Region Archives: United States

Breaking News

A trade deal with the US could include lumber quotas, Carney says

The Canadian Press in Global News
July 16, 2025
Category: Breaking News
Region: Canada, United States

Mark Carney

Prime Minister Carney says any future trade deal with the US could include “some element of managed trade,” including quotas, on softwood lumber exports. Carney’s comments come after B.C. Premier David Eby said that the federal government has been speaking with the provinces about quotas to resolve the softwood lumber dispute. Carney added that resolving the conflict is a “top priority” as the US prepares to double various duties to 34.45%. Canada and the US have been without a softwood lumber agreement since 2015, and Eby has previously said that resolving the dispute could “build momentum” for a larger trade deal. US President Trump’s latest threat is to impose 35% tariffs by Aug. 1 on Canadian goods currently not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Carney says he agrees with Eby’s idea of resolving the lumber dispute as part of a larger trade deal, but notes that both issues are unfolding along different times lines.

Related coverage in: Business in Vancouver: Carney confirms possibility of lumber quotas in trade deal with US

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Business & Politics

BC’s forests minister open to lumber quotas if it solves U.S. trade dispute

By Mark Page
Today in BC – Black Press
July 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Ravi Parmar

BC Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said that if lumber quotas are what is needed to end the decades-old softwood lumber dispute with the United States, then so be it. “It just may be able to address this issue once and for all,” Parmar said. Premier David Eby floated the possibility… and Prime Minister Mark Carney said it could be in the cards. …Parmar acknowledged BC lumber companies might have “differing views” on quotas, but he said it is just one tool. Kurt Niquidet, president of BC Lumber Trade Council did not rule out quotas. “Resolving this long-standing dispute is essential to protecting jobs, supporting communities, and ensuring a stable, competitive future for our forest sector,” Niquidet said. …Regardless of whether Canada puts quotas on the table as part of negotiations, Parmar said Trump could balk. “The president seems to really like tariffs,” Parmar said. “And so he may say, bugger off.”

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Level of US tariffs Canada would accept in trade deal still up for negotiation, Carney says

By Steven Chase, Stephanie Levitz & Laura Stone
The Globe and Mail
July 16, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Prime Minister Carney says securing a truce in the long-running Canada-US lumber dispute is a top priority as Canadian producers brace for even heftier US levies as early as September. …Mr. Carney declined to say what level of baseline tariff Ottawa would accept in a new trade and security pact with Washington. …Mr. Carney was asked whether Canada would impose tariffs on US products if the US keeps a baseline levy on Canadian goods. “We’ll see what the final agreement is, if there is an agreement,” he said. …Historically, Mr. Carney said lumber deals with the US contain “some element of managed trade” such as quotas on Canadian shipments to the US. …Mr. Pellerin, a former Canadian government softwood litigator, said he thinks it would be unwise to strike a deal before litigation related to the softwood dispute plays out. There are several challenges of US duties on softwood proceeding under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement dispute mechanism. [This story is for Globe and Mail subscribers only]

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US Lumber Coalition Responds to Prime Minister Carney Statement

The US Lumber Coalition
July 16, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Zoltan van Heyningen

Prime Minister Carney and BC Premier Eby are advancing the idea of setting aside the enforcement of the US trade laws against unfairly traded Canadian lumber. …Canada does not voluntarily give up its remedies against unfairly traded imports from other countries but they are now asking the US to do precisely that. Canada is asking the US to do a favor for Canadian workers at the expense of US workers. “The US has collected over $7 billion dollars in duties and Canada’s request to terminate these cases and refund money would be the single biggest bailout of the Canadian lumber industry funded by US taxpayers and would come at the expense of US workers and loggers”, said Zoltan van Heyningen. …“It is also essential to implement additional measures under Section 232 to address the underlying cause of Canadian unfair trade practices,” added van Heyningen. “We must not yield to Canadian demands.”

