Region Archives: United States

Special Feature

The Tree Frog News grew 44% to 105,000 readers in 2024. Your feedback is key to continue the trend!

By Sandy McKellar, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
January 29, 2021
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, United States, International

We’re proud to share that in 2024 the Tree Frog Forestry News readership surged by an impressive 44%, reaching 105,411 unique users (per Google Analytics)! This remarkable growth far outpaces our average annual increase of ~20% over the past decade. Even more, our audience is becoming increasingly continental: in 2020, 22% of our readers were US-based, but by 2024, that number climbed to 39%. Canada still leads at 51%, with the remaining 10% representing international readers from the UK, Australia, Japan, India, and beyond.

Click here to take the survey

Your feedback is essential to ensuring the Tree Frog Forestry News remains your trusted source for forestry updates. Completing our quick 6-8 minute survey will help us improve and continue to offer this free, open-access resource. The survey is completely anonymous, and your responses will be kept strictly confidential. Thank you for helping us grow and better serve the forestry community!

Read More

Business & Politics

US says Canada can avoid tariffs with border action

By Josh Wingrove and Daniel Flatley
Bloomberg News in the National Post
January 29, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Howard Lutnick

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Commerce Department said Mexico and Canada can avoid new tariffs due this weekend if they clamp down on border security — while also signalling that Trump is likely to impose widespread new levies to return manufacturing to US soil. The testimony from Howard Lutnick provides the latest clues of how the Trump administration will roll out a flurry of threatened new levies. …Trump has ordered a study of overall trade issues and tariffs to be finished by April 1. Lutnick described that process as broader, while saying the immediate 25% tariffs Trump has pledged is related to migration and fentanyl issues. “If we are your biggest trading partner, show us the respect, shut your border,” he said. “And as far as I know, they are acting swiftly, and if they execute it, there will be no tariff. And if they don’t, then there will be.”

Related coverage in:

Read More

US Lumber Coalition Disappointed In Wall Street Journal Erroneous Opinion Piece On Softwood Lumber Trade

By Zoltan van Heyningen
The US Lumber Coalition
January 28, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Zoltan van Heyningen

Since 2016, U.S. mills have added eight billion board feet of production capacity and produced 30 billion additional board feet of softwood lumber, more than offsetting the decline in unfairly traded Canadian imports. This strengthening of domestic supply lines to build American homes with American lumber would not have happened without strong enforcement of the U.S. trade laws, which work to level the playing field against subsidized and dumped imports. …Total cost of lumber to the builder in an average new home is only about 1.3%. It simply is not credible to state that lumber cost drives housing affordability. “We were disappointed reading the recent The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Opinion” stated Andrew Miller, Chairman of the U.S. Lumber Coalition, and President and CEO of Stimson Lumber Company. …“Canada overproduces softwood lumber for the sole purpose of maintaining employment in Canada, and they unload their oversupply of lumber into the U.S. market at the expense of American jobs, companies and their communities.”

Read More

U.S. Lumber Coalition slams Wall Street Journal take on tariffs

The HBS Dealer
January 29, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Recently, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published a piece titled “Trump’s Lumber Tariffs and Disaster Recovery,” which, among other assertions, claimed that “border taxes on imports from Canada will slow rebuilding in Los Angeles and North Carolina.” That notion did not sit well with the U.S. Lumber Coalition. The group… quickly fired back at WSJ. …WSJ, meanwhile, argued: “The U.S. doesn’t produce enough lumber to meet domestic demand and thus imports about a third of the softwood used in home construction, mostly from Canada.” It goes on to make the case that slapping tariffs on Canadian lumber, which President Trump has vowed to do (to the tune of 25 percent), would exponentially raise prices on homes and rebuilding efforts that are already experiencing spiraling costs. The U.S. Lumber Coalition sees the situation quite differently. It claims there’s an easy fix here — and that’s for Canada to “trade fairly.” 

Read More

Why Canada should use lumber as leverage in a trade war with Trump

By JensPeter Barynin, Chief Economist, VIVI Economics
The Financial Post
January 27, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Trump’s threats to Canada may be repulsive, but they are unfortunately very real. …This is a time for aggressive leadership. Policymakers focused on “win-wins” or reactive strategies must rethink their approach. …Canada produces many products and services upon which the United States depends. Canadian goods generate enormous “consumer surplus” for Americans, all of which could be lost if the price of these goods rises. The 25% tariff threats are troubling for Canadians, but they are equally alarming for those in the U.S. who rely on Canadian products. …Canada should impose an export tax of US$800/MBF, effectively doubling the price. This move would immediately increase the cost of lumber in the U.S., making the risks of a trade war with Canada clear to American consumers. The Canadian forest products industry will likely be the first to oppose this proposal. However, there’s a simple solution… redistribute the revenue from the export tax back to Canadian lumber exporters. 

