The seemingly never-ending winter of 2022/23 had barely moved into spring when an enormous amount of forest fires broke out in Alberta, Canada. …Both road and rail transport lanes near Edson, Alberta, saw immediate negative effects from the fires. The town of Fox Creek, including the Canfor sawmill there, are also evacuated. This is a brand-new occurrence; never before have such a large number of such severe wildfires broken out so early in the season in an important timber supply area of North America. …In the week ending May 12, 2023, the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was again US$360 mfbm, which is flat from the previous week, said weekly forest products industry price guide newsletter Madison’s Lumber Reporter. This is up by +$9, or +2%, from one month ago when it was $351.