Forest Products Industry

Every dollar spent on forest fuel treatments saves about US$3.75 in wildfire damages, according to a new study, led by researchers at the University of California, of nearly 300 fires in the western United States. Source: Timberbiz The study estimated that the treatments, such as forest thinning and prescribed burns, prevented US$2.8 billion in losses, reduced wildfire spread and fire severity. The researchers analysed the nearly 300 wildfires that intersected USDA Forest Service fuel reduction treatments in 11 states between 2017 and 2023. The study is the first to evaluate the economic value of Forest Service fuel treatments across the West at a large-scale using data from wildfires that encountered fuel treatments rather than relying on wildfire simulation models. It was published in Science. “Fuel treatments and forest management are critically underfunded public goods,” said lead author Frederik Strabo, a postdoctoral scholar with the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. “Our results suggest that when fewer resources are available to agencies like the Forest Service, more of the economic burden of wildfires falls on the public.” The researchers measured wildfire damages including structure losses, carbon emissions and the health impacts of exposure to fine particulate matter. As climate change has intensified wildfires in recent decades, those damages are estimated to total US$185 billion to US$540 billion a year. Researchers compared how fires behaved when they spread into treated areas versus untreated forests, accounting for predictable patterns of fire spread using fire-simulation modelling, while controlling for weather conditions and suppression efforts. Fires were more than 13 percentage points less likely to continue spreading after reaching a treatment area. Treatments were especially effective at reducing high-severity fire — those that kill more than 75% of the tree canopy — lowering burned area by 20% to 35%. Prescribed burning was significantly more effective than mechanical thinning alone at limiting wildfire spread. Treatment size also mattered: landscape-scale treatments larger than 2,400 acres were the most effective at reducing wildfire spread. Across the fires studied, fuel treatments reduced total burned area by 36%, or about 152,000 acres, relative to a scenario without treatments. They also prevented the loss of more than 4,000 buildings, avoided the release of 2.7 million tons of CO2, reduced 25,757 tons of fine particle pollution and prevented an estimated 59 premature deaths. Together, these avoided damages totalled about US$2.8 billion, including: US$895 million from avoided structure loss US$503 million from reduced CO2 emissions US$1.39 billion from avoided health impacts and productivity losses linked to smoke pollution Strabo said the findings underscore the importance of investing more in preventive forest management. “Wildfire policy has historically focused on suppression, but our results suggest greater investment in prevention could substantially reduce wildfire damages,” said Strabo. “That will become even more important as the climate continues to change and forests face more large wildfires and other disturbances.” The research was supported by the Giannini Foundation for Agricultural Economics and the USDA Forest Service. Other authors include Matthew N. Reimer with UC Davis and Calvin Bryan with the Department of Economics at Washington and Lee University.  

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Stora Enso has announced that Bergslagets Skogar is the new name of its Swedish forest asset company. The announcement marks an important step in Stora Enso’s preparations to separate its Swedish forest assets into a standalone listed company, subject to relevant approvals. Source: Timberbiz Bergslagets Skogar represents Stora Enso’s Swedish forest asset entity, comprising long term, sustainably managed forest land with a history of active ownership extending back to year 1288. The name reflects both the historical footprints in the old Copper Mine in Falun and a long-term approach to value creation, where planning horizons extend across generations. “Forest land is a long-term asset class where value is generated through biological growth and sustainable forest management. Bergslagets Skogar reflects our ambition to manage our assets with a clear focus on long-term value creation and operational excellence,” said Tuomas Hallenberg, CEO of the new forest company. Stora Enso is preparing to separate its Swedish forest assets into a new publicly listed company, with completion expected in the first half of 2027. Following the separation, Bergslagets Skogar would comprise more than 1.2 million hectares of forest land in prime locations in Sweden and emerge as Europe’s largest listed pure play forest company, offering investors exposure to forest assets as a distinct asset class. The planned separation is intended to unlock the full value of both Stora Enso’s forest assets and its renewable packaging business, enabling each company to pursue a clearly defined strategy and capital allocation framework. Bergslagets Skogar would generate value through biological growth, operational excellence, efficient forest management, and additional revenue streams linked to sustainable land use. Long term wood supply agreements with Stora Enso are planned to provide predictable demand while maintaining flexibility for both companies.

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Kodiak AI is a leading provider of physical AI-powered autonomous vehicle technology, and the company announced it will conduct pilot operations and explore the deployment of trucks equipped with the Kodiak Driver, Kodiak’s AI-powered autonomous driving system, at West Fraser Timber’s log-hauling operations in Alberta, Canada. Source: Timberbiz In the initial phase of work, Kodiak will pilot the use of its self-driving technology to transport timber from forest sites to one of West Fraser’s Alberta processing facilities in Western Canada later this year. Results of the pilot will be used to inform any future long-term deployment of Kodiak Driver-equipped trucks for commercial driverless operations. This work marks a significant milestone for Kodiak, representing the company’s expansion into the timber industry, as well as its first international operations. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with operations in Canada, the United States, and Europe, West Fraser is the world’s largest manufacturer of wood building materials. Logging truck routes often involve challenging, remote resource roads with uneven and rough terrain. By leveraging the Kodiak Driver, West Fraser aims to improve the safety of its logging transport operations, address the industry-wide shortage of drivers, and increase the consistency of its raw material supply to mills. “Innovation that improves safety and sustainability has long been central to how West Fraser operates,” said Mark Cookson, Woods Operations Manager, West Fraser. “This pilot gives us the opportunity to test autonomous technology that can help address driver shortages and enhance safety by reducing human exposure to the risks of remote, rough-terrain resource roads.” The Kodiak Driver is designed to handle the complex variables seen in industrial trucking environments. Kodiak deployed its first driverless technology commercially in West Texas’s Permian Basin in December 2024 and scaled its operations to 20 driverless trucks as of the end of 2025. Its modular technology is built to withstand the dust, vibration, and extreme weather conditions typical in industrial environments, including the oil and gas and forestry sectors. “We built the Kodiak Driver to be the most versatile autonomous system on the market, capable of handling everything from interstate highways to the toughest industrial environments, from arid We st Texas to the forests of Western Canada,” said Don Burnette, Founder and CEO of Kodiak. “Our work with West Fraser is the perfect opportunity to support our expansion into logging, because it is an industry leader with a deep understanding of the logistical complexities of timber. By bringing the benefits of autonomous trucking to the wood products industry, we are demonstrating that our technology can thrive in even the most demanding settings.” FPInnovations, a private non-profit research and development centre, facilitated the collaboration between Kodiak and West Fraser. Supported by federal and provincial governments as well as more than 50 forest-product companies. FPInnovations brings decades of expertise in advancing transportation solutions that address unique challenges of the Canadian forest sector. “This is an important step towards making autonomous transportation in Canada’s forests a reality. The adoption of new key technologies is critical for the Canadian forest sector to remain competitive,” said Christoph Schilling, Program Manager Transportation for FPInnovations. “Deploying these technologies strategically, safely, with real operational purpose and in close collaboration with industry, technology providers and regulators will be crucial for its adoption.”

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