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Canada weighs limits on US lumber exports to ease trade friction, BC Premier says

By Ananya Palyekar
Reuters
July 16, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Canada is open to considering limits on softwood lumber exports to the U.S. to try to ease some trade friction between the neighboring countries, British Columbia Premier David Eby told Bloomberg News in a report published on Wednesday. “One of the asks for years out of the American coalition has been a quota — that there’s a fixed amount of lumber that gets to come from Canada,” Eby told Bloomberg News. “And I think that, for the first time, there’s some willingness to have a conversation about what that could look like.” [to access the full story, a Reuters or Bloomberg Economics subscription is required]

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‘We want to see softwood on the table in these trade talks’: Premier Holt

By Adam Huras
The Telegraph-Journal
July 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East, United States

Susan Holt

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says she’s part of a push to see a nearly decade-long softwood lumber standoff end as part of a larger new trade deal with the US. But the premier stopped short of saying whether her government supports the idea of a quota limit,” if that’s what it takes to finally reach a deal. …“The tariffs that are currently in place on softwood lumber are damaging to New Brunswick and the forecast that those tariffs are going to increase significantly has put a real chilling effect on a critical industry for our province.” …New Brunswick’s largest forestry company J.D. Irving, Limited currently pays a duty of 11.68%, while the province’s other softwood producers, including Arbec, H.J. Crabbe & Sons Ltd., Marwood, and Twin Rivers have been assessed a combined rate of 14.54%. The preliminary plans for higher duty rates are set to take effect by September.

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Georgia-Pacific Announces $191 Million CAD Capital Investment in Englehart OSB Mill

By Georgia-Pacific
Cision Newswire
July 15, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East, United States

ENGLEHART, Ontario — Georgia-Pacific announced a new capital project for the company’s Englehart OSB mill in Ontario. The approximately $191 million CAD investment will fund a new log processing system and include the expansion and construction of a new finished goods warehouse. This investment comes as Englehart OSB celebrates its fifteenth anniversary as a Georgia-Pacific facility. The first board was produced at the mill in 1983. David Neal, executive VP, building products, “This investment strengthens our operational capabilities and positions the Englehart mill for greater productivity in the years ahead.” …John Beers, president –structural panels, “These improvements will continue our focus on staying competitive and ensures Englehart is an environmentally conscious, 21st century mill.” Design and engineering work has started, and the project is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2027.

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USDA Forest Service Invests $80 Million to Expand Timber Markets, Protect Forests, Fuel Economic Growth

By US Department of Agriculture
Government of the United States
July 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced the U.S. Forest Service is awarding $80 million in Wood Innovation Grants to spur wood products manufacturing, expand active forest management, and accelerate energy innovation across America’s timber-producing communities. “The United States is blessed with a bounty of natural resources that we must properly manage to sustain our future economy and boost rural communities. Proper forest use and management lowers our reliance on foreign products and is inherently aligned with President Trump’s America First agenda,” said Secretary Rollins. “We’re investing in innovation that ensures a steady, sustainable supply of American wood that not only supports jobs and fuels economies, it protects the people and communities we serve, as well as the forest resources they depend on to survive and thrive.” This investment delivers on President Trump’s commitment to unleashing America’s abundant natural resources by tearing down unnecessary barriers…

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US Trade Representative to investigate Brazil’s trade, ethanol and forestry market practices

By Joe Adamy
Michigan Farm News
July 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

Is Brazil playing fair when it comes to trade? An investigation launched July 15 by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) aims to find the answer. The Section 301 investigation will seek to determine whether acts, policies, and practices of the Government of Brazil related to a host of trade issues — including ethanol market access and forestry practices — are “unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” “Brazil has walked away from its willingness to provide virtually duty-free treatment for U.S. ethanol and instead now applies a substantially higher tariff on U.S. ethanol exports,” the USTR office wrote in announcing the investigation. The announcement also said Brazil appears to be failing to effectively enforce laws and regulations designed to stop illegal deforestation — which undermines the competitiveness of U.S. producers of timber and ag products.

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AF&PA Appreciates US Efforts to Address Non-Tariff Trade Barriers

The American Forest & Paper Association
July 14, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

WASHINGTON – American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock today reacted to recent US-EU trade negotiations: “We appreciate President Trump and his administration’s efforts to further enhance fair and reciprocal trade with key partners like the European Union. Addressing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers is crucial to ensuring a positive trade relationship for the pulp, paper, packaging and tissue products manufacturing industry. “The EU’s deforestation free regulation (EUDR), which has been identified as a non-tariff trade barrier by the U.S. Trade Representative, risks over $3.5 billion in annual forest products exports to the EU. “We encourage President Trump and his administration to continue working towards a fair and reciprocal trade relationship with the EU that fixes this regulation while improving other aspects of trade for U.S. paper manufacturers.”