Read More

CPKC Rail reaches tentative collective agreement with Unifor

By CPKC Railway
Cision Newswire
January 27, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian Pacific Kansas City said it has reached a tentative four-year collective agreement with Unifor representing approximately 1,200 employees at CPKC in Canada. “We are pleased to have reached a tentative collective agreement at the negotiating table with our mechanical employees in Canada,” said Keith Creel, CPKC President and Chief Executive Officer. “By working collaboratively together with Unifor, we have reached an agreement benefiting our employees and their families while continuing to serve the needs of our customers and keeping the Canadian economy moving forward.” Unifor represents mechanics, labourers, diesel service attendants and mechanical support staff.

Read More

Trump’s tariff threat worked on Colombia, but his plans for Canada and Mexico carry higher stakes

The Associated Press
January 28, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Having already forced Colombia to accept deportees by threatening a 25% tariff, President Donald Trump is readying the same move against Canada and Mexico as soon as Saturday. But this time, the stakes are higher and many economists surveying the possible damage doubt Trump would be comfortable with self-inflicted wounds from the tariffs. Trump has repeatedly insisted that tariffs on Canada and Mexico are about illegal border crossings and the smuggling of fentanyl. But the Republican president is also motivated by the idea that tariffs would force other countries to “respect” the US. …The economics division of the insurance company Nationwide estimated that Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico would increase inflation by as much as 0.5 percentage points and pull down growth by 0.7 percentage points. The analysis noted it did not “account for potential retaliatory tariffs from Canada or Mexico, which could amplify the deleterious impact.”

Read More

Ottawa planning pandemic-level relief for workers, businesses if Trump imposes tariffs

By Robert Fife and Steven Chase
The Globe and Mail
January 28, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Melanie Joly & David McGuinty

The federal government is planning a multibillion-dollar, pandemic-style bailout for workers and businesses if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods. The sources said some of the measures, such as waiving the one-week waiting period for employment insurance benefits, do not require parliamentary approval. But the bulk of potential spending on new programs to help laid-off workers and businesses affected by tariffs will require legislative approval, which could not take place until Parliament resumes sitting on March 24. …One of the sources said the federal cabinet is of the opinion that billions of dollars of aid do not need to flow immediately. …The source said the aid package could be ready to roll out once Parliament resumes. But it would require co-operation from the opposition parties. [to access the full story, a Globe and Mail subscription is required]

In related coverage by Tony Keller in the Globe and Mail: Would Trump tariffs ‘kill the Canadian economy completely’? Not even close

Read More

Port of Port Angeles gains foreign trade zone designation

By Paula Hunt
The Peninsula Daily News
January 29, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles has gained foreign trade zone designation from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. Its application was approved Jan. 10. The next step will be a meeting with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. …The port has not yet decided where the foreign trade zone will be located. …“We’re really looking at it for some of our existing clientele,” McMahon said. “In addition, with the potential for tariffs coming into play, this could be pretty apropos timing for us to have one. I think one of the big things that we’re going to see here is wood coming from Canada using this FTZ.” For example, he said, a company that imports wood from Canada to fabricate chairs in the foreign trade zone and then sends the finished product back would not have to pay export duties.

Read More

Finance & Economics

Tariffs Could Add $3B to $4B to the US Home Building Costs

NAHB.org
January 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States, International

Scarcity and an acute, sustained rise in building material costs — from softwood lumber to distribution transformers — are driving up the cost to construct homes and harming housing affordability. There are several factors driving this trend, notably inflationary pressures and global factors, including trade uncertainty. …A tariff is essentially a tax on an imported good, meaning the importer pays an additional cost for importing such an item. …So tariffs on building materials raise the cost of housing, and consumers end up paying for the tariffs in the form of higher home prices. Two essential materials used in new home construction, softwood lumber and gypsum (used for drywall), are largely sourced from Canada and Mexico, respectively. Proposed new tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico are projected to raise the cost of imported construction materials by $3 billion to $4 billion, depending on the specific rates.

Read More

Will Rising Costs This Year Kill The American Dream Of Homeownership?

By Jamie Gold
Forbes Magazine
January 28, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Homeownership has long played a starring role in the American dream. …Nearly nine in 10 homeowners (88% / 81% in 2025) in a survey said the true cost of owning a home is more expensive than they’d expected. …Recent, unexpected hurricane-related floods in Western North Carolina and massive fires across Los Angeles County, which both occurred after the survey was conducted, will surely raise costs even more dramatically this year, and not just in the affected regions. This will be due to fierce competition for construction supplies and labor as disaster-stricken areas compete for resources and everyone else looks to maintain and improve their homes. Tariffs, depending on how they’re applied – e.g., Canadian lumber for rebuilding or across-the-board Chinese imports hitting home improvement store shelves – and potential disruption to the construction workforce can also surge homeownership costs.

Read More

Lumber Prices Could Go Way Up With Tariffs On Canada and Mexico

By Harrison Kral
Family Handyman
January 28, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Looming tariffs could cause the cost of construction materials like lumber and mortar to skyrocket— if they actually happen. President Trump indicated these tariffs could go into effect as soon as Feb. 1. If a 25% tariff is imposed on both of the United State’s bordering neighbors, prices of imported goods will inevitably go up. This could be felt particularly keenly in the residential construction industry, which relies heavily on foreign imports for materials. Combined, nearly 20 percent of the total goods used in residential construction in the United States are imported from Canada and Mexico. …Lumber prices have already risen 17 percent in the last year, with much of that increase coming after tariffs on Canadian lumber were raised to nearly 15 percent in August. According to the NAHB, “Total imports of sawmill and wood products from Canada in 2023 was $5.8 billion.

Read More

Prices and Trends in the U.S. Framing Lumber Market

NAHB.org
January 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Lumber prices are 9.6% higher than they were one year ago. …Impact of wood and lumber prices on the cost of a new home: In addition to narrowly defined framing lumber, products such as plywood, OSB, particleboard, fiberboard, shakes and shingles make up a considerable portion of the total materials (and cost) of a new home. Surveys conducted by Home Innovation Research Labs show that the average new single-family home uses more than 2,200 square feet of softwood plywood, and more than 6,800 of OSB, in addition to roughly 15,000 board feet of framing lumber. Softwood lumber is also an input into certain manufactured products used in residential construction — especially cabinets, windows, doors and trusses. …The bottom line is that changes in softwood lumber prices directly impact the price of a new home. This, along with rising wages for construction workers and higher interest rates, is one of the reasons the housing market is experiencing declining affordability.

Read More

Manulife Investment Management closes $480m Forest Climate Fund

By Sergio Barreto
Alternatives Watch
January 28, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Manulife Investment Management held the final close of its Forest Climate Fund, securing $480.1 million in commitments from U.S. and global investors seeking to combat climate change through sustainable forest management. The fund, which prioritizes carbon sequestration over timber production, aims to capture more than 6 million tons of carbon dioxide throughout its term while providing investors with high-quality carbon credits and the option for offset sales or in-kind distributions… Manulife IM, which oversees more than five million acres of timberland, operates within the firm’s $100 billion private markets platform, which includes various alternative investments as of Oct. 31, 2024. Eric Cooperstrom, managing director of impact investing and natural climate solutions at Manulife IM, noted, “Investors are showing confidence in forests as a top natural climate solution.”

Read More

Limited Existing Inventory Provides a Boost for New Home Sales in December

By Robert Dietz
NAHB Eye on Housing
January 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

A limited amount of existing inventory along with solid demand helped new home sales end the year on an up note, even as buyers continue to grapple with housing affordability challenges. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in December increased 3.6% to a 698,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate. The pace of new home sales in December was up 6.7% compared to a year earlier. New home sales ended 2024 2.5% higher over the 2023 total. NAHB is forecasting a slight gain for sales in 2025 given ongoing solid macroeconomic conditions, particularly for the labor market. Furthermore, builders are cautiously optimistic about the building market given a post-election policy reset that seeks to eliminate unnecessary regulations.

Read More

After the wildfires: What a long rebuilding process will look like for Los Angeles homeowners

By Bob Woods
CNBC
January 26, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US West

While the current wildfires are forecast to be the costliest in U.S. history, the Golden State, unfortunately, is all too familiar with rebuilding communities wracked by previous wildfires, including Santa Rosa and Paradise in Northern California in 2020. That was 10 years after the state’s fire codes went into effect, so contractors are attuned to working with fire-resistant materials. Increased demand, however, could possibly stress materials manufacturers as well as their shippers, distributors and retailers. Specifically regarding lumber, though, increased tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump on Canada, a major source, might burden supply chains and raise prices, which will be absorbed by homeowners. “That could have a far greater impact on the cost of rebuilding in California than any [materials] price increases or enhanced marketplace dynamics,” Dunmoyer said.

