What does British Columbia’s Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar mean when he talks about forest industry transformation? …Industry transformation is a core theme of the NDP government’s forest sector agenda—part of what it was elected to address in 2017 and later formalized in the 2021 intentions paper, Modernizing Forest Policy in British Columbia. It is clear that transformation is meant to include more value-added wood products manufacturing, partly to reduce reliance on commodity lumber markets in the U.S. and move away from boom-and-bust cycles. Those are worthy broad objectives but impractical. And there is no concrete plan. Frustratingly, the details of this industry transformation have never been publicly outlined.
By my analysis, approximately 42 per cent of the softwood lumber production capacity operating in this province in 2019 has since been indefinitely curtailed, indefinitely closed, or permanently closed. …What about the 54 per cent, or 3.1 million tonne reduction in pulp and paper mill capacity since 2020? Add two or three closed pellet mills, a few other wood product manufacturers, and the list is a shocking transformation. The corresponding 47% decrease in the provincial Crown harvest is equally telling. …One of the biggest ironies of all this is the desire to increase value-added manufacturing cannot scale without primary manufacturers converting logs into products like lumber or veneer that can be used to then make value-added products. Except those primary manufacturers are the ones closing down.
Industry leaders recently sent a joint letter to the Premier warning that industry is at a breaking point and asking for an emergency meeting to address the crisis. Maybe the discussion should not be industry conveying its concerns and needs, but rather the Premier and Minister cutting to the chase on what they mean by industry transformation. The government keeps invoking transformation, yet the observable result of the last decade have been contraction—and neither communities nor industry know where the government’s goalposts are.
This past summer once again saw wildfires rip through the BC Interior resulting in lost homes and uprooted communities. As always, we’re left wondering why did this happen? Could it have been prevented? In the case of the Summerland fire, CBC reported that fuel management and prescribed burning work had been planned in some of the affected areas but had not been carried out. But the situation is more nuance than the reporting suggests. Considerable mitigation work had taken place around the community over the past two decades including fuel management treatments, ecological burns, and targeted grazing. The effectiveness of those efforts, along with other factors across the landscape and efforts of individual local residents, will no doubt be studied in detail in the months ahead. The impact of this wildfire does not mean mitigation failed. Quite the opposite; it suggests that preventative work matters, that FireSmart initiatives by homeowners are imperative, and that communities are safer because of it.
WAHSINGTON — I read a poll earlier this month showing that 41% of Canadians see the US as “an enemy country.” The poll was conducted right after President Trump slapped 50% tariffs on $27.6 billion of Canadian exports to the US. …I have no illusions that U.S.-Canada relations were idyllic before Trump took office. …But the recent turn in US-Canada relations feels different. Canada’s willingness to antagonize its far larger trading partner signals how much Canadians now fear that their economic integration with the United States was a major strategic mistake. Can the economic relationship between the two countries be repaired? …A conversation with Rohinton Medhora at McGill University… left me with three take aways. 1. Canadians are feeling frustration, anger, and trepidation. …2. Carney sees no political or strategic alternative to retaliating against the Trump tariffs. …3. Washington and Ottawa may find an off-ramp, but Canada will continue to reduce its vulnerability to US economic pressure.
Canadian Prime Minister Carney welcomed the European Union’s ambition to make Ottawa an associate member and said Canadian lawmakers would ultimately vote on the final structure of the alliance. …Carney did not name President Trump in his speech, but he nodded to his US counterpart’s use of tariffs by saying, “Economic integration is now being weaponized — tariffs being used to exert pressure.” …His comments come shortly after Trump described the prospect of Canada becoming the first associate member of the EU as “laughable” and threatened the bloc with tariffs if he deemed the move to be a “hostile act.” …European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the 27-nation bloc wanted to bring the relationship with Canada “to the highest level possible.” …Associate membership doesn’t currently exist as a formal category under EU treaties, and any such arrangement would need to be created and ratified by member states.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – For Martin Wiegand, Canadian softwood lumber is the “champagne” of wood. His family lumber business dates back to the 1800s in Washington, D.C. Wiegand has relied on Canadian Western red cedar for years. In fact, more than half of his business deals with selling Canadian softwood to customers to build fences, pergolas, decking and siding. …But US President Trump’s tariffs are raising the price of the basic 2×4 wooden plank, making it difficult to plan how expensive inventory will be or how much his business can afford to buy. “So, it lengthens the lead time for our customers and in their projects and ordering, so it makes it a little more difficult,” he said. …“My message to Donald Trump is: Stop this. Stop. Stop the tariffs,” Wiegand said. “There’s no American sawmill jumping in and starting to produce Western reds,” Wiegand said.
