Evacuated in July due to wildfires, Tolko’s Lakeview sawmill in Williams Lake was shut down again over the weekend, but this time due to a fire from inside the mill. According to the Globe and Mail, the mill was already facing an uncertain future due to the softwood lumber dispute and uncertainty over future harvest levels. 

Ben & Jerry’s [yes – the ice cream company] has joined four other retail outlets “imploring the government to protect woodland caribou from unsustainable logging practices“. Punching back, the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association and the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities say the caribou population has “been rising thanks to sound forestry practices“. 

In other news, Westerman’s Forestry Bill has cleared the House and now heads to the Senate where its future is less certain. Oregon’s delegation split on the vote; the Editorial Board of the Press Democrat says we should fight wildfires without gutting conservation rules; while the News Tribune points to other legislative blueprints for fire protection. 

Finally, Lloyd Alter of TreeHugger fame, has two stories on the reasons to build and build big with wood from the Toronto Wood Solutions Fair; and a wood-based textile developer is converting pulp directly into textile fibre without using chemical solvents.

— Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor