Daily edition
October 6, 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
Madison’s Lumber Prices Index: $505/MBF for the week ending October 2, unchanged from the prior week and down $20/MBF from one month earlier. Madison’s Lumber Reporter
NATIONAL — LOGGING SAFETY / NEW FIELD TOOL
Free Woods-Ready Safety Plan app puts job-site emergency information into one shareable plan
The Northeastern Loggers’ Association is offering the Woods-Ready Safety Plan, or WRSP, as a free browser-based tool to help logging crews assemble and share essential emergency information before work begins. Development was supported by a grant from the National Timber Harvesting and Transportation Safety Foundation, administered by the Forest Resources Association, and the app is available free regardless of location.
WRSP brings site coordinates, written responder directions, contact information, access restrictions, hazards and emergency-equipment details into a single plan. Users can mark the site location and enter directions that can be read directly to a 911 operator. The app runs in a web browser and can be saved to a phone’s home screen without an app-store download.
Once a plan is built, WRSP produces a readable one-page PDF and matching image for printing or sharing by email or messaging. Plans are stored locally on the device, and saved plans plus the built-in Quick Guide remain available offline after the app’s files have loaded; online maps and address lookups still require a connection. The app was created by Dr. Steven Bick, CF of Northeast Forests LLC.
Feedback is built into the tool through More > Send Feedback, and the project explicitly treats WRSP as a preparedness aid rather than a substitute for safety training, calling 911 or following local emergency procedures.
Action Detector
NORTHEAST — PENNSYLVANIA / BID DAY
Two Pennsylvania Game Commission sales totaling 1,213.7 MBF open today
The Pennsylvania Game Commission lists two hardwood sales for bid opening today, 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.
Together the sales put 1,213.7 MBF and 443 tons into today’s opening, with northern red oak, dead northern red oak, yellow-poplar, red maple and other hardwoods represented.
WEST — MONTANA / BID DAY
Montana’s Stryker timber sale reaches bid opening today
Montana DNRC lists the Stryker Timber Sale for bid opening today, October 6, at its Missoula forestry office. The agency’s current-sale page also shows Luke Mountain 2 Salvage opening October 8 and Case for Potomac opening October 13, creating a concentrated run of state timber opportunities over the next week.
WEST — WYOMING / MILL CLOSURE
Bearlodge Forest Products says it will close October 31 after nearly 50 years
Bearlodge Forest Products in Hulett, Wyoming, says it will close its sawmill and pallet operations after October 31, ending a nearly five-decade run. The company cited high input costs, a limited labor pool, scarce housing and sustained downward pricing trends rather than a single cause.
The closure matters beyond the plant itself because the business occupies a small-diameter and pallet-market niche and supports equipment, parts, welding and other local spending. Wyoming officials also continue to point to timber-supply constraints and efforts to expand Good Neighbor Authority work as part of the broader operating environment for the region’s mills.
Under the Radar
NATIONAL — FOREST CARBON / DATA TOOL
New FACT beta platform links forest inventory and harvested-wood-product carbon data
The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities have launched a beta version of Forestry Analytics for Carbon Tracking, or FACT, a free platform intended to combine public and private U.S. forest and harvested-wood-product carbon data in one system.
Forest managers can use the platform to convert inventories into carbon stocks and estimate carbon for smaller areas, while manufacturers can use it to calculate and report carbon impacts from harvested wood products. The beta is open now, with Version 1 planned for summer 2027.
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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