Daily edition
September 4, 2026
Prepared from public sources. Links lead to original material.
What matters this morning
- U.S. Forest Service research footprint is being redrawn: 23 research facilities will close, while 41 previously slated for closure will stay open. The agency says the consolidation will save about $16 million and that ongoing science will continue elsewhere.
- Northeastern Ontario could regain a major fiber sink. Bioveld North is spending $10.5 million on engineering for a possible restart of the Espanola pulp mill; Ontario is supplying $5.1 million. A restart could consume up to 1.8 million m³ of wood annually.
- J.D. Irving has fresh gatewood pricing posted for Sept. 4 across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine procurement areas, with current prices by mill, product and trucking zone.
- Minnesota expects its best red-pine cone crop in about a decade and is paying $95/bushel for clean ripe closed cones, targeting 1,000 bushels to support future nursery production.
- The National Forest Foundation is seeking a contractor for roughly 870 acres of Hurricane Helene fuel-reduction work on Pisgah National Forest, including removal of sawtimber and pulpwood.
Forestry & Timber
Lake States
Minnesota raises red-pine cone price to $95/bushel
Minnesota DNR expects a bumper red-pine cone crop, roughly a once-in-a-decade event, and wants to purchase about 1,000 bushels. The seed will feed the State Forest Nursery at Akeley; DNR says it replants roughly 2,000 acres of red pine each year using nearly 1 million seedlings. Nursery capacity starts several years before a seedling reaches the woods.
Pacific Northwest
Logging restrictions ease in northwest Oregon
Oregon DNR lowered fire danger to “moderate” and moved industrial operations to IFPL 1 across its NW-1, NW-2 and NW-3 zones, including the Tillamook State Forest, effective Sept. 3. IFPL 1 is the lowest industrial precaution level, easing restrictions on logging and other woods work.
Midwest
Shawnee timber project halted by federal court
A federal judge ordered the Forest Service to halt a roughly 70-acre oak/hickory logging project in Shawnee National Forest after finding the agency approved it before obtaining a final biological opinion under the Endangered Species Act. About 40 acres had already been logged before an earlier restraining order.
Mills / Capacity / Procurement
Southeast
Great Southern Wood adding 17th treating plant in North Carolina
Great Southern Wood-NC plans a $40 million pressure-treated lumber facility at Laurinburg-Maxton Airport in Scotland County, creating 43 jobs. North Carolina Railroad is contributing up to $600,000 for on-site rail infrastructure; the facility is expected to receive and distribute at least 421 railcars annually by 2030.
Ontario
$17.3 million targets sawmill modernization and biomass use
Ontario is putting more than $17.3 million into four northern forest-sector projects. Interfor gets more than $9.6 million for an Elk Lake modernization that includes biomass heat and is projected to raise production 27%, cut natural-gas use 80% and reduce annual operating costs by nearly $3 million. GreenFirst gets $5.9 million for a Chapleau production line expected to improve productivity 24%, plus $1.6 million to study a biofuel facility; Atlantic Power gets $180,000 for controls at the Calstock power plant.
Markets & Pricing
Maine / Atlantic Canada
J.D. Irving posts Sept. 4 gatewood prices
J.D. Irving’s current purchase-wood page is one of the more useful live procurement sources available publicly. Examples included Grand Lake Timber softwood sawlogs at $90/metric ton in Zone 1, rising to $102 in Zone 5; Saint Leonard softwood sawlogs at $92–$100/metric ton; Lake Utopia birch pulpwood at $61–$67/metric ton; and Russell & Swim #1 white-pine sawlogs at $406–$421/MFBM depending on zone.
North America
Canada gains share of U.S. softwood imports
Lesprom Analytics reports that U.S. softwood lumber imports totaled 7.2 million m³ in Q2 2026 and Canada gained six percentage points of U.S. import share while Germany lost three. At the same time, Canada’s first-half shipments across the ten largest global import markets were 1.8 million m³ lower than a year earlier.
United States
Residential construction spending continues to weaken
NAHB’s read of July Census data shows private residential construction spending at an $859.0 billion SAAR, down 1.3% from June and 7.3% from a year earlier. Single-family spending fell 3.2% month over month and 6.5% year over year.
Pulp, Paper & Biomass
Ontario
Espanola restart study could restore 1.8 million m³/year of wood demand
Bioveld North, part of BMI Group, has begun a $10.5 million front-end engineering program for the idled Espanola pulp and paper mill, with Ontario contributing $5.1 million and Bioveld $5.4 million. The concept under study would produce specialty food-grade kraft paper and could create about 400 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs. Ontario says a restart could use up to 1.8 million m³ of sustainably sourced wood annually.
Under the Radar
Mountain West
Raton, New Mexico gets a biomass-to-biocarbon production facility
Carbogenics USA has secured its first U.S. manufacturing site in Raton. The operation is intended to convert locally sourced low-value biomass into engineered biocarbons for anaerobic digestion, water treatment, carbon removal and environmental remediation; the company says initial CreChar production should begin in the coming weeks.
Market Opportunities
Appalachia
870-acre Pisgah fuel-reduction contract due Sept. 11
The National Forest Foundation is soliciting a contractor for the Shinbone Fuel Reduction project on roughly 870 acres in the Appalachian Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest. Work includes removal of blown-over, broken, root-sprung and leaning trees resulting from Hurricane Helene, including sawtimber and pulpwood, plus erosion control, water-barring, slashing, vegetation establishment and road maintenance.
Government / Research Infrastructure
National
Forest Service to close 23 research facilities; 41 spared
The Forest Service finalized a facilities review that will close 23 research and development locations in more than a dozen states while retaining 41 sites that had previously been targeted for closure. Ninety-five employees are expected to shift to other sites within commuting areas. Combined with previously announced regional-office closures, the agency estimates roughly $16 million in savings.
New Publications, Data & Tools
Softwood Lumber Board Q2 2026 Report
The SLB reports 517 MM BF of incremental lumber demand generated in Q2 and 1.031 billion BF year-to-date toward a 1.35 billion BF 2026 goal. Its programs influenced 816 projects representing 44 million square feet of construction; WoodWorks alone reports 442 MM BF of YTD incremental demand.
Madison’s Sept.-start lumber market update
Madison’s posted a new softwood-lumber market and pricing update and continues to maintain its lumber price dashboard, BC coastal log pricing and sawmill-curtailment tracking products.
Opportunities worth watching
- Espanola’s engineering work deserves close attention. A credible path to 1.8 million m³/year of renewed wood consumption would have regional effects well before restart.
- The Pisgah Shinbone solicitation is a good example of post-disturbance work where logging, fuel reduction and restoration money overlap. Similar Helene-related contracting opportunities may be worth actively tracking across the southern Appalachians.
- Carbogenics is small, but Raton is the kind of project to watch for evidence that low-value wildfire biomass can support specialized carbon products at commercial scale.