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US Forest Service research survives in House spending bill

By Marc Heller
E&E News by Politico
July 15, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

House appropriators Monday turned away a Trump administration effort to slash the Forest Service’s research budget, proposing to hold spending steady at about $300 million in fiscal 2026. The proposal by the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee is part of an $8.5 billion annual spending plan for the Forest Service that largely ignores the administration’s most far-reaching proposals. Total spending for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would be $16.8 million less than this year’s level. Spending not directly tied to fire suppression would total $3.6 billion, or about $107 million less than this year. The measure is scheduled for a subcommittee markup Tuesday. The research budget would total $302 million, of which $34 million would be reserved for forest inventory and analysis — the data-collecting operation that the administration hadn’t looked to scale back. [to access the full story an E&E News subscription is required]

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Rado Gazo Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Forest Products Society

By Wendy Mayer
Purdue University
July 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US East

Rado Gazo

Dr. Rado Gazo, professor of wood processing and industrial engineering who has been a part of the Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources faculty since 1997, has been named as the 2025 recipient of the Wood Engineering Achievement Award – Lifetime Achievement by the Forest Products Society. “I joined the Forest Products Society as a graduate student in 1990 and have actively participated in various roles ever since,” Gazo said. “While I did not seek this award, now that I have received it, I am very humbled by the recognition of my colleagues and peers.” The Forest Products Society is a premier international not-for-profit technical association founded in 1947. The award recognizes accomplishments and innovations in the discipline of wood engineering including structures, structural elements, building codes, consensus standards, design procedures and education.

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Finance & Economics

Lumber Futures Rise Past $650

Trading View
July 15, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber futures traded above $650 per thousand board feet, hovering near April highs driven by tightening US sawmill output and dwindling import volumes, both of which are near their lowest levels in half a decade. Domestic production in the first quarter slipped year-on-year, and imports, including softwood lumber from Canada, have contracted sharply, leaving US framing material availability at its leanest since 2019. At the same time, builders are contending with looming tariff hikes that could push duties on Canadian lumber from roughly 14.5% today toward the mid-30s, adding several thousand dollars to the cost of new homes. Although a modest pull-back in construction activity has softened recent gains, overall demand remains sufficient to absorb current supply, and without a rapid expansion in US mill capacity or alternative sourcing, these supply constraints, compounded by rising trade barriers, are likely to sustain upward pressure on lumber prices in the months ahead.

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US Consumer Sentiment in July is Little Changed From June

The University of Michigan
July 20, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Consumer sentiment was little changed from June, inching up about one index point to 61.8. While sentiment reached its highest value in five months, it remains a substantial 16% below December 2024 and is well below its historical average. Short-run business conditions improved about 8%, whereas expected personal finances fell back about 4%. Consumers are unlikely to regain their confidence in the economy unless they feel assured that inflation is unlikely to worsen, for example if trade policy stabilizes for the foreseeable future. …Year-ahead inflation expectations fell for a second straight month, plunging from 5.0% last month to 4.4% this month. Long-run inflation expectations receded for the third consecutive month, falling back from 4.0% in June to 3.6% in July. Both readings are the lowest since February 2025 but remain above December 2024, indicating that consumers still perceive substantial risk that inflation will increase in the future.

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US Single-Family Starts Weaken in June but Multifamily Starts Increase More Than Expected

By Robert Dietz, Chief Economist
NAHB Eye on Housing
July 18, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Single-family housing starts declined in June to the lowest rate since July 2024 as elevated interest rates, rising inventories and ongoing supply-side issues continue to act as headwinds for the housing sector. Due to a solid increase in multifamily production, overall housing starts increased 4.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The June reading of 1.32 million starts is the number of housing units builders would begin if development kept this pace for the next 12 months. Within this overall number, single-family starts decreased 4.6% to an 883,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate and are down 10% compared to June 2024. The multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, increased 30% to an annualized 438,000 pace.

