Daily edition
October 3, 2026
Prepared from public sources. Links lead to original material.
By the numbers
U.S. on-highway diesel: $6.382/gal for September 28, down 14.7 cents from one week earlier. EIA
Lumber: November 2026 futures closed Friday at $526.50/MBF, down $4.00 from the prior close. Contract data
MIDWEST — MINNESOTA / LOG HAULING
Minnesota gives forest-product haulers a temporary 10% weight allowance through October 30
Minnesota has temporarily authorized vehicles hauling forest products to exceed regular weight limits by up to 10% on state and local highways. The relief is aimed at reducing fuel use by allowing more material to move per trip while diesel remains above $6 per gallon in the state.
The allowance does not apply on Interstate highways. The order is effective immediately and runs through October 30 unless rescinded earlier. For logging and hauling businesses, the practical value is direct: route-by-route payload economics have changed for the rest of the month, subject to road and bridge restrictions.
Action Detector
NORTHEAST — PENNSYLVANIA / BID DAY
Two Pennsylvania Game Commission hardwood sales totaling 1,213.7 MBF open Tuesday
The Pennsylvania Game Commission lists two timber-sale bid openings for October 6. State Game Lands 44 in Elk County offers 379.5 MBF plus 244 tons of mixed hardwoods, while State Game Lands 64 in Potter County offers 834.2 MBF plus 199 tons of mixed hardwoods.
Together, the two sales put 1,213.7 MBF and 443 tons into Tuesday's opening. The Potter County sale includes dead northern red oak along with northern red oak, red maple and other hardwoods.
SOUTH — FLORIDA / NEW TIMBER SALE
Florida posts 16,094 tons of sand-pine pulpwood on Tate's Hell State Forest
The Florida Forest Service posted the Fern Dog 0315 26/27 Timber Sale on October 2. The sale covers about 146 acres of 46-year-old planted sand pine in Franklin County and carries an estimated 16,094 tons of pine pulpwood.
The contract term is 12 months. Bids are due for opening October 22 at 10:00 a.m. EDT in Tallahassee. The listing identifies pulpwood as the only product class, making this a clean read on a large low-grade pine outlet rather than a mixed-product sale.
CANADA — NEW BRUNSWICK / BIOMASS MARKET
Belledune project points to a 150,000-tonne annual market for advanced wood pellets
NB Power is moving ahead with conversion of the Belledune Generating Station from coal to advanced pellets, and the Belledune Joint Venture says its planned facility is expected to produce up to 150,000 tonnes of torrefied pellets annually.
The joint venture brings together Pabineau First Nation, Eel River Bar First Nation, Arbec Forest Products and Airex Energy. The planned pellet facility represents about $100 million in investment and is designed to use forestry harvest residues and sawmill by-products. NB Power says the generating-station conversion itself will cost about $65 million and is expected to support forestry, trucking, rail and shipping activity across the regional supply chain.
ALASKA — TONGASS / TIMBER-SALE RISK
4.1-MMBF Shelter Cove sale heads toward an October 20 bid opening with an injunction request pending
A Southeast Alaska tribe and two conservation groups have asked a federal court to halt the Shelter Cove Timber Sale while a broader challenge to the South Revilla project is heard. The sale offers roughly 4.1 million board feet in the Tongass National Forest and is scheduled for bid opening October 20.
The key business signal is timing risk rather than a final legal outcome: the sale is still advertised, but the plaintiffs are asking the court to act before the Forest Service awards a contract. Buyers following western hemlock, western red cedar and Sitka spruce volume from Southeast Alaska now have a legal decision to watch alongside the bid calendar.
Under the Radar
NATIONAL — FOREST DATA / MARKET INTELLIGENCE
A new $300,000 project will connect forest conditions, mill capacity and market demand in one decision tool
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities has awarded CTrees $300,000 to develop Forest Asset Intelligence: The Wood Triangle. The system is intended to combine forest conditions and ownership information with mill capacity, procurement and logistics, market demand, product specifications and certification.
The notable part is the planned decision layer: prototype AI-powered tools are intended to answer questions such as where forest treatments align with viable fiber markets and how changes in supply and demand could affect manufacturing decisions. That moves the project beyond mapping toward the kind of supply-shed analysis now assembled manually from FIA, mill and market datasets.
FOREST BUSINESS SCHOOL RESOURCE
Forest-products tax credits in one searchable sourcebook
The National Forest Products Tax Credit Sourcebook brings federal and state tax-credit opportunities together for mills, logging companies, wood-energy businesses and other forest-products operations. The searchable site also includes the complete 2026 PDF.
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