Daily edition
September 12, 2026
Prepared from public sources. Links lead to original material.
What matters this morning
- Oregon received the first federal incidental-take permit for its Western State Forests Habitat Conservation Plan, giving the Department of Forestry more predictable Endangered Species Act coverage for fish while a second permit for terrestrial species remains pending.
- Idaho has newly advertised the 8,385-MBF Jackass Creek 2 state timber sale in Kootenai County for October 7, with a $1.53 million appraised net value and a $220.53/MBF average starting minimum.
- Madison’s Lumber Prices Index ended the week at $525/MBF, up $7 from September 4—modest, but a clear reversal from the late-summer slide.
- A new Journal of Forestry review says westside PNW mill infrastructure and ownership patterns are increasingly shaping silviculture: private lands supply about 75% of annual harvest while only a handful of mills still buy logs larger than 60 cm on the small end.
- Weyerhaeuser has leased geothermal rights on about 145,000 acres in Oregon and Washington to Hexagon Energy, with the developer estimating more than 3 GW of potential generation if exploration proves commercial.
Forestry & Timber
Oregon — State Forests
Western state forests gain the first federal permit under Oregon’s HCP
Oregon Department of Forestry received an incidental-take permit from NOAA Fisheries on September 11 for its Western State Forests Habitat Conservation Plan. The permit covers protected fish species and gives ODF Endangered Species Act certainty for covered management activities; the department says the remaining U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit for species including northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, coastal marten and red tree vole is expected later this year or in early 2027.
The operational significance is predictability. ODF says the permit should reduce litigation exposure and make jobs and revenue from state forest management more predictable while habitat measures are implemented across the landscape.
Market Opportunities
Idaho — State Timber
Jackass Creek 2 puts 8,385 MBF on the block October 7
Idaho Department of Lands has advertised the Jackass Creek 2 sale in Kootenai County for October 7. The sale contains an estimated 8,385 MBF, carries an appraised net value of $1,526,727.50, requires a 10% bidder deposit, and starts at an average minimum of $220.53 per MBF. The contract term is four years.
The notice also warns that blowdown and insect- or disease-affected timber may add volume while reducing recovery. That combination makes the auction result useful not only as a stumpage signal but as a read on how buyers are pricing recovery risk in north Idaho.
Idaho — Salvage Timber
O’Donnell Darn Salvage adds another 2,270 MBF on September 23
The same state notice advertises O’Donnell Darn Salvage in Shoshone County for September 23, estimated at 2,270 MBF with a $171,435.50 appraised net value and a $90.78/MBF average starting minimum. The lower starting value and salvage character make the sale a useful companion signal to Jackass Creek 2.
Watching the two auctions together should help separate general buyer appetite from the discount buyers apply to damaged or uncertain recovery.
Markets & Pricing
North America — Softwood Lumber
Madison’s index edges back up to $525/MBF
Madison’s Lumber Prices Index for the week ending September 11 was $525 per thousand board feet, up $7, or about 1%, from $518 the previous week. The September 4 reading had itself been down slightly from the prior week, so the move is better read as stabilization than a breakout.
The useful near-term question is whether this post-Labor Day firming survives once normal buying patterns resume. A second or third weekly gain would carry more weight than one $7 move.
New Publications, Data & Tools
New review maps how westside PNW silviculture has changed
A new review of contemporary silvicultural practice west of the Cascades finds three broad shifts: more emphasis on stand establishment and fewer intermediate treatments on intensive private ownerships; more variable-retention harvesting on state, BLM and tribal lands; and near-exclusive reliance on thinning on National Forest System lands.
The mill-side findings are particularly useful. The authors report that private lands now account for roughly 75% of annual removals while federal lands provide less than 10%; Douglas-fir makes up about 60–75% of annual cut; and only a handful of regional mills still buy logs larger than 60 cm on the small end. The paper argues that this processing shift is feeding back into rotation length, thinning decisions and other silvicultural choices.
Investment & M&A
FBS Business Lens — Timberland Optionality
Weyerhaeuser’s geothermal lease shows another way to monetize the land base
Hexagon Energy has leased geothermal rights on approximately 145,000 acres of Weyerhaeuser timberland in Oregon and Washington. The companies say the portfolio could eventually support more than 3 GW of generation, although sites remain in exploration and evaluation and no commercial locations have been finalized.
The FBS lesson is not geothermal specifically. It is asset optionality: a timberland owner can earn from the same underlying land base through timber, easements, access, energy rights, carbon, recreation or other rights without abandoning the core forest asset. Smaller owners will not reproduce a 145,000-acre geothermal deal, but the discipline is portable—periodically inventory every asset and right the business controls, not just the product it already sells.
Opportunities worth watching
- The October 7 Jackass Creek 2 auction gives north Idaho buyers enough volume and value to make the winning bid a meaningful local stumpage signal; compare it with the September 23 salvage result.
- Oregon’s second state-forest incidental-take permit will matter as much as the first. Until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit is issued, the HCP’s full operating framework is not yet complete.
- Watch Madison’s index over the next two weeks. One $7 increase is stabilization; sustained post-Labor Day gains would be a stronger demand signal.
Special Opportunity
A few spots remain in the next Forest Business School Essentials cohort
The Forest Business School's six-month Essentials program begins October 7, 2026. The program is free to accepted participants through partner funding and is built for mid-career working-landscape professionals and small business owners in forestry, logging, wood products, land management, and related fields who want to improve how they work, lead, and run their organizations. Nearly weekly one-hour evening video sessions combine assigned reading/listening with peer discussion and practical application — no grades, papers, or busywork.
Interested in applying? Email Steve Bick directly → · Learn more at forestenterprise.org →
Featured Book
Wet Woods: Flux, Flex and Change in Our Forestry
Loggers, foresters, and mill operators adapting to climate change, volatile markets, and other pressures in the Northeast — told through the people doing the work.
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