AFA NEWSROOM V17N34, August 24, 2022

AFA Annual Meeting - September 11-13

Get Ready-We are heading to the beach!

Registration for the 2022 AFA Annual Meeting is in full swing! Click the link below to learn more about our speakers, agenda, sponsors, and hotel information. We look forward to seeing you in September!

You can register to play as an add-on to the AFA Annual Meeting or register independently. Check out the 2022 Sunburn Classic website for more information!

North American Wood Pellet Capacity Projected To Increase 10% In 2022 And 5.4% In 2023. Export-Oriented Projects In The U.S. South Continue To Drive Growth.

Research presented in the Q3 2022 editions of the Forisk Mill Capacity Database and the Forisk Research Quarterly (FRQ) indicates that wood pellet production capacity reached 19.8 million metric tons in North America in 2021, with growth expected to reach 21.8 million metric tons in 2022 and 22.9 million metric tons in 2023. Much of the growth is in the U.S. South by proven producers located within economic freight distance of ports for export. Current high spot prices for pellets might support new market participants, such as the proposed Spectrum Energy facility in Adel, Georgia or the proposed Golden State Natural Resources projects in Nubieber and Jamestown, California.

Don't forget to register for the next installment of AFA's Public Policy Series - Issues Affecting Timberland Ownership. You can register to attend as an add-on to the AFA Annual Meeting or attend independently. Check out the the link below   for more information!

Lumber Futures Are Down 62% Amid A ‘Great Reset.’

Lumber prices have been on a wild ride over the past two years. As Fortune previously detailed, two massive bubbles formed in the typically under-the-radar lumber industry during the pandemic, and both ultimately popped.

Since March, with interest rates rising, the housing market cooling, and new home construction falling, demand for lumber has declined—and prices have followed suit.

Lumber futures fell to just $500 per thousand board feet on Friday, or 62% below January’s $1,329 high.

Loggers from Across the Country Converged for a Meeting in Louisiana to Discuss the Future of the Timber Industry

The group toured the largest plywood mill in North America owned by RoyOMartin is a family-owned business operating numerous mills and employing 1,200 people. RoyOMartin is not a typical corporate interest. Their focus is on stability, employees, and community. As an example, they provide financial assistance for post-secondary (college) education for all their employees’ and their children; they operate a medical clinic for their employees; they have a pharmacy for their employees. From a stability perspective they are committed to continuous operations even during market cycles and the pandemic. They recognize particularly that logging operations cannot be turned on and off like a light switch. Along with the mill tour, RoyOMartin President & COO, Scott Poole attended the ALC dinner and spoke to the group about the values of the company and their appreciation of the logging industry. In an effort to facilitate more efficient wood deliveries truckers are provided an app which tracks “turnaround time” which averages 23 minutes, and the truckers can also monitor onsite cameras to see truck traffic waiting to come into the mill so that they can minimize their wait time.

Defining “Old Growth” is a Futile Exercise When Our Forests Are Burning

The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are seeking public input to define and inventory “old-growth and mature forests” on federal lands in their first step toward complying with the Biden Administration’s Earth Day executive order, which identified “climate impacts, catastrophic wildfires, insect infestation, and disease” as the primary threats to all forests, including older forests.

Unfortunately, this attempt to “define and inventory” directly undermines the administration’s own 10-year wildfire strategy that aims to treat up to an additional 20 million acres on National Forest System lands through thinning, logging and controlled burning, and up to an additional 30 million acres of other Federal, State, Tribal, and private lands. Such treatments have helped public lands managers and firefighters save large, old and mature trees from destruction, including the iconic Giant Sequoias in California.

In the weeks leading up to and during our Alabama Woods to Goods Week 2022 celebration, we will be sharing stories about why forestry is "more than an industry" to people throughout the state of Alabama. Let us know what forestry means to you by clicking the link below.

An Invisible Coating To Make Wood 'Fireproof'

An invisible coating that can "fireproof" wood has been invented by scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore).

With the popularity of mass engineered timber growing in the construction industry, one of the biggest challenges for wood is its flammability. When untreated, wood or timber can burn and combust easily.

Keeping Forest-by the Alabama Forestry Commission

Without access to markets - private landowners (who own 90% of Alabama's 23 million acres of forestland) struggle to manage their forests without economic incentives. Forests provide clean air & water plus they sequester carbon.

August 30 - 2022 International Paper Forestry and Logging Workshop

September 8 - 2022 Alabama Prescribe Fire Council Annual Meeting

September 10 - FWTI Workforce Development Forum

September 11 - 2022 Public Policy Series - Issues Affecting Timberland Ownership (CE Only)

September 11 - 13 - 2022 AFA Annual Meeting

September 12 - 11th Annual Sunburn Classic - Golf Only

September 23 - Alabama Women Owning Woodlands Workshop & Brunch - Russell County