes, the role of wood in the built environment continues to expand. By combining traditional wood systems with value-added solutions like fire-retardant treatments, project teams can expand the application of wood in diverse building types without compromising performance or design flexibility. This partnership will help raise awareness of the full range of tools and technologies available to support safe, code-compliant wood construction while reinforcing wood’s reputation as a versatile, safe, high-performance building material.

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New timber stadium in Fukushima designed as a symbol of recovery

By Ada Wein
Travel Tomorrow
September 9, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

@Fukushima United FC

While Fukushima is sadly more widely associated with nuclear tragedy … this may soon change as Japan prepares to unveil a new landmark: a circular timber stadium. Designed by Japanese architecture studio Vuild, the venue, which has 5,000 seats, will be the new home of Fukushima United FC. The 16-metre-tall, two-tiered structure was designed … to be a ‘symbol of hope and recovery’ for a region that has been profoundly affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which resulted in a nuclear disaster. The architects have framed the project as a gesture of resilience … drawing on circular principles of reuse and regeneration … with each component designed for disassembly and reuse. …The extensive use of laminated timber rather than concrete or steel is possible because each of the stadium’s four sections covers less than 3,000 square metres. According to Japanese regulations, this exempts the structure from being classified as a fireproof building, thus enabling the pioneering all-wood design.

Additional coverage (in Japanese!): 日本初の完全木造&世界初の循環型木造スタジアム構想-

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Forestry

From Fairy Creek to the Walbran Valley, the fight for ancient forests persists

By Maia Wikler
The National Observer
September 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West
 

For over 30 years, people have been fighting to save the Walbran. Blockades and direct actions in the early 1990s led to the creation of the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park. Missing, however, from the park protections were the central and upper Walbran Valley. Will O’Connel says, “As soon as we knew this was falling, there was no question but to mobilize. We will be here until they haul us out.” …“A lot of our hope was crushed by Fairy Creek,” O’Connel admits. “Yet, we’re still here fighting. The government relies on the fact that most people aren’t in the forest to see what’s really happening. …“Blockading is not a marathon; it’s a relay. We just hope people will be here to pick up the baton,” says O’Connel.

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Forestry Officials Tied CN Rail to Lytton Fire, Then Backed Off

By Amanda Follett Hosgood
The Tyee
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

As recently as last year, B.C.’s Ministry of Forests believed that Canada’s largest railway company played a role in the deadly wildfire that destroyed Lytton. In a February 2024 letter to the Canadian National Railway, provincial officials told the company that it intended to seek restitution for costs for the fire. But just six weeks later, the province reversed course and closed the file, according to documents released in response to a freedom of information request. …Last September, the RCMP wrapped up its three-year investigation without laying charges, saying it could not determine what caused the fire. …The letters provide another glimpse at investigations that have largely remained hidden from the public since Lytton burned four years ago. …A lack of information about the cause of the wildfire in Lytton hasn’t stopped a flurry of lawsuits against railway companies CN and Canadian Pacific, as well as federal and provincial agencies, in recent years.

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BC Truck Loggers Association Statement on Protests in Upper Walbran Valley

BC Truck Loggers Association
September 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The BC Truck Loggers Association (TLA) has a long history of working collaboratively with First Nations and licensees in support of sustainable timber harvesting in British Columbia. The protestors who are blocking access to the Upper Walbran Valley area are obstructing forestry workers from accessing operations that have been approved by both government and the Pacheedaht First Nation. While the TLA respects the right to peaceful protest, it is unacceptable for these actions to continue to interfere with lawfully approved forestry operations. TLA members must be able to continue to work, provide employment, and contribute to the economic well-being of their communities. A timely resolution is needed so that front line forestry workers can return to their jobs to support their families, and communities can continue to thrive.

