The US Commerce Secretary promises to make lumber prices a priority, but Canada and the US may have bigger bilateral fish to fry than the softwood wars. In related news: Canadian building construction rose 6% in March, lumber prices are driving lumber thefts and tree poachers; while discouraging US home purchasers; and inflation from economic recovery has officially arrived. Meanwhile: stories on Saskatchewan’s booming forest sector; EACOM’s Matagami sawmill investment; and confirmation of Russia’s pending log export ban.
In other news: FPAC welcomes Canada’s call for forest sector proposals to spur low-emission innovation; the World Bank signs a deal to reduce forest carbon emissions; Alberta tree planters are better prepared for their 2nd covid season; and EACOM temporarily shuts Timmins sawmill due to four covid cases.
Finally, a new study says tree farts in ghost forests increase GHGs. Seriously!
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
The skyrocketing cost of lumber is fuelling a trend that has authorities across the country warning builders to keep their guard up. Canadian authorities have been warning about the rise in lumber thefts, which has some people quipping on social media that wood has become as desirable as gold. Det. Sgt. Tosha Ternes of the Saskatoon police said the city has seen a huge jump in thefts at construction sites since 2018. “We’ve driven out to these areas that are getting hit and it is a gold mine with valuable stuff laying everywhere,” Ternes said in an interview. …Another theft was recently reported by in Mounties in the Maritimes, with about $1,500 worth of lumber missing. …High prices have also affected forests in British Columbia. Municipal officials in North Cowichan say they suspect tree poaching is on the rise.
Saskatchewan is reporting a 30 percent increase when it comes to forestry products from this time a year ago, with over $1.1 billion being sold. Officials said COVID-19 initially created market uncertainty in the forestry sector, but that changed last summer with an increase in demand resulting in prices for lumber, oriented strand board (OSB) and treated wood products …currently at record highs. …More than 75 percent of Saskatchewan’s primary forest products are exported to other countries. Last year, forest product exports were valued at $700 million. Despite COVID-19, Saskatchewan’s forestry sector has been enhanced by a growing Asian economy and ongoing housing recovery in the U.S., which is seeing the highest number of housing starts in 15 years. …[The sector has the] potential to generate over $2 billion in forest products sales annually and support nearly 12,000 jobs. Saskatchewan’s Growth Plan includes a goal to double the growth of the province’s forestry sector by 2030.
I feel that calling for a moratorium on old growth logging will not only be detrimental to areas such as Fairy Creek, but also to other areas of BC. An agreement was already in place between the Pacheedaht First Nations and Teal Jones prior to the protestors moving in. Agreements and partnerships are something that have been a long time coming, are long overdue and something that as a forestry family, I am very excited to see. With those agreements, it is my understanding cultural trees, as well as other areas that are important to First Nations have been taken into account… Calling for the government to end all old growth logging goes far beyond the narrative around Fairy Creek and it will leave many rural towns destitute. …I assure you that forestry families do not want to see the last old growth logged. 
VICTORIA – An investigation of a complaint about BC Timber Sales’ (BCTS) logging of large old growth trees in the Nahmint River Watershed has found that BCTS’s forest stewardship plan (FSP) is not consistent with the Vancouver Island Higher Level Plan Order and does not adequately protect old forest and biodiversity values in some ecosystems. “The 2001 Vancouver Island Land Use Plan Order sets specific objectives for conserving biodiversity,” said Kevin Kriese, chair, Forest Practices Board. “More detailed landscape unit planning was supposed to provide clear direction on how much and where to conserve old and mature forest, but that planning was never completed. BCTS was left with a complicated set of legal objectives to interpret, and we found it missed important details that are required to manage for biodiversity in the Nahmint.”
A recently published study suggests that one of the world’s most common pesticides, previously found to harm bees, may be contributing to the decline of one of its most-loved butterflies. University of Guelph researcher Ryan Norris conducted one of the first real-world studies on monarch butterflies and so-called neonic pesticides. He says the chemicals seem to reduce the number of eggs that successfully hatch. “It’s the first field evidence that neonics can have a negative impact on larval survival of monarchs,” Norris said in an interview Wednesday. Monarchs undergo one of nature’s most remarkable migrations, fluttering all the way from Canada to Mexico and back. But their numbers have declined more that 80 per cent over the last two decades and scientists are trying to find out why.
Canada’s forest sector is an important source of employment for many Indigenous communities. The Government of Canada is investing in projects to equip them with tools to build greener businesses and promote economic opportunity in the forest sector and within their communities. The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, today announced $155,280 in funding to 
