Sustainability organizations, including FSC, formed a risk alliance to share info on deforestation-free products. In Wildfire news: Canada braces for another season of flames; Oregon sends a strike team to help fire-ravaged Texas; Michigan’s shaded fuel brakes prove effective; Alberta ups its wildfire emergency fund; a new study says BC’s forest fuel load data is inaccurate; and researchers say Washington’s wetter forests are at risk.
In Business news: Doman completes its acquisition of Southeast Forest Products; Millson Forestry Service secures an Ontario biomass grant; Irving upgrades its Saint John’s woodyard; UFP expands in Warrens, Wisconsin; opposition mounts to a biomass facility in Memphis; and Timberlink opens its new CLT mill in South Australia. Meanwhile: US construction spending is up, while the housing supply gap widens.
Finally, NASA’s climate idea sounds like a children’s book, and 200 years of forest history through dioramas.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
In the March edition of the Canada Wood news, you’ll find:
MONTRÉAL — 
The forests of the Pacific Northwest, sometimes soaked in feet of rainfall each year, are known for growing some of the largest trees in the world. Together, they store thousands of tons of carbon in their trunks and support hundreds of critters. But even these lush forests can be affected by climate change. If the world continues to emit greenhouse gases at its current pace, the North Cascades, Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound lowlands and Western Oregon Cascades could see at least twice as much fire activity in the 30 years following 2035, according to new research led by Alex Dye, a faculty research associate in the Oregon State University College of Forestry. Fire seasons — the dry and hot months — are expected to get longer, in some places spanning from early spring to late fall. …The new research aims to better describe how climate change is impacting a region where fire was historically infrequent, west of the Cascade crest.
A group of organizations, including the Forest Stewardship Council, Preferred by Nature, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, and the Sustainable Biomass Program, are joining forces as the Risk Information Alliance (RIA). Increasing regulatory requirements such as the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) and market pressure for responsibly produced products are posing a serious challenge to businesses, certification schemes and producers in agricultural and forest-based sectors. The RIA will develop and maintain credible risk assessments with a range of partners and across commodities offering value beyond the EUDR. Through an innovative and collaborative approach, the Alliance will encourage risk data sharing in a pre-competitive sphere and cut through the complex and costly landscape facing companies and sustainability systems. …“This alliance will create a common language, making sure that businesses, authorities and stakeholders in forestry and agriculture are working effectively towards the same goal,” said Kim Carstensen, FSC Director General.
