US Senators bill would provide preference in federal building contracts for mass timber products. In related news: Mercer will provide mass timber materials for the Roosevelt Presidential Library; wood structures can reduce GHG emissions in the UK; New Hampshire rejects a carbon credits initiative in favour of a working forest; and the science behind forest carbon credits gets a boost.
In other news: North Carolina updates its fire code related to wood-framed sites; a California bill seeks insurance-credits for wildfire mitigation; Ontario and Colorado prepare for their wildfire seasons; and Tasmania’s prescribed burning program may have a tourism impact. Meanwhile: the top prize in forestry research is awarded to University of Wisconsin-Madison’s John Ralph; and a US tree improvement lab uses DNA fingerprinting to solve an illegal-logging case.
Finally, Sandy McKellar on preserving and sharing the rich history of BC’s forests.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
As economist Milton Friedman once quipped, monetary policy has a history of operating with “long and variable lags.” What Friedman was expressing is that it takes some time for the true effects of monetary policy, like the changing of the federal funds rate, to permeate completely through the larger economy. While some industries, like housing, are extremely rate-sensitive, there are others that are less so. Given the current inflation challenge, the question then becomes: how does monetary policy affect inflation across a diverse economy like the United States? This was the question that Leila Bengali and Zoe Arnaut, researchers at the Federal Reserve Board of San Francisco, asked. …The economists examined which components that make up the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, an inflation measurement produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, are the most and least responsive to changes in the federal funds rate. 
With growing concerns about sustainability, you might wonder: Are paper coffee cups bad for the environment? Are paper cups sustainable? Let’s explore the facts about paper cups. Paper cups are a sustainable choice. Here’s why: Made From a Renewable Resource: Paper cups are made from renewable resources – wood fiber sourced from responsibly managed working forests. These forests play a vital role, capturing carbon dioxide and keeping our air clean. Managed Forests are Planted for the Future: Sustainable forestry practices ensure trees are replanted on working forests. The U.S. pulp and paper industry is not linked to global deforestation and forest degradation. U.S. Forests are Strong: 1/3 of the U.S. is forested. And more than 1 billion trees are planted in the U.S. each year! So, next time you grab a paper cup, you can feel good knowing it comes from a sustainable resource.
A new University of Vermont (UVM) study is flipping the script on what we know about forests and climate. The study, published in Ecology and Evolution, explores forests that experience “cold-air pooling,” a phenomenon where cold air at higher elevations drains down into lower-lying valleys, reversing the expected temperatures—warm at the bottom, cold at the top—that typically occurs in mountainous areas. That is, the air temperature drops with descent from mountain to valley. “With temperature inversions, we also see vegetation inversions,” says lead study author Melissa Pastore. “Instead of finding more cold-preferring species like spruce and fir at high elevations, we found them in lower elevations—just the opposite of what we expect.” “This cold-air pooling is fundamentally structuring the forest,” says study coauthor and UVM professor Carol Adair. This insight “can help …preserve cold-loving species as the climate warms,” says Adair.
You know me from your daily Tree Frog News email, but today, I’m advocating for something different: membership in the Forest History Association of BC. As the newest member of the board, I want to drive up our membership numbers! Our organization is passionate about preserving and sharing the rich history of British Columbia’s forests and the hardworking individuals who have contributed to the sector over the years. Together we cooperate with libraries, museums, and archives throughout the province to collect, describe, conserve, digitize, curate and communicate forest history. Our mission is clear: to ensure that the legacy of BC’s forests lives on for generations to come. But we can’t do it alone.