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‘Just look at what happened last time’: US exporters fear Trump trade war fallout

By Daniel Desrochers
Politico
July 16, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

President Donald Trump’s flurry of tariff letters to more two dozen countries has triggered new threats of retaliation. Key US industries are increasingly worried they are going to be collateral damage. The European Union on Monday released a targeted list of $88 billion worth of US goods it plans to tariff if it doesn’t make more progress in trade talks with Trump. Brazil, staring down a 50% duty on its exports to the US over Trump’s frustration with their domestic politics. …While the hardening battle lines in the negotiations could be part of each sides’ effort to force more concessions, domestic business groups aren’t counting on it. Instead, they are mobilizing to try and convince both the Trump administration and foreign governments that it would be a mistake to target their industries. …On Tuesday, the president dismissed the idea that the EU may go through with their proposed retaliatory tariffs.

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US Builder Confidence Edges Up in July

By Robert Dietz, Chief Economist
NAHB Eye on Housing
July 17, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Builder confidence for future sales expectations received a slight boost in July with the extension of the 2017 tax cuts, but elevated interest rates and economic and policy uncertainty continue to act as headwinds for the housing sector. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 33 in July, up one point from June. Builder sentiment has now been in negative territory for 15 consecutive months. …Consistent with ongoing weakness for the HMI, single-family housing starts will post a decline in 2025 due to ongoing housing affordability challenges per the latest NAHB forecast. Single-family permits are down 6% on a year-to-date basis and builder traffic in the HMI is at a more than two-year low. …The HMI index gauging current sales conditions rose one point in July to a level of 36 while the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months increased three points to 43.

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US Inflation Picks Up as Tariffs Take Hold

By Fan-Yu Kuo
NAHB – Eye on Housing
July 15, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Inflation rose to a 4-month high in June as consumer prices began to reflect tariff policy. The Consumer Price Index increased from 2.4% in May to 2.7% in June year-over-year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report. Despite the increase, core inflation came in softer than expected, suggesting full tariff impacts will likely push inflation even higher in the coming months. Meanwhile, housing inflation continued to show signs of cooling and matched the lowest level since November 2021. During the past twelve months, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index rose by 2.7% in June, the highest since February 2025. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the “core” CPI increased by 2.9% over the past twelve months. A large portion of the “core” CPI is the housing shelter index, which increased 3.8% over the year, the lowest reading since November 2021.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Mass Timber Could Drive Forest Expansion and Cut Emissions

Yale School of the Environment – Yale University
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Replacing concrete and steel with mass timber in buildings could significantly reduce global carbon emissions and spur the expansion of intensively managed forests, a new study by Yale School of the Environment research scientists found. Published in Nature Communications, the study offers a comprehensive global analysis of how the widespread use of engineered wood products like cross-laminated timber (CLT) could reshape land use and impact carbon storage through the end of the century. The research team modeled three future adoption scenarios and found that switching to CLT in 30% to 60% of new urban buildings from 2020 to 2100 could reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 25.6 to 39 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent, which is roughly equal to total annual global energy-related CO₂ emissions, which reached around 37.8 gigatons in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency. It could also expand productive forestland globally by as much as 36.5 million hectares — an area roughly the size of Germany— by 2100.

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University of Oregon-led team named National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines semifinalist

By Thuy Tran, University Communications
University of Oregon
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

A University of Oregon-led initiative to revolutionize the mass timber sector in the Pacific Northwest has been selected as a semifinalist in the highly competitive National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines program. “This significant step forward for the University of Oregon, and its project to build an even stronger mass timber industry in our state,” said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. “Mass timber is revolutionizing the construction business with better and safer buildings. The U of O deserves major credit for earning this honor and I am confident it has both the capacity and talent to fully develop the employment and economic benefits of mass timber.” …The NSF Engine: Oregon Mass Timber Innovation Engine, led by principal investigator Judith Sheine, professor of architecture in the UO College of Design and director of design of the TallWood Design Institute, is among just 29 semifinalist teams nationally. 