Read More

PotlatchDeltic reports Q4, 2024 net income of $5.2 million

PotlatchDeltic Corporation
January 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US West

SPOKANE, Washington — PotlatchDeltic Corporation reported net income of $5.2 millionon revenues of $258.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024. This compares to a net loss was $0.1 million on revenues of $254.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Net income for the full year 2024 was $21.9 million on revenues of $1.1 billion. …Eric Cremers, President and CEO said, “Our results reflect the strong performance of our Real Estate business and the stability provided by our Timberland operations. Additionally, we successfully achieved several strategic initiatives for the year, highlighted by the completion of the expansion and modernization project at our Waldo, Arkansas sawmill.

Read More

What’s the story with November 2024 Southern Pine exports?

The Southern Forest Products Association
January 29, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

November 2024 Southern Pine exports (treated and untreated) are running 10% ahead of 2023 year-to-date, according to November 2024 data from the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Services’ Global Agricultural Trade System. On a monthly basis, Southern Pine lumber exports were down 15.3% in November 2024 over the same month in 2023 and down 2% from October 2024. November’s total of 39.8 Mbf was the second-lowest total this year after January’s 37.9 Mbf of exports. Softwood imports, meanwhile, were down 2.4% from November 2023 and down 4% from October 2024. Overall, softwood imports are running 2% behind the first 11 months of 2023 at 1.1 Mbf. When looking at the report by dollar value, Southern Pine exports between January and November 2024 are running 5% ahead of the same period in 2023 at $197.3 million, with Mexico leading the way at $54.6 million, followed by the Dominican Republic at $45.7 million, and India at $15 million.

Read More

Wood, Paper & Green Building

Companies lean into paper packaging innovations amid scrutiny of plastic

By April Reese
Packaging Dive
January 27, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Regulatory requirements and consumer demand are pushing more companies to switch from plastic to paper for everything from packing peanuts to beverage bottles. But some groups question whether paper is truly a better alternative and how much it helps companies meet their sustainability commitments. Mounting evidence of plastic’s potentially adverse effects on the environment and public health are gaining attention. For example, about 98% of single-use plastic products are made from fossil fuel feedstock, and greenhouse gas emissions from the production, use and disposal of these plastics are expected to rise to 19% of the global carbon budget by 2040, according to the United Nations Environment Program. In response to these growing concerns, regulators at every level of government have adopted new policies.

Read More

Georgia Forestry Foundation Creates Mass Timber Hubs in Five Georgia Cities

By Georgia Forestry Foundation
Cision Newswire
January 29, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

FORSYTH, Georgia — The Georgia Forestry Foundation (GFF), in partnership with the USDA Forest Service and Wood Works, kicks off a series of meetings across the state to increase awareness and utilization of mass timber. …The meetings will bring together local architecture, engineering, construction and development teams to spotlight the key benefits of mass timber construction while addressing challenges that may inhibit the utilization of mass timber as a primary structural material. The meetings are strategically hosted in centers for population growth and economic development across the state, including Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus, Macon and Athens. The creation of the meetings stems from the Mass Timber Accelerator Program launched in Atlanta through a grant funded by the USDA Forest Service and the Softwood Lumber Board. The Georgia Mass Timber Accelerator serves as a launchpad for innovative wood design.

Read More

Fine Tune Your Strategy at the Forest Products Expo 2025

2025 Forest Products Expo
January 28, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Join us at the 38th Forest Products EXPO from August 6-8, 2025, at the Music City Center in Nashville! This premier event has been the cornerstone of the wood products manufacturing community for more than 70 years, where connections are forged, relationships are fortified, and deals are sealed. EXPO brings together the entire wood products manufacturing community, featuring hundreds of exhibitors unveiling cutting-edge machinery and services tailored for the forest products industry. This event gathers thousands of industry leaders and decision-makers eager to explore innovative products and solutions, including advancements in hardwood and softwood log processing, remanufacturing, pallet industries, bioenergy, engineered wood products, and pressure-treating. Don’t miss this unparalleled opportunity to showcase your products, connect with key decision-makers, and drive your business forward. Join us for the wood product manufacturing event of the year!