NEW YORK — A trade war between the United States and Canada is making it more difficult and expensive for small businesses in the economically entwined countries to operate, according to business owners caught in the crossfire. …The tariffs so far involve about 5.5% of the neighboring nations’ bilateral trade in goods. Analysts say the overall economic impact therefore will be muted. But small business owners who depend on cross-border sales say a tax of up to 50% on their products and ill will created by the conflict have an outsize effect on them:
President Trump’s tariffs on Canada are creating clear winners and uneasy allies, with steel and lumber producers embracing the protection while alcohol and dairy groups see the levies as a bargaining chip to push Ottawa to the negotiating table. Steel producers are the most vocal. …Beyond steel, the US lumber industry says Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canadian wood have given it a boost. Domestic lumber producers are projected to add 2.5 billion board feet of capacity in the next two years. That translates to 1,667 more workers at the mills, 4,150 jobs in supplier industries and 3,100 jobs in surrounding communities, according to the U.S. Lumber Coalition. The coalition noted that Canada’s US market share plummeted from roughly 35% to 19% after first-term tariffs. …Yet these protections carry a price. Builders and manufacturers are paying more for steel and lumber. …While protective tariffs shield primary producers, they squeeze downstream industries caught in the crossfire.
Chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with US Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego about the impact of the US-Canada trade war on the state of Arizona. Plus, Janet Mills, governor of Maine, talks about the trade war’s effect on her state. Then, a Michigan-based furniture business owner and an Ontario-based distillery owner describe what the tariffs have meant for their businesses. …The US president spoke about the state of relations with Canada this past weekend while on a trip to Ireland, saying… “Canada wants to make a deal very badly”. …But not all US- elected officials are on board with the president. Ruben Galgo, a Democratic senator from Arizona posted this past week saying Trump’s actions against Canada have made things more expensive for Americans. …Janet Mills is another Democratic governor said “what the president is saying and doing in recent months and years is not reflective of how we as a state feel about people of Canada. 
PRINCE GEORGE — A long-standing Prince George transportation company is preparing for a major downsizing after losing a key forestry hauling contract in the wake of Canfor’s Northwood Pulp Mill closure. Excel Transportation announced it will no longer serve as a hauling contractor for Canfor, a decision the company says stems from the ongoing downturn in northern B.C.’s forestry sector rather than any concerns about performance or safety. “This is one of the most difficult announcements we’ve had to make in our company’s history,” said CEO Annie Horning in a statement. The closure of the Northwood mill earlier this year eliminated roughly 300 Canfor jobs and significantly reduced the amount of wood being moved throughout the region. With less timber available to haul, Canfor reduced the number of hauling contracts it requires and ultimately chose not to retain Excel.
Indigenous land titles, data centres and human-bear conflicts are among the top-of-mind concerns for municipal politicians, as they gather for their annual fall convention and attempt to influence the provincial government’s agenda. The Union of B.C. Municipalities convention this year is being held in Vancouver from Sept. 14 to 18. … The City of Nanaimo is calling for a ban on exporting raw logs and lumber cants. A cant is a raw log with its bark removed. The motion identifies a lack of adequate and affordable wood fibre supply as a key factor in the continued curtailment or permanent closure of B.C. sawmills and pulp mills. Over the past five years, on average, about 3.2 million cubic metres of raw logs have been exported. The ban would be to “ensure that forests harvested in B.C. from Crown land and private managed forest lands are processed in B.C., encouraging value-added manufacturing in B.C. and supporting employment in B.C.’s forest industry,” the motion states.
