NEWS

Total industrial production increased 0.6% in July, up nearly 4% vs. last year. Production of wood products is up 4.4% vs. one year ago. Manufacturing output gained 0.7% after having fallen 0.4% in each of the two previous months. See the chart above for key industrial activity metrics.

Photo © Forest2Market

In a letter to the Commerce Department in support of their state's kitchen cabinet manufacturers and workers, Alabama's members of Congress expressed their concern about the first administrative review of the antidumping duty order on wooden cabinets from China. The delegation asked that the Secretary of Commerce "vigorously enforce" U.S. trade remedy laws to protect "constituents and the U.S. cabinet industry from China's continued unfair trade practices."

Senators Manchin and Barrasso introduced a bipartisan bill to improve forest restoration and reduce the use of hazardous fuels by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The bill would require federal agencies to double the number of acres thinned mechanically by 2025, and quadruple that by 2027.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the tricolored bat under the Endangered Species Act after seeing significant decreases in bat population caused by white-nose syndrome. The proposed listing is likely to expand buffer zones within the bat's habitat and add seasonal restrictions on forest management practices. USFWS will accept comments through November 14.

Photo © Pete Pattavina-USFWS

Researchers at the Environmental Investigation Agency have shown that most birch products—including hardwood plywood—currently being exported from Vietnam to the U.S. originate in Russia. About 40,000 cubic meters of birch is transported every month from Russia and China into Vietnam, where it is assembled into furniture and plywood. Much of this is exported to other countries, including the U.S. This story was picked up and reported by The Washington Post, too.