Canada’s housing market is struggling, while US single-family housing starts fell to a one-year low. In related news: US building permits hit a 3½-year low; rising borrowing costs threaten further weakness; and lumber prices face downward pressure. In Business news: a new lawsuit challenges Trump’s Section 338 tariffs on Canada; the reduced US lumber duties are now in effect; BC millworkers protest government inaction; and a review of BC election promises on forestry. Meanwhile, the US challenges a court’s jurisdiction in a duty dispute involving two Quebec producers; Barge Forest Products expands in Mississippi; and Sweden’s Södra expands its US sales presence.

In Forestry/Climate news: a UN report warns of rising temperatures amid changes in US climate policy; the US Forest Service reports its highest timber sales since 1997; Alaska advances an old-growth sale; and a new US initiative will showcase wood innovation investments. Meanwhile, BC’s Sunshine Coast Community Forest seeks more tenure; Alabama assesses hurricane-related timber losses; and Oregon landowners race to salvage burned timber.

Finally, wildfires are a welcome sight for fire-loving beetles, but bad news for ticks.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor