New Hampshire lawmakers are advancing a bill that would require state-funded construction projects to specify American-sourced lumber — putting New Hampshire lumber producers ahead of Canadian competitors when the state builds. Senate Bill 529, which passed the Senate by voice vote in late January 2026, cleared its House committee public hearing on March 24 and…
The federal government is placing a $115.2 million bet on timber production as the solution to two converging crises: a shortage of domestic sawmill capacity and a surge in catastrophic wildfires on national forest lands. On March 23, 2026, the USDA announced guaranteed loans to sawmills and wood processing facilities across eight states, deploying the…
A conservation easement covering more than 22,000 acres of Idaho timberland between Mount Spokane and Spirit Lake has permanently barred the land from residential and commercial development — while keeping the saws running. The deal, announced in late March 2026, is the largest single conservation action in the region in years and represents the opening…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a $25 million loan guarantee to fund a biomass gasification plant in Calaveras County, California — a project that will convert forestry waste from National Forest lands into synthetic natural gas while removing material that fuels catastrophic wildfires. The announcement, made March 23, 2026, signals a federal commitment…
BC mills processed over one million cubic metres of burned logs in 2024–25 — twice the prior year — as the province fast-tracks salvage permits. But researchers warn the same \”falldown effect\” that closed mills after the pine beetle is already underway.
Mass timber construction is expanding rapidly, with over 2,500 projects underway in the U.S. and industry growth of 20% per year. A ULI panel in Austin highlighted three methods — top-down building, mass timber, and nano-enhanced concrete — already cutting construction costs and embodied carbon.
A Tioga County startup has completed validated engineering for a wood-to-gasoline facility designed to convert 1,000 tons of forest residues per day into 87-octane drop-in fuel. Woodland Biomass Innovations is now raising funds for final permits and construction.
British Columbia’s forestry sector has lost an estimated 15,000 jobs since 2022 and seen 21 permanent or indefinite mill closures since 2023, as U.S. tariffs combine with declining fiber supply and a complex regulatory environment to drive an escalating crisis. Analysts say the province’s actual timber harvest of 32 million cubic metres in 2024 and 2025 falls far short of the government’s 45-million-cubic-metre target — and that domestic policy, not just trade pressure, is driving the gap.
Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment has launched the Sustainable Forest Supply Chain Collaborative, a new interdisciplinary initiative connecting research, teaching, and Extension to strengthen Virginia’s forest sector from working forests to wood products.
Roseburg Forest Products restarted construction on its $450 million Dillard MDF plant in Oregon on March 4, 2026, after pausing the project in early 2025 amid economic uncertainty and state policy concerns. The facility is expected to employ more than 140 workers when operations begin in late 2028.