NEWS

Gina Raimondo, President Biden's nominee for Secretary of Commerce, stated that the U.S. must take "aggressive" action to counter China's "unfair" trade practices, while also working to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. The new administration will review policies carried over from former President Trump.

Photo © Stuart Isett/Fortune Magazine

China's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council declared that tariffs have been reduced on certain products imported into China beginning January 1. More than 100 types of forest products are included. This action demonstrates the importance of the wood industry to China.

Leading the trend of what today's home buyers want: energy efficiency. Green certification and health and wellness also rank high.

COVID-19 news and updates that affect our industry include:

• Emergency relief package includes $200 million to help loggers weather the economic crisis
• OSHA revises COVID-19 workplace guidelines
• Post-pandemic rebound predicted for 2021
• 2021 wood products global market report: expect growth
• Some coronavirus humor

Read more on the DHA coronavirus news and resources pages.

This year, Rockler Woodworking and Hardware has donated $50,000 to the Hardwood Forestry Fund to support tree planting projects across the U.S. Since 2008, Rockler has donated more than $100,000 to help fund HFF reforestation projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and more.

Effective April 1, Mohawk Industries will promote James Brunk to chief financial officer. He succeeds Frank Boykin, who will retire.

Capital Testing (formerly HPVA Laboratories®) has added a xenon arc weathering test chamber. The accelerated weathering chamber is now available to evaluate how exposure to sunlight, rain, and heat affects your plastics, textiles, coatings, and more. For more information or to schedule a test, contact the Capital Testing team.

In a new study, West Virginia University biologists show that trees are capturing more carbon dioxide than previously thought. After analyzing multiple tree ring studies, the researchers found that increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past century resulted in an increase in trees' water-use efficiency (the ratio of carbon dioxide used in photosynthesis to the water lost by transpiration).

Milrem Robotics, an Estonian company that began by building tanks, has now developed a robot forester that can plant and nurture young trees. The new robot planter carries up to 300 saplings and can plant a hectare (about 2.5 acres) of forest in less than six hours.

A Nature Conservancy report finds pastureland and open urban areas offer massive potential to capture carbon dioxide and slow climate change. Minnesota could add 3.6 million acres of trees, with another 3.1 million more acres possible in Wisconsin.

Source: The Nature Conservancy

A team of international researchers, including NASA scientists, found a new way to quantify how changes in forests have impacted the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. They were also able to distinguish between the contributions of different forest types.

Illegal loggers in Indonesia's Papua region have evaded punishment and continue to operate unimpeded, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency's forensic analysis of enforcement and court cases between 2018 and 2020.

Massive volumes of Amazon timber are entering the U.S. and EU in possible breaches of import regulations following a controversial decision by the Bolsonaro administration to lift sanctions against a domestic flooring firm. The products were made from species seized by Brazil’s environment agency, Ibama, that were later released.

Source: Earthsight

University of Maryland scientists have developed a new way to make wood transparent. Instead of using sodium chlorite to remove the wood's lignin, the new method uses hydrogen peroxide to remove the molecules that give lignin color. The result is 90% transparent and 50 times stronger than using the previous method.

Cabinet sales rose 11.6% in December 2020 vs. one year ago. Last year ended on a high note, with six straight months of year-over-year growth and total annual cabinet sales up by 2%.

See fifteen favorite waterfalls in U.S. national forests, the perfect destination for a long or short hike.

American Forests’ 2021 Forests in Focus photo contest is now open. Submissions, due no later than March 5, should show the diversity of forests and their many benefits.

LendLease safely constructed the Redstone Arsenal Hotel with mass timber and cut construction time by 37%.