Read More

Forestry

How A.I. Can Help Humans Battle Wildfires, From Advanced Camera Systems to Forecasting Models

By Anna Fiorentino
The Smithsonian
January 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

…After what’s been called one of the worst natural disasters in recent U.S. history, researchers are beginning to use new methods of wildfire detection and prediction—including artificial intelligence. This field enables machines to learn from experience by processing massive amounts of data to make predictions and recommendations. …But the rapidly evolving nature of A.I. has also made it difficult to establish comprehensive federal regulations, leading to concerns about ethics, trustworthiness and accuracy, with many experts emphasizing the importance of leaving the decision making about wildfire response up to a human, rather than a machine. The use of A.I. to detect and predict wildfires is still in its infancy. …But scientists are building more sophisticated A.I. models with up-to-date climate data that can detect wildfires quicker and map out their spread. …While becoming more efficient, large data centers and A.I.—used as much electricity in 2022 as the entire country of France.

Read More

California’s federal lands are hemorrhaging carbon dioxide. Wildfires are largely to blame

By Noah Haggerty
The Los Angeles Times
January 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The ecosystems on the American Southwest’s federal lands are hemorrhaging carbon dioxide into the atmosphere faster than any other region in the U.S., according to a recent study from the U.S. Geological Survey. While federal land ecosystems in most states are sequestering carbon dioxide on average, California’s lost six times more than any other state during the 17-year period from 2005 to 2021 that the study analyzed. “In California, it’s primarily a story of fire,” said Benjamin Sleeter, a research geographer with the USGS who led the ecosystem analysis in the new study. While scientists typically expect the movement of carbon in and out of ecosystems to cancel out in the long run, human intervention and climate change have destabilized the delicate balance. It’s made the daunting task of modeling carbon flowing between ecosystems and the atmosphere, which has challenged scientists for decades, even harder.

Read More

Fix our forests: Utilities advocate for legislation to help them recover from wildfires

By Sean Wolfe
Power Grid International
January 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

…some electric utilities and cooperatives are urging the Senate to seal the deal on the “Fix Our Forests Act” that aims to expedite some federal approvals and reduce wildfire risk overall. The legislation …establishes requirements for managing forests on federal land, including reducing wildfire, expediting certain forest management projects, and implementing forest management projects and activities. …The legislation prohibits courts from immediately halting a project unless they determine that the person suing to stop it “is likely to succeed on the merits” of the case if the lawsuit gets a full hearing. …The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association applauded the bill, arguing it would make it easier for electric cooperatives to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, and called on the Senate to also pass the bill. …Pacific Gas & Electric “supports legislation that would expedite permitting and approvals and reduce barriers to the essential work of keeping powerlines clear of vegetation.”

Read More

California Assembly Republicans Announce Wildfire Prevention, Response & Recovery Legislation

By Katy Grimes
California Globe
January 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Assembly Republicans announced a series of bills to address and improve California’s wildfire prevention, response and recovery efforts. The Republican proposals will streamline badly needed wildfire prevention projects, encourage residents to harden their homes against fire, hold people accountable for arson, looting or flying drones near fires, and help communities and homeowners recover from disasters. Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher … highlighted the urgent need to remove the fuels that drive catastrophic wildfires. … “California hasn’t done nearly enough to remove flammable vegetation and prevent devastating wildfires – if you don’t believe the science, believe your own damn eyes,” Gallagher said. … Republicans’ policies are focused on three areas: preventing devastating wildfires through fuels reduction projects and home hardening, improving disaster response by cracking down on looting and irresponsible drone use, and helping communities recover by supporting local nonprofits and making it easier to rebuild.

Read More

In the era of Donald Trump and wildfires, do environmental rules even matter?

By Tad Weber
The Fresno Bee
January 29, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The catastrophe of wildfire is creating interesting politics in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, former mayor of San Francisco, America’s liberal center, has waived environmental reviews and permitting requirements to allow Los Angeles wildfire victims to rebuild their homes with less oversight and regulation. …It’s remarkable that Newsom put the Coastal Commission in a choke hold. Over-regulation is the charge Republicans have leveled at the commission for years. …Given Republican Donald Trump’s win, are Democrats adjusting their politics to meet the moment? Are environmental rules that have guided development for over half century still relevant when wildfires burn whole communities and forests? …How the stress of wildfires changes the way we consider environmental regulations will be something to watch in the coming years. Trump wants make such rules go away. That’s not right. But giving a blanket waiver as Newsom has done may not work well, either.