THUNDER BAY — The Ontario government is investing more than $2.5 million to advance major upgrades at Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper, as well as two additional projects in Northwestern Ontario that will increase the industry’s use of mill by-products and underused forest biomass. The upgrades will help increase the forest sector’s production and capacity, protecting over 700 direct jobs and more than 3,350 indirect jobs. This Forest Biomass Program funding is part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario forestry workers. …Ontario is investing more than $2.4 million to plan boiler and chemical plant upgrades at Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper, a critical anchor mill in Northwestern Ontario’s forest economy. …AUX Energy is receiving $92,500 to develop plans for a biomass-powered generator project that will increase energy security in Fort Frances. …Weyerhaeuser is receiving $32,650 for a study of production line upgrades to reduce costs while improving efficiency and product quality.
Lumber futures fell below $550 per thousand board feet, reaching their lowest level in nine months, as elevated borrowing costs continued to weigh on demand. The US housing market remains tight, with mortgage rates near their highest level in over a year and showing no sign of easing after the Federal Reserve hiked its key policy rate, weighing on demand from prospective homebuyers. Building permits also fell 2.7% over the month, although a 7.6% increase in lumber-intensive single-family housing starts in August. Provided an offsetting pressure, US-Canada trade talks fell through, raising concerns over lumber supply.
Canadian wood product prices fell 1.2% from July but remained up 8.6% from a year earlier, after rising 6.4% the prior month, Statistics Canada reported. Canada’s broader factory-gate prices rose 1.3% from July and were up 13.5% from a year earlier. Wood product prices trailed Canada’s total Industrial Product Price Index by 4.9 percentage points year over year, leaving August’s monthly gain short of the wider rise in factory-gate prices.
Consumer inflation held steady at 3% last month compared to a year earlier as higher rent and travel costs offset a slowdown in rising prices for gas and groceries. Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation was unchanged from July. The agency says gasoline costs continued to increase in August but at a slower pace, as the conflict in the Middle East continued to weigh on prices. Excluding gasoline, consumer prices rose 2.4% last month compared to a year earlier, up from 2.2% in July. …“Headline inflation remained elevated in August, but core measures continued to show only limited evidence that high energy prices are spilling over into wider inflationary pressure,” said CIBC economist Andrew Grantham. …“With the economic outlook clouded by U.S. tariffs and related uncertainty we think that the Bank of Canada should, and will, keep interest rates on hold in October meeting”.
VANCOUVER, BC — West Fraser Timber announced that it has entered into a new $500 million three-year term loan, partial proceeds of which will be used to retire its existing $300 million term loan due in 2028. The new term loan matures in September 2029. The Company’s $1 billion syndicated credit facility remains outstanding on existing terms and has approximately four years remaining to its May 2030 maturity. …”Entering into a new $500 million term loan strengthens our near-term liquidity position and provides additional financial flexibility,” said Sean McLaren, President and CEO, West Fraser. …The Company has also declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.32 per share on the Common shares and Class B Common shares in the capital of the Company, payable on October 19, 2026 to shareholders of record on September 29, 2026.
The Wood Design Manual 2025 is now available in an early release digital format. The latest edition of this essential Canadian reference for designing timber structures is now available for engineers, students and self-learners. The Wood Design Manual 2025 has been reorganized into three volumes to make it easier to find and use the information you need:
Wildfire risk reduction and fibre procurement research trials are ongoing within the Forest Operations Resilience Vertical. The team worked alongside Carrier Lumber Ltd. in Prince George, BC, on a commercial thinning trial assuming different fibre market availabilities, including a baseline sawlog and pulp scenario, a sawlog only scenario, a sawlog, pulp, and biomass scenario, and a sawlog and biolog scenario, where pulp was hauled as biomass to be chipped. A second trial is underway with Vanderwell Contractors in Calling Lake, Alberta, where the scenarios will trial different topping diameters for sawlogs and rat tail recovery, as well as mulching residual material on trails to influence fire behaviour. These trials assist FPInnovations in assessing which alterations to standard commercial thinning practices can influence wildfire behaviour and procure fibre, with cost and productivity data collected alongside wildfire fuel loading metrics. 
