in the News

Lumber Market Report

Random Lengths reported that despite severe wintry weather, framing lumber prices opened the year with a firm to stronger tone. Distribution and dealer sales were adversely affected in the Northeast, the Midwest, and along the Atlantic Seaboard as far south as Florida. But mills in most producing regions fielded a steady flow of inquiries and sales from the outset in early January 2018.

The housing forecast was a positive one. Given tight inventories of homes for sale, and labor needed to get more homes on the market, housing analysts forecast another moderate increase in U.S. housing starts in 2018.

University of Idaho Turns to Mass Timber for New Basketball Arena

The University of Idaho (UI) in Moscow, Idaho, partnered with the Idaho timber industry and Portland-based Opsis Architecture, to construct a 70,000-square-foot multi-use basketball arena of mass timber.

The Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) purchased the naming rights for the arena for $10 million, which means ground breaking will be soon.

With a 4,200-seat basketball court, practice court, offices, locker rooms, conference spaces for both the men and women’s basketball programs, and volleyball courts, university officials have expressed hope that the arena would jumpstart athletic fundraising, as well as architectural and engineering interest in the school. In addition to the sports facilities, the space will double as convention space.

2017 Idaho Wildfire Emissions Compared to other Emission Sources in Idaho

Healthy Forests Healthy Communities reported that wildfire significantly impacted Idaho’s air quality in 2017. Wildfires burned more than 5 million acres in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and British Columbia, Canada, combined, and more than 700,000 acres were affected by wildfire in Idaho in 2017. Here are just a few of the facts from the report:

• Idaho wildfires in 2017 released over 111,000 tons of direct fine particulate pollution 1(PM5) into the air — 10 times the amount of particulate pollution that all the cars and trucks in Idaho emit over a three-year period.
• All Idaho’s industrial sources combined emit 3% of the particulates (PM5) emitted from Idaho wildfires in 2017.
• Volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from on-road vehicles totaled approximately 19,000 tons. Wildfires were estimated to have released 331,000 tons of VOC.
• Industrial sources in Idaho emit approximately 19,000 tons of carbon monoxide each year. The 2017 wildfires were estimated to have emitted 42 times that amount, or 800,000 tons.

For more information, visit http://healthyforests.org/2018/01/2017-idaho-wildfire-emissions-compared-to-other-emission-sources-in-idaho/

California Cuts Red Tape to Cut Wildfire-burned Trees

The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection announced it will cut regulations to speed removal of dead or dying trees on property damaged by wildfires in three counties.

The board stated an emergency regulation, which takes effect Jan. 22, allowing for the cutting or removing of dead and dying trees around damaged or destroyed legally permitted structures. The change allows the applicant to notify the board using “expedited” notification rather than preparing a timber harvest plan.

The emergency regulation applies to Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma counties.