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Mi’kmaq continue blockade of forestry in Cape Breton Highlands

By Aaron Beswick
The Chronicle Herald
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

A Mi’kmaq blockade of harvesting for Port Hawkesbury Paper in the Cape Breton Highlands continued Tuesday. The blockade had been temporarily lifted Sunday, after forestry crews and law enforcement removed a barrier of spruce logs built on Hunters Mountain Road. The logs had been seized from a logging truck by Mi’kmaq led by Ashton Bernard. Trucks were allowed through the line set up by the Mi’kmaq through Monday morning until Madonna Bernard stood in front of two trucks during the afternoon. A significant RCMP presence was on scene but did not interfere in the blockade. “They’re clear-cutting our land and we’re trying to save it,” said Madonna Bernard, who also goes by her Mi’kmaq name, Kuku’wes, as she stood in front of the logging truck.

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U.S. Wildfire Fighters to Mask Up After Decades-Long Ban on Smoke Protections

By Hannah Dreier
The New York Times in DeseretNews via Yahoo
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

After years of wildland firefighters developing cancer, lung disease and other health issues while not being allowed to wear masks as they work, the US Forest Service will now allow these crews to wear masks. The policy turnaround comes as the Forest Service posted new guidance on Monday “acknowledging for the first time that masks can protect firefighters against harmful particles in wildfire smoke,” per The New York Times. Workers were barred from wearing masks for years, with the agency arguing that they were too cumbersome for the job. Officials from the Forest Service reported that the agency did not want to deal with potential expensive consequences of admitting the long-term dangers of smoke exposure. The agency has now stockpiled around 80,000 N95 masks… and is “encouraging firefighters to mask up.” …The new guidance follows a series of NY Times articles documenting a growing occupational health crisis among wildfire crews.

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Rescinding the Roadless Rule is a necessary step for forest health and public safety in Montana

Nick Smith, Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities
The Missoulian in West Virginia News
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Nick Smith

Montana’s national forests… face growing threats from wildfires, drought, and insect infestations. These are threats that are worsened, not reduced, by the outdated Roadless Rule. …While limited management activities are technically permitted under the rule, its sweeping prohibitions on road construction make it exceedingly difficult to implement large-scale forest restoration or wildfire mitigation projects. As a result, even science-based treatments like thinning or prescribed burning frequently face delays or cancellation. At the same time, nearly 300 to 370 million board feet of timber are currently tied up in litigation on Montana’s national forests. …These materials could otherwise help fund forest restoration, supply local mills, and reduce hazardous fuels, all while supporting jobs in rural communities. …After nearly 25 years, the evidence is clear: the Roadless Rule is not a conservation success story. It’s a barrier to active, science-based stewardship at a time when our forests are under unprecedented ecological stress.

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Giant pine scale threatens South Australia forestry industry as pest spreads in Adelaide

ABC News, Australia
September 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

South Australia’s $3 billion forestry industry says a pest that kills pine trees and is spread by humans needs to be eradicated. Giant pine scale was found in pine trees in the north-eastern Adelaide suburbs of Hope Valley and Highbury in 2023. The pest sucks the sap of pine trees, causing branch dieback and eventually killing the tree. … The state government said nearly 1,400 trees had been cleared, with more trees set to be felled this year after further outbreaks at the reservoir and the Highbury Aqueduct Reserve. Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven said so far, the outbreak had been contained to the north-eastern suburbs. …South Australia’s forestry industry includes estates around the outskirts of Adelaide and in the state’s south-east. The state produces 35 per cent of Australia’s structural timber for housing.

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Forest Fires

Grove of giant sequoia trees burns in California’s Sierra National Forest

Associated Press
September 9, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

FRESNO, Calif. — A lightning-sparked wildfire in California’s Sierra National Forest burned Tuesday through a grove of giant sequoias and set some of the ancient towering trees on fire. Wildland firefighters with tree-climbing experience were being sent in to put out the fire burning in the canopies of the beloved trees, said Jay Tracy, a spokesperson for the Garnet Fire ablaze in Fresno County. To protect the majestic trees, some estimated to be 3,000 years old, fire crews laid sprinkler lines to increase ground moisture, wrapped the trunks with fire-resistant foil blankets, raked flammable material away from trees and patrolled the area looking for hotspots, he said. … The giant trees rely on low-intensity fire to help open their cones to disperse seeds, and flames clear undergrowth so seedlings can take root and get sunlight. The Garnet Fire, however, is more intense, Tracy said.

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