As wildfires raged this summer, I turned to the documentary film 
As the provincial government advances plans to carve British Columbia’s lands into zones where logging and other industrial activities are permitted or barred, a former longtime public servant says he is struggling to not be cynical about what could lie ahead. In August, The Tyee broke the news that the provincial ministries of Forests and Water, Land and Resource Stewardship were proposing to divide B.C.’s vast and spectacularly diverse lands into “working forest,” “multiple-use” and “conservation and protection” zones. The details were included in a leaked internal government email. The zoning exercise is happening as Premier David Eby tells Forests Minister Ravi Parmar to find more trees for companies to log in order to meet a logging target of 45 million cubic metres per year. Forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon, who worked in the Forests Ministry for 30 years, said he worries that the “Path to 45” initiative will drive the zoning plan. .png?t=1789154044436)
Mosaic Forest Management is asking recreation users how they find gate and access information for its lands, returning to the public on an issue that surfaced as one of the clearest concerns in last year’s feedback. The survey asks people who camp, cut firewood or spend time on Mosaic’s lands how they plan trips, which apps and maps they already use, and what tools would help most. It is open until September 29, 2026. Mosaic’s lands are private managed forests, working forests where harvesting, road maintenance and hauling continue year-round. Public recreation is offered voluntarily alongside those operations, which means access can change with active work, road conditions and seasonal wildfire risk. Communicating those changes clearly is the challenge the new tools are meant to address. …Recreation users can complete the survey at 
Communities in McLeod Lake and Mackenzie, and on northern Vancouver Island, will have greater opportunities to manage local forests, support wildfire resilience and strengthen local forestry economies through expansions of two community forests. “Rural communities understand forestry, both as an economic driver and as a tool to reduce wildfire risk,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “Driven by powerful partnerships, these expansions will mean real benefits for their communities in the form of local logs for local manufacturing, jobs on the land base and healthier, more resilient forests.” These expansion decisions will result in a total of 20,000 cubic metres allocated to the McLeod Lake Mackenzie community forest, and more than 8,100 cubic metres to the North Island Community Forest. The expansions will provide more opportunities for local forest management, including wildfire risk reduction, while helping ensure a sustainable fibre supply for local facilities and users. 
As part of the City of Rossland FireSmart program, contractors will complete FireSmart fuel treatment projects on municipal land parcels within the community beginning this week. The objective of the fuel management project is to reduce hazardous forest fuels and to decrease wildfire risk to the adjacent residents and the community, noted a release from the city. “The goal for the project is to reduce hazardous surface fuel accumulations close to homes and the community,” it stated. Expected activities include: Reduction of woody surface fuels from tree mortality and winter storm damage; Removal of dead standing trees; Retention of the healthy, large trees to maintain a cool and moist under storey; Retention and protection of all healthy, deciduous trees and shrubs (leaves have a high moisture content and are low flammability); Retention and protection of high value wildlife trees; and Debris disposal (chipping).
Wildfire restoration expert Angela Kane says she knows the high toll of being displaced by wildfire. She is the CEO of the Secwepemcul’ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society (SRSS), an Indigenous-led wildfire recovery organization that formed after the devastating 2017 Elephant Hill fire that burned close to 200,000 hectares near Ashcroft, B.C. …Kane said the scale of the destruction is also surreal, as B.C. sees such intense wildfires happening more frequently due to climate change. Recalling her experience flying over the landscape burned by the Elephant Hill fire, Kane said she was stunned by the devastation. …Kane said the first task for the society’s restoration efforts is finding areas where the soil has not been badly damaged and working with First Nations to determine where and what to plant. …“We did 292 page report on the Elephant Hill Wildfire lessons Learned back in 2017, which outlined to the provincial government, as well as BC wildfire, calls to action and recommendations,” said Kane.
Glenn Tytenbeek isn’t just opposed to a plan to log parts of Spallumcheen’s Rose Swanson Mountain area, he is “vehemently opposed.” Tytenbeek was one of many people who attended an open house by the BC Timber Sales proposal which proposes to harvest up of 35.7 hectares of forest, spread over 15 smaller patches, ranging in size from one to 4.3-hectare openings. …Lisa Broughton was also opposed to the logging project. “I feel it is pure greed. Why should the rest of us have to suffer, the wildlife has to suffer and the forest being ravaged because of a company’s greed.” …“I actually don’t hear any concerns,” Warren Yablonski with the BCTS said about 45 minutes into the three-hour open house. “I hear people are okay with the plan.” …Yablonski noted the area has logged back on the 1950s as well. “That’s what created these old trails out there,” Yablonski said, adding hiking trails are logging trails from the 1950’s.
…The last recorded sighting of wild northern spotted owls in BC was in 2023… Spuzzum First Nation Chief Janice Kuester says the loss is deeply upsetting. …But that doesn’t mean there’s no hope. …Biologist and ecological consultant Jared Hobbs says re-establishing the species in B.C. is possible, “but we have to stop eroding the recovery options.” …An effort to have an emergency order issued for the owls failed in 2023 …Instead, the government said it was committed to collaborating with B.C. and Indigenous communities, in part through an ongoing federal recovery strategy. That plan identifies logging and species competition as the two main threats facing the owls, and sets a goal of restoring a stable population of 250 of the birds. Part of that goal involves introducing captive-bred spotted owls back into the wild. In B.C., the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program has roughly 40 spotted owls, and is working to breed and release more.
HURKETT — The Ontario government is investing over $1.1 million in five projects that will increase Indigenous participation in forestry and build a stronger, more resilient forest sector. As part its plan to protect Ontario, the government is fighting back against unjustified U.S. tariffs and economic attacks by making strategic investments through the Forest Biomass Program that will support economic development and clean energy projects to help the forestry sector increase productivity and capacity, with the long-term potential to create over 200 good-paying jobs in the sector. …Since launching the Forest Biomass Program in 2023, Ontario has invested close to $5 million in 22 projects under the Indigenous Bioeconomy Partnerships funding stream. The government’s latest investments will build a more resilient forest sector by developing projects with the potential to add annual demand for over 100,000 tonnes of mill by-products and underused wood, known as forest biomass.
NB Power is pushing ahead with the conversion of its Belledune Generating Station from coal to biomass. A Thursday announcement is expected to reveal the proponents that will supply the repurposed power plant – one of New Brunswick’s largest – with 300,000 tonnes of wood pellets annually. Among them is expected to be a partnership proposing to build a torrefied wood pellet production facility at the Port of Belledune. “Once it’s officially confirmed, we are going to have a plant right at the port,” said Pabineau First Nation Chief Terry Richardson in an interview. “What’s great about this project is it’s Canadian technology, Canadian companies, and First Nations all partnering together.” Brunswick News reported in May on a partnership between Pabineau First Nation, Eel River Bar First Nation, Arbec Forest Products, and Airex Energy, a Quebec company proposing to build a torrefied wood pellet production facility at the Port of Belledune. [A Telegraph-Journal subscription is required for full access]
The BC Forest History Association Speaker Series. Jordon Gabriel, from the Líl̓wat Nation will present: Learning From the Land: Indigenous Knowledge, Forestry, and the Path to Reconciliation. We will explore how Líl̓wat knowledge and contemporary forestry practices are being brought together through cultural burning, wildfire risk reduction, fuels management, community forestry, and collaborative stewardship. Our key takeaway is that reconciliation in forestry must prioritize Indigenous voices, knowledge, and authority in land stewardship to support healthier forests, safer communities, cultural continuity, employment, and responsibility to future generations. Líl̓wat Forestry Ventures Ltd. is a leading forestry management corporation within the Líl̓wat Nation in Mount Currie, British Columbia. Jordon Gabriel, from the Líl̓wat Nation, is one of the Forestry Technicians helping to ensure sustainable management of the Nation’s forests and the preservation of all cultural values for generations to come. Jordon worked with the BC Wildfire Services for 20 years.