“Although wildfire is a natural part of forest regeneration, the unseasonal heat and lack of rain has prompted many fires to erupt at the same time, making them very difficult to manage.”
Quebec has so far seen the biggest impact in recent weeks when it comes to forestry companies’ operations being affected by wildfires, said Nighbor. The association is also particularly concerned about the fire outside Edson, Alta., he said.Article content In a note last week, RBC Capital Markets analysts Paul Quinn and Matthew McKellar said forest fires can contribute to higher lumber prices, likely due to either constrained supply or the fear of constrained supply leading to buyers increasing inventories. The analysts noted at the time that lumber futures had ticked higher, attributing that to the current fires, and also noted that significant fires can affect longer-term timber supply.
“The next question is, what forests have been impacted? And how bad have they been impacted?” he said. “We’ll then be able to assess the impact on timber supply, and what needs to be done to either salvage or get some of the dying or dead or decayed stuff out of the bush so it doesn’t become kindling for the next fire season.”