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Forestry

The Longleaf Alliance seeks areas to harvest pine cone crops

By Jennifer Allen
Coastal Review – North Carolina Coastal Federation
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

©NC Forest Service

The U.S. Forest Service estimates that the cone crop for longleaf pines in the Southeast will be “poor for 2025,” according to the “Longleaf Pine Cone Prospects for 2025”. Because of the anticipated seed shortage … the Longleaf Alliance is scouting for locations to harvest in the fall. Based on observations collected earlier this year … researchers estimate the average for seed-producing cones is 12.4 per tree this fall. The study …defines a good crop as 50 to 99 green cones per tree, a fair crop as 25 to 49, poor as 10 to 24, and a failed crop as less than 10 seed-bearing cones per tree. Once plentiful, the longleaf pine could be found on an estimated 90 million acres in the coastal plains between southeast Virginia to eastern Texas. … [but] demand grew exponentially when the turpentine industry took off, nearly stripping the ecosystem of the native pine. Today, its estimated that there’s around 5 million acres remaining. 

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Man’s best friend could be the spotted lanternfly’s worst enemy

By Virginia Tech
EurekAlert!
July 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

©Clark DeHart for Virginia Tech

Imagine if your dog’s favorite game — sniffing out treats or toys — could help protect America’s vineyards, orchards, and forests from a devastating invader.  It turns out, it just might. A new study led by Virginia Tech found that volunteer dog-handler teams — made up of everyday people and their pets — can effectively detect the elusive egg masses of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect that’s damaging farms and forests across the eastern and central United States. It’s the first study to show that citizen dog-handler teams can achieve detection success rates comparable to professional conservation detection dogs. “These teams demonstrated that citizen scientists and their dogs can play a meaningful role in protecting agriculture and the environment from invasive species,” said Sally Dickinson, the study’s lead author. “With proper training, dog owners can turn their pets into powerful partners for conservation.” 

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Big Billionaire Bill Will Lead to Bigger Fire Risks

By Matt Sedler
Center for Economic and Policy Research
July 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

You could be forgiven for not reading the entirety of the GOP’s massive One Big Bill for Billionaires that Trump just signed into law. Yet right at the beginning of the table of contents is “Subtitle B — Forestry,” which might give the impression that the GOP is serious about investing in wildfire prevention and forest restoration. Instead, the new law strips critical funding that had been appropriated to the National Forest System under the Inflation Reduction Act. Contrary to Trump’s stated goal of preventing wildfires, two sections within the Big Billionaire Bill will, in fact, exacerbate the risk of fires across the US. …Trump’s plan is simple, but the pieces of the puzzle are spread across different bills, laws, agency processes, and executive orders to obfuscate the overall intent: Cut the funding to protect the forests, open the areas for development, and then eliminate the environmental reviews. 

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Wildfire that consumed North Rim ignites tragic debate

By Peterr Aleshire
Payson Roundup
July 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

©NationalParkService

ARIZONA — The dawning debate about the wildfire that jumped containment lines and destroyed the iconic, Grand Canyon Lodge underscores the trap that has frozen forest management efforts for half a century. The slow-moving Dragon Bravo fire sudden flared into a monster illustrates the extreme difficulty of restoring forest health after a century of clear cutting. …The National Park Service initially released reassuring bulletins suggesting fire crews would develop fire lines to contain the fire. …Then everything changed, as winds gusting to 40 miles an hour ushered in stormfronts. By July 12, the Dragon Fire had jumped containment lines. …The pattern Is all too familiar to fire ecology experts like ASU professor Stephen Pyne. He argues that… all-out fire suppression had increased tree densities across millions of acres of Northern Arizona from about 50 per acre to more like 1,000 per acre. …Moreover, construction of homes and towns in the most fire-prone landscapes has exploded.

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New tool sheds light on California wildfires

By Roseann Cattani
The Record Searchlight
July 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A new tool sheds light on the impact of wildfires across California. The California Vegetation Burn Severity Online Viewer, launched by CAL FIRE’s Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP), is an interactive public mapping tool that people can use to see where wildfires have impacted vegetation. The online tool displays burn severity data for all wildfires over 1,000 acres in California from 2015 to 2023. CAL Fire says the tool enables post-recovery planning and makes the information easily accessible to landowners, planners, scientists, and the general public. “This tool helps Californians see and understand how fire affects our landscapes,” said Chris Keithley, Assistant Deputy Director for FRAP. “It gives communities data to support efforts to plan prescribed burns, guide restoration work, and reduce future wildfire risk.”

