Forest Data Network

01/31/2024

Announced in 2023, to assure that hardwood exports harvested from U.S. forests comply with European Union regulations, the American Hardwood Export Council is working with Dovetail Partners, Inc. (a Minnesota-based non-profit) to implement a new form of verification to demonstrate that U.S. hardwood is legal and deforestation-free under E.U. definitions.

Read more about the latest news on E.U. Hardwood Compliance: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/ahec-and-dovetails-new-approach-to-ensure-eu-compliance-in-u-s-hardwood-exports

01/25/2024

With the Federal Reserve holding on future interest rate increases, the U.S. experienced a slight drop in late 2023 mortgage interest rates. Prospects for housing markets brightened slightly in the U.S. Rates on a 30-year mortgage dropped by more than one percent from a recent high in early November to year-end.

This all pointed toward slightly better conditions for home building as 2024 started, as well as the likelihood that construction lumber demand would brighten. FRED (the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank) showed the average 30-year mortgage rate on December 28 as 6.61%. This was a big increase from early 2023 but down rapidly from 7.76% on November 2.

Learn more about how the latest FED moves have changed confidence in construction: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/lower-mortgage-rates-spark-optimism-in-home-construction

01/19/2024

Species Price Changes Collide as 2023 Ends:

Pine cordwood prices reflected continued growth in all three Lake States with the strongest demand showing up in Michigan where the average price of pine cordwood was up 41% from 2022 and 59% from 2021. Both red and white pine sawlog prices also advanced but by lower percentages.

Take a look at the latest findings from our Q4 data collection: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/forest-data-networks-q4-2023-pricing-insights-and-trends

01/10/2024

Research by the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station suggests that girdling and herbicide can be an effective way of containing oak wilt, a disease that is prevalent in red oak areas in the Lake States and “can kill an otherwise healthy red oak in 3 to 8 months”.

Learn more about this method and its success rate here: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/oak-wilt-herbicide-and-girdling

01/06/2024

Investigators for OSHA have recommended a fine of over $1.4 million for numerous safety violations related to the death of a 16-year-old boy after a Florence Hardwoods LLC Mill accident in June.

Read more: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/osha-proposes-hefty-fine-in-wake-of-16-year-olds-death-at-florence-hardwoods-mill

12/30/2023

The ruffed grouse — a long-term partner of sustainable forest management — appears to be doing better in the Northern Lake States than some hardwood forest regions to the South. Grouse populations are believed to rise and decline over a 10-year cycle making it somewhat difficult to discern a cyclical change from a longer-term trend.

Background for a 2023 Penn State University research project reported a 70% decline in grouse population since the 1960s due to an outbreak of the West Nile mosquito-borne virus and land fragmentation. The Penn State study produced a reference genome intended to allow tracking of genomic diversity as an indicator of genetic health.

Read more: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/genetic-resilience-offers-hope-for-ruffed-grouse-conservation

12/23/2023

12/15/2023

A startup company will begin to sell carbon credits created from forest product mill waste products including sawdust and bark that have been dried and compressed into blocks. The credits are expected to yield $100 metric ton (of carbon equivalent weight).

An initial sale of credits was announced by the startup Graphyte, and American Airlines for credits equivalent to 10,000 metric tons. The $100 per metric ton price includes not only the value of the forest product waste, but also its processing into bricks, and sealing and burying it.

Read more: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news

12/08/2023

The Natural Resources Research Institute at UMD (NRRI ) based at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, has completed development work on InnovaTree, a hybrid poplar that NRRI says should grow to its full 75 feet in height within 10 years.

The tree is a “cross between native Eastern cottonwood and European black poplar, naturally cross-bred over 25 years,” according to NRRI. “It will not spread,” according to the NRRI announcement.

It is well suited to all of the USDA hardiness zones in the Lake States (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan). It requires full sunlight and “grows best in well-drained loam, sandy loam, clay loam, and light clay soils with annual rainfall above 20 inches”, the NRRI announcement said.

InnovaTrees will be distributed by Hauser's Superior View Farm LLC In Bayfield, Wisconsin in the Spring.

Check out our website for the latest in forestry news: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/

12/01/2023

A new report establishing ownership and beneficiaries of U.S. corporations and LLCs will be required to be filed in 2024 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN–an arm of the U.S. Treasury created to fight money laundering).

Business entities that were created by filing with a U.S. state’s Secretary of State before January 1, 2024, will have until December 31, 2024, to file with FinCEN. Businesses created on or after January 1, 2024, will have to file as they are created with their state’s Secretary of State.

Read more about the new filing rules for business entities: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/navigating-the-new-fincen-requirements-for-u-s-corporations-and-llcs

11/29/2023

Enviva, the dominant business supplying wood pellets as a fuel source, reported a substantial drop in wood pellet export prices in the third quarter, also citing risks to its business from its agreement to repurchase 1.8 million tons of pellets from a customer on order for the period from 2023-2025.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, they said “These conditions and events in aggregate raise substantial doubts regarding the company’s ability to continue as a growing concern.”

Read more: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/envivas-struggle-with-wood-pellet-export-prices-and-repurchase-commitments
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11/22/2023

Leaves are down, temperatures are cooler, and that means it’s prime time for pruning oak trees, which can be infected by the oak wilt fungus if they’re pruned during the high-risk period April 15 to July 15.

“Beetles that can carry the disease from tree to tree are not very active now, and the trees are not vulnerable to infection,” said Simeon Wright, forest health specialist with the DNR Forest Resources Division. The beetles are attracted to fresh bark damage or wounds where tree limbs have been removed.

Oak wilt also spreads when firewood from infected trees is moved to new locations. If you cut wood from an oak tree that might have died from oak wilt, cover the wood with a plastic tarp and bury the tarp’s edges underground to prevent access by the beetles that spread the disease. Ensure the tarp remains intact for six to 12 months until the bark sloughs off. This will kill the fungus and prevent its spread to healthy trees.

Read more: https://www.forestdatanetwork.com/news/prune-oak-trees-in-winter-to-avoid-oak-wilt