With just hours remaining before the steel exemptions expired, President Trump extended the deadline to give the NAFTA participants another month to cut a deal. In related news: Unifor boss Dias says it’s time to fight back on US newsprint duties; and Maine’s Governor is under fire again for his so-called “Canada-first trade policy“. 

In Wood product news: construction on Saskatoon’s first six-storey, wood framed building resumes after a fire; a six-storey wood building is going up in tandem with BC’s Site C Dam; Portland’s first high-rise wood building prefabrication includes the electrical system; and the first and largest CLT plant in the eastern US is nearly operational.

Forestry topics of note include concerns about: Canada’s species at risk policies; overwintering fires in BC; community efforts to build wildfire resistance; and severe fires in Oregon’s plantation forests.

Finally, discerning drinkers may soon be able tipple some cedar, birch and cherry beverages.

–Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor