The Sustainable Furnishings Council and the National Wildlife Federation have begun their assessment of over 100 North American furniture retailers on their wood sourcing policies. The scorecard will be released in November, which gauges the year-over-year progress of furniture retailers and their sustainability practices.

Winning prizes from Castle USA included a TSM-12 Pocket Cutting Machine for the class winner and the Castle 110 Pocket Cutter for the individual entry.

The Forest Service continues to invest in innovation in the forest products economy through the agency’s Wood Innovation Grants, Community Wood Grants, Wood Products Infrastructure Grants and Wood Edu

Kronospan, a leading producer of wood panel products, has acquired Woodgrain’s Particleboard facility in Island City, Oregon, which is the second particleboard facility purchase in less than a year.In December, Kronospan closed the purchase of Roseburg’s Simsboro, Louisiana, particleboard facility.

West Point Veneer LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Coldwater Veneer Incorporated that supplies quality veneer products around the world, plans to invest $2.5 million to reactivate its former manufacturing facility in the Town of West Point to increase capacity to meet the growing demand in the global wood veneer market.

Lumber Marketplace (LM), a platform for buying and selling wholesale hardwood lumber, has launched its online marketplace that the company said was designed to modernize the traditional lumber trade. With an extensive inventory and advanced functionalities, LM is set to be the largest source of hardwood lumber in North America.

Canfor Corp. recently announced the permanent closure of its Polar sawmill in Bear Lake, B.C., and the suspension of its planned $200 million reinvestment in its Houston, B.C. mill. That came on the heels of the company indefinitely curtailing one production line at its Northwood facility in B.C.

The Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is investing nearly $74 million to spark innovation, create new markets for wood products and renewable wood energy from sustainably sourced wood, and increase the capacity of wood processing facilities as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

There’s still time to enter your work in the Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge.

Retired rubber trees in plantations become new furniture.