Daily edition
September 27, 2026
Prepared from public sources. Links lead to original material.
By the numbers
U.S. on-highway diesel: $6.529/gal for the week of September 21, up 24.4¢ from $6.285 one week earlier. EIA →
November lumber: $533.00/MBF at Friday's 10:30 a.m. ET reading, down $13.50 (2.5%) from $546.50 at the same time one week earlier. Current →
Madison's Lumber Prices Index: $505/MBF, down $9 (2%) from the prior week. Madison's →
LAKE STATES — MICHIGAN / FIREWOOD
Michigan's January firewood quarantine creates a new interstate compliance line
Beginning January 1, untreated firewood from outside Michigan will no longer be allowed into the state. Firewood crossing the state line must be heat-treated and certified by Michigan, another state agriculture department or USDA.
For firewood producers and dealers, the practical change is commercial as much as regulatory: out-of-state sellers need a compliant treatment-and-certification path, while Michigan producers can use the state's Certified Invasive-Free program as a market signal. Michigan's quarantine materials also require receivers of out-of-state firewood to retain shipping, treatment and certification records for 36 months.
Watch: The quarantine takes effect January 1, 2027; Michigan says 2027 enforcement will emphasize education and awareness.
NATIONAL — WOOD UTILIZATION / FUNDING
Forest Service has $1 million on the table for community-tree wood utilization
The 2026 National Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Cost Share Grant Program is focused this year on turning wood from pruning, removals, storms, pests and disease into useful products including lumber, slabs, furniture, flooring and biochar. Grants.gov lists $1 million in total program funding, five expected awards and a required cost share.
The prime applicants are public, tribal, nonprofit and educational entities, but the program specifically calls for partnerships with professional or industry organizations. That creates a plausible role for sawmills, portable-mill operators, wood manufacturers, biochar businesses and other wood users where a community needs a durable outlet for removed trees.
Watch: Applications close October 12, 2026.
Under the Radar
WEST — CALIFORNIA / DATA
CAL FIRE refreshes a public harvest-plan map useful for operating intelligence
California's Open Data portal lists the CAL FIRE Forest Practice Viewer as updated September 26. The public application lets users search, filter and map approved and proposed harvest plans, add other datasets and create GeoPDFs. It includes Timber Harvesting Plans, Nonindustrial Timber Management Plans, Working Forest Management Plans, emergency and exemption notices, roads, hydrology and proposed-plan maps.
CAL FIRE says its Forest Practice GIS contains current harvesting activity plus historic spatial data for more than 4 million acres of California timberland. For foresters, contractors and wood buyers, the viewer is a useful operating-intelligence layer for seeing where activity is proposed or underway and where future work and wood flow may develop.
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. 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 →
Thursday Deep Dive returns each Thursday
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