September 22, 2026

WEST — ARIZONA

Kaibab Good Neighbor work puts an estimated 36 MMBF into the restoration pipeline

The Kaibab National Forest and Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management have signed a Good Neighbor Agreement covering nearly 14,000 acres in northern Arizona. The state says the work is expected to produce about 36 million board feet of commercial timber while reducing wildfire risk and supporting the regional forest-products industry.

The financing structure is notable for operators: the Forest Service is putting in $6.4 million of IIJA funding, Salt River Project is matching it dollar for dollar, and timber-sale revenue and project efficiencies are to be reinvested into additional restoration. The first project, Sunflower Restoration, is beginning immediately.

Arizona DFFM announcement →

LAKE STATES — MINNESOTA

Minnesota aerial-seeds 500 acres where ordinary reforestation access is difficult

Minnesota DNR says it has completed helicopter seeding on just over 500 acres across 14 state-managed sites this month, using jack pine, white pine, tamarack and black spruce seed. The method is aimed at bogs, remote ground and sites where natural regeneration may not reliably establish the desired species.

For contractors and land managers, the useful signal is operational rather than novel: Minnesota is treating aerial seeding as one tool in a broader reforestation system that also includes planting, natural regeneration, competition control and prescribed fire. It is a reminder that difficult access can change the regeneration method without removing the obligation to regenerate harvested ground.

Minnesota DNR release →

SOUTH — LOUISIANA

Louisiana Green Fuels selects Valmet for a biomass market measured in millions of tons

Valmet has been selected to provide the boiler island and flue-gas-cleaning technology for Strategic Biofuels' Louisiana Green Fuels project in Caldwell Parish. The current full-build design calls for more than 300 MW of gross generating capacity and more than 3.5 million tons of sustainably sourced forestry residuals per year — roughly 400 truckloads of biomass per day.

That scale is the forestry story. If the project advances as designed, feedstock aggregation, trucking radius, residue competition and supplier reliability become core operating questions well before commissioning. The technology selection is another concrete development step for a project that already secured its final Class VI sequestration permit this summer.

Valmet announcement →

NATIONAL — OPERATING COSTS

Diesel shortage is looking less like a short spike and more like a 2027 problem

Reuters reports that global diesel tightness is likely to persist into 2027 as inventories remain unusually low after disruptions to Middle Eastern and Russian supply. U.S. reserves are at their lowest September level since 1982, while the national retail diesel market has moved above $6 per gallon.

For logging and wood hauling, duration matters more than another daily price tick. A multi-quarter fuel problem changes bidding, haul-radius assumptions and surcharge negotiations; it also raises the cost of being locked into work priced when diesel was materially cheaper.

Reuters diesel-market report →

WEST — OREGON

Timber Processing & Energy Expo opens tomorrow in Portland

TP&EE runs September 23–25 at the Portland Expo Center with more than 150 exhibiting companies, 40,000 square feet of exhibits and more than 80 wood-producing companies represented. The floor covers sawmill machinery, panel-production technology, drying systems and wood-to-energy equipment.

For mill owners and managers, this is one of the few places where capital-equipment comparisons can be made side by side rather than through separate vendor calls. With labor, energy and raw-material costs all moving, the useful question is not simply what equipment is newest, but which investments remove a real constraint or reduce operating variability.

Watch: The show runs September 23–25 in Portland.

TP&EE →