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Kotek declares state of emergency in Oregon due to imminent threat of wildfire

By Zack Urness
The Statesman Journal
July 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

@USDA

Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency in Oregon on July 16 that will last through the end of the year due to the imminent threat of wildfire. Multiple large wildfires have already exploded this year, largely east of the Cascade Range, including the growing Cram Fire, which roared to more than 60,000 acres by July 16 and is spreading smoke across central Oregon. The Rowena Fire burned 63 homes in The Dalles in June. “Oregon is already experiencing a devastating wildfire season that will have lasting consequences. The summer is only getting hotter, drier, and more dangerous – we have to be prepared for worsening conditions,” Kotek said in a news release. Oregon’s wildfire danger is forecast to remain above normal through summer — remaining high in every part of the state in July, August and September — the first time in recent history that’s happened.

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Trump’s big bill calls for much more logging

By Jamie Hale
The Chronicle
July 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

New federal laws could “lock up” timber land for decades at a time, raising concerns big companies could elbow out smaller competitors and that timber revenue for counties could be delayed for years. President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and spending bill, which he signed into law earlier this month, increases the length of federal logging contracts to a minimum of 20 years. The contracts, which determine how long a logging company has to harvest on the land under contract, have typically averaged three to four years, and the longest contracts extended up to 10 years. The concern raised by a coalition of timber companies and local governments is that companies could sign long-term contracts, then wait years to harvest trees. “If the timber volume is tied up in these 20 year contracts,” Doug Robertson, executive director of the Association of O&C counties, said, “that volume then is no longer available to generate revenue for the counties and the state.”

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Oregon forestry board drills Gov. Tina Kotek’s staff on choosing next state forester

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

Oregon’s forestry board has long had the power to hire and fire the state forester, who oversees logging and environmental protections on state lands, as well as firefighting across millions of acres of public and private land. But the board lost that hiring-and-firing power this session with Senate Bill 1051, which handed it over to the governor. This bill has left many forestry board members wondering how much authority they still have. “Right now, after the passage of this senate bill, I have very little reason to trust your office,” vice chair Brenda McComb told members of Gov. Tina Kotek’s staff at the board’s Wednesday meeting. There’s a lot riding on forest management in Oregon. Revenues raised from logging trees on state lands help fund rural schools and some county budgets. Timber sales are also a key revenue source for the Oregon Department of Forestry, which fights fires on about 12 million acres of private land.

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Research shows aspen forests slow wildfire spread

Colorado State University
July 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

©Jonathan Coop

A new study from Colorado State University, Western Colorado University and the U.S. Forest Service found evidence that stands of aspen trees could resist wildfires by slowing a fire’s advance or changing its course. The researchers found that even modest increases in aspen cover dramatically reduced the rate at which fires spread. Their findings suggest that aspen forests can act as natural firebreaks, which is valuable information for land managers and agencies. “Where managers can encourage aspen over conifers, they may represent a more desirable fuel treatment in some forest types than traditional thinning or shaded firebreaks because of the aesthetic value and wildlife habitat aspen provide,” said Camille Stevens-Rumann, study principal investigator and interim director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute at CSU. Fires in areas with vegetation composed of at least 25% aspen spread at about a third the rate of fires in forests with less than 10% aspen trees.

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Experimental forest in Idaho can’t maintain all its science during Trump freeze

By Michael Wright
Idaho Statesman
July 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Each day, as afternoon turns into evening, the U.S. Forest Service research staffer based at the experimental forest there walks over to the weather station next to the office and looks at two thermometers — one showing the day’s maximum temperature, the other showing the minimum. They record the readings and add them to the station’s long-term dataset, which stretches back to 1913. …And the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the site, can’t fill the role permanently because of the federal government’s continued hiring freeze, which has been extended to October. …But there will be no full-time research staff there, forcing the discontinuation of a handful of long-term data collection efforts — such as the daily weather readings, regular streamflow monitoring and a weekly acid rain sample that’s part of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program.

