Alberta’s slow start to the wildfire season is linked to weather and COVID-19 restrictions; Oregon prepares with precautions, and Arizona deals with a spike in wildfires and virus cases.

In Business news: commentary on the North  American housing markets from the NAHB (permits soar), Forests2Market (industry performance tumbles) and Bloomberg columnist (housing is hot); as the Tree Frog News features three more keynote speakers at FEA’s (virtual) Softwood Lumber Conference. Today’s focus—North America’s log and lumber markets. 

In other news: a new study says Northern Pulp’s treatment facility ‘did its job’ at Boat Harbour, Nova Scotia; UBC and FPInnovations receive monies to develop a virtual reality planning tool; and a log scaling robot wins award in New Zealand.

Finally, self-powered ‘paper chips’ could help sound an early alarm for forest fires.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor