News in timber

The NIFC is reporting that one large new wildfire was reported on Sunday (5-22-22) in Texas. Nationally, there are now 14 large wildfires burning over 536,604 acres in seven states. Currently, there are 6,332 personnel dedicated to controlling these fires. Only 5 of the 14 wildfires are being reported as partially contained.

Weyerhaeuser Company announced on Thursday (5-19-22) that it had successfully completed the acquisition of 80,800 acres of high-quality timberland located in North and South Carolina from a fund managed by Campbell Global for approximately $265 million. The original announcement of this acquisition was made in April of 2022.

Mirax Group announced today (5-16-22) that it has reached an agreement to acquire Interfor Corporation’s Avalon Dryland Log Sort (“Avalon”) assets located in Port Mellon, BC. The acquisition will operate through a wholly owned affiliated company, Avalon Log Sort Inc. Mirax Group is a privately owned, family-based company.

The NIFC is reporting that no large new fires were reported yesterday. Nationally, nine uncontained large fires have burned 328,189 acres. More than 4,200 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents in the Southwest and Southern areas.

In today’s briefing, the NIFC is reporting that 1 new wildfire was burning in Colorado. Nationally, nearly 3,400 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to 10 large fires. The Southwest area continues to have the largest fire activity, where five incident management teams are assigned.

Since the closure of Paper Excellence Company’s Northern Pulp Mill in Nova Scotia in January of 2020, local sawmill operators have seen their steady and ample supply of sawlogs continue to erode. Local sawmill and trucking company owners’ operations stories all have a common theme: The loss of the pulp market has made woodlot harvesting less viable.

In his keynote address on Friday to the British Columbia Council of Forest Industries Conference, B.C. Premier John Horgan said that the only way the provincial forest industry will grow is through partnerships with the First Nations and companies. Horgan noted that co-operation was vital to sustain employment and profitability in the industry.

The B.C. government announced on Wednesday (4-27-22) that it has increased the share of revenue that First Nations receive from forestry in their traditional territories. The share of revenue they currently receive is being increased as part of a longer-term revenue sharing model being co-developed by the province and First Nations.

The U.S. National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that the 2022 wildfire season is actively underway. Year-to-date through April 27, 2022, 21,181 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 1,080,836 acres. The NIFC notes that the past 10-year average, for the same time period, was 14,958 wildfires that burned 727,141 acres.

Weyerhaeuser announced on Thursday that it has reached an agreement to purchase 80,800 acres of high-quality timberlands in North and South Carolina from a fund managed by Campbell Global for approximately $265 million. The acquisition is comprised of highly productive timberlands situated in strong coastal markets.