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Oregon Department of State Lands gets new leader in scientist and lawyer Kaitlin Lovell

Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Kaitlin Lovell

A lawyer, scientist and former manager at the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services will become the new director of the Department of State Lands. Kaitlin Lovell of Colton, Oregon, begins her four-year term as the agency’s leader in early August. She’ll be in charge of managing more than 130 staff in Bend and Salem, a budget of more than $116 million, and roughly 680,000 acres of state-owned land. …The agency is in charge of managing the state’s agricultural, industrial and residential lands for conservation, development and revenue generation for the benefit of Oregon’s public schools. The agency also administers mineral and energy rights on more than 768,500 acres statewide. …Lovell spent most of the last 18 years working for Portland’s environmental services and regulatory agency, and was most recently its Regulatory Strategy Manager, in charge of financial planning for its wastewater and stormwater management services.

See Government Press Release

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Colorado politicians introduce legislation to support forest and grassland restoration

By Abby Smith
KRDO News
July 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse, along with other politicians, introduced the Joint Chiefs Reauthorization Act. This legislation would reauthorize the program to better support forest and grassland restoration projects on both public and private lands. “Our Western forests, grasslands, and watersheds are as important to our economy as the Lincoln Tunnel is to New York, but they are under threat from a changing climate and consistent federal underinvestment,” said Bennet. …Bennet mentioned that strengthening the program will ensure that restoring landscapes, protecting water supplies, and reducing wildfire risks can continue for future generations. “Western and Northern Colorado are all too familiar with the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires,” said Neguse.

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Could Trump’s tariffs bring back the Pacific Northwest lumberjack?

By Joshua McNichols
KUOW News and Information
July 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Could President Donald Trump’s strategies help revive Washington’s diminished timber industry? For nearly a century, Washington’s timber industry produced everything from paper and two-by-fours to the massive wood beams that hold up the Tacoma Dome. Lumber mills were the backbone of logging towns throughout the Northwest. But the industry has been on a long decline since the 1990s. Now, Trump wants to reduce foreign competition and increase US logging to bring back those jobs. To find out whether it could work, KUOW visited a sawmill in Morton, a small town in the foothills of Mount Rainier. …Today, the state has about 100,000 timber-related jobs, including mills. That means Washington has lost about a quarter of its timber jobs in the last thirty years. The loss has been devastating to rural communities built around those sawmills, like Morton, Washington. …The Hampton Mill is still the economic heart of the community today. It’s survived the waves of closures over the years.

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Eastern Oregon’s ancient trees face alarming decline, study finds

By Bobby Corser
KATU News
July 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A new analysis reveals that many of Eastern Oregon’s ancient trees are dying at an alarming rate. The study, conducted by a team led by James Johnston, an assistant research professor at the University of Oregon, found that between 2012 and 2023, a quarter of trees over 300 years old in roadless areas of the Malheur National Forest had died. Johnston attributed the decline to a combination of drought, insect infestations, and competition with younger trees. “It’s sad to see so many old trees dying,” Johnston said. He emphasized the need for active management to protect these ancient trees, particularly in the dry forests of Eastern and Southern Oregon. The study, published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, highlights the importance of old-growth trees, which store carbon, provide critical habitat, and help maintain water quality. Johnston’s research, which began a decade ago, involved taking core samples from old-growth trees in unlogged sections of the forest.

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This Golden Fungus Is Spreading Wildly in North America’s Forests

By Jacey Fortin
The New York Times
July 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

For a few years, foragers and fungi enthusiasts around the Midwest have been seeing something yellow. The butter-colored flushes of the golden oyster mushroom are difficult to miss. They bloom on dead or decaying trees, and they have become profuse in states around the Great Lakes. The fungi, which are native to Asia, are good to eat and easy to grow. But a new study shows that they may also be sapping the resources of native mushrooms. And their footprint is spreading fast. “I don’t think anyone would hesitate to call it invasive,” said Aishwarya Veerabahu, a mycologist and doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an author of the study, published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology. She and her colleagues call the golden oyster “a literal and figurative bright yellow warning” in the study, adding that “as of now, there are no management strategies available to control its spread.” [a paid subscription is required to read the full article]

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‘We knew it was coming’: Oklahoma deploys tiny wasps to control invasive forest pest

By Chloe Bennet-Steele
KGOU
July 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

On a day in early June, state forester Will Phifer carried a pill bottle-orange canister into a southeastern Oklahoma forest, tied it to a shaded tree trunk and left. The area was a confirmed spot for a growing population of tree-killing beetles called emerald ash borers, which likely seeped into the state from the east. The container held what scientists hope is a solution to controlling the harmful pest: more than 100 minuscule parasitoid wasp eggs. “These emerald ash borer eggs are laid on the outer bark of the tree,” Dieter Rudolph, forest health specialist for Oklahoma Forestry Services, said. “So, this wasp will go find them and basically inject an egg into the emerald ash borer egg.” Instead of producing an emerald ash borer larva, the host egg will hatch a new wasp.

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SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Addresses Challenges in Northern Forest Region

By SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Newswise
July 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US East

SYRACUSE, N.Y.  Three research projects led by scientists at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) have received funding as part of a $2.2 million investment from the Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC), supporting studies that address key challenges in the Northern Forest region, including forest health, community resilience, and public engagement. Research goals for the program include sponsoring research to sustain the health of northern forest ecosystems and communities, developing new forest products, and improving forest biodiversity management. …“These research projects reflect ESF’s commitment to advancing forest health, sustainability, and community resilience in the Northern Forest region,” said ESF President Joanie Mahoney. “This funding from NSRC is a vital investment in science that benefits both ecosystems and the people who depend on them.”

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Forest Fires

New fire on Mount Hood: Sheriff warns remote hikers ‘Leave immediately … Your life could be in great danger’

By Aimee Green
Oregon Live
July 17, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

MOUNT HOOD, Oregon — The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday afternoon issued a Level 3 (go now) evacuation order for a new, five-acre wildfire on Mount Hood that was first reported late in the morning about three miles northwest of Timothy Lake. As of 4 p.m., the evacuation order does not affect the campgrounds and trails immediately around Timothy Lake, a popular recreational spot about 90 minutes from Portland. But helicopters are scooping large buckets of water from the lake to suppress the fire. Firefighters on the ground also have started an “aggressive initial attack,” the U.S. Forest Service said. The evacuation order affects a two-mile radius around the much smaller Dinger Lake and includes Anvil Lake and the Anvil Lake Trail 724. The order so far only affects remote campsites and hikers. …Dubbed the Anvil fire, it is burning near Forest Road 5820.

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Gov. Kotek invokes Conflagration Act for fast-growing wildfire moving through steep, challenging terrain

By Kathryn Styer Martínez
Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 15, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

The Cram Fire, which is burning east of Madras, continues to challenge fire crews. The rapidly growing fire moved southeast overnight Monday toward the community of Ashwood, causing crews to mobilize around the mining ghost town. It has now grown to more than 28,000 acres. …The fire is running into steep and remote territory, with “challenging access,” according to a Central Oregon Fire press release this morning. …Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the Conflagration Act for the Cram Fire on Monday afternoon. …There are over 230 people working on the Cram Fire and more are expected to join, according to OSFM. …Cooler weather on Tuesday will help firefighters but temperatures in Bend and Madras are expected to return to the mid-90s later this week.

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Laguna Fire grows to more than 15,000 acres after spot fire escapes management boundaries

By Patrick Lohmann
Source New Mexico
July 15, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West

The Laguna Fire approximately 25 miles west of Abiquiú has grown to more than 15,000 acres, and prompted evacuation orders more than two weeks after Santa Fe National Forest officials announced their plans to let the fire safely grow instead of suppressing it immediately. On June 30, the Santa Fe National Forest announced that lightning caused the 176-acre fire and that they were going to “actively manage” the blaze, hoping to encourage low-intensity fire to spread across a roughly 13,000 mile area. Noting that the fire was burning in an area that had undergone a National Environmental Policy Act review, and had previously been subject to prescribed burns and thinning, Santa Fe National Forest Deputy Forest Supervisor Anthony Madrid said the fire presented “an opportunity to create a resilient ecosystem that reduces the future risk of catastrophic severe wildfire to communities.”

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