Read More

Forest Service, environmentalists settle Kettle Range timber lawsuit regarding lynx

By Michael Wright
The Spokesman-Review
January 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review

Federal officials and an environmental group have settled a lawsuit over a Kettle Range timber project’s potential impacts on Canada lynx. The Kettle Range Conservation Group and the Colville National Forest finalized an agreement last week that ends a lawsuit over the Bulldog Project, a combination of logging and prescribed burning the agency had planned on about 13,600 acres in the Kettle Range and a nearby area known as the Wedge. The Kettle Range Conservation Group sued over the project in 2023, arguing that it would damage important habitat for lynx, which have been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 2000. The suit raised concerns with a 2020 update to the agency’s lynx analysis units, which shrank the area protected as habitat for the snow-loving big cats. In the settlement agreement filed last week, the Forest Service agreed to return to its previous lynx unit boundaries and to not authorize timber work within the units, both old and new.

Read More

Whatcom Million Trees Project continues planting new trees and sustaining old growth

By Ellie Coberly
My Bellingham Now
January 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

In 2021, a nonprofit formed to answer county executive Satpal Sidhu’s call to plant one-million trees in Whatcom. The organization, Whatcom Million Trees Project (WMTP), has now planted over 2,800 trees and protected nearly 323,000. The mission is to plant and protect mature trees, while also connecting people to nature and spreading the understanding of why trees and forests are so important to our region. The planting and protecting takes place in community parks and neighborhoods, as well rural lands in more remote parts of the county. Though the group clarifies that young saplings won’t add notable climate or biodiversity benefits for years, they hope to spread hope though the communal planting of trees.

Read More

Phillips named manager of Clemson Experimental Forest

Bu Jonathan Veit
Clemson News
January 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Wayne Phillips

Clemson University has named Wayne Phillips, a forester with 28 years of experience across all aspects of the forestry supply chain, as the new manager of the Clemson Experimental Forest. Phillips takes over management of the forest after eight years as area marketing manager with Weyerhaeuser, a timber, land and forest products company that owns or manages 28 million acres of forestland. Phillips is the seventh manager of the 18,000-acre forest since Clemson College began supervising the land in 1939 under an agreement with the federal government. Over nearly 100 years, careful management has transformed the land from depleted row crop farmland to a resource for teaching, research and outreach, as well as a valued community asset.

Read More

This Bill to Reduce Wildfires Might Actually Make Them Worse

By Will Peischel
The New Republic
January 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Fix Our Forests Act, co-sponsored by a Republican receiving substantial donations from the logging industry, makes it easier to bypass environmental review on federal lands. It would allow loggers to more easily thin forests by reducing environmental regulations and public input. The thinking is that reducing tree counts means reducing wildfire fuel. However, the most dangerous fires—the ones that threaten densely populated areas—rarely begin deep in the woods. For example, the Los Angeles firestorms “originated in very brushy areas just outside of town, then became an urban configuration issue,” said Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, or FUSEE. “No amount of logging would have saved anything—it’s this spurious connection.”

Related content from UtilityDrive: PG&E, other electric utilities call for Senate to pass forest management bill

Read More

With Trump’s new pro-timber order, Alaska conservationists poised to rehash Tongass Roadless Rule

By Jack Darrell and Michael Fanelli
Alaska Public Media
January 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

In the first two days of his new term, President Donald Trump signed more than 200 executive orders. One was aimed at accessing more natural resources in Alaska. It attempts to roll back protections on over 9 million acres of Tongass National Forest, potentially opening them up for logging… The Juneau-based Southeast Alaska Conservation Council has been fighting to keep most of the Tongass roadless for decades. Council Director Maggie Rabb said it’s hard to predict what this administration will do next… Rabb said that the conservation council is not anti-logging. There is still active logging in the Tongass. For Rabb, the Roadless Rule has been an effective tool to protect old growth without actually ending logging. “The push to roll back the Roadless Rule has very little to do with on-the-ground realities in Southeast Alaska or market demand, and it’s very much about external agendas that are disconnected from our region,” she said.

Read More

Forest thinning aims to curb catastrophic wildfires in Arizona. It also could stretch water supplies

By Brandon Loomis
Arizona Republic
January 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

PAYSON — When lightning ignited chaparral and ponderosa pine litter to form the West Fire in late August, U.S. Forest Service fire managers knew they had some room to let it run. Flames would creep along the brush and undergrowth some 13 miles northeast of Payson, burning around natural firebreaks in the rocks just below the rim. Once the fire crested the rim, having covered some 15,000 acres, it would die against a broader firebreak that Salt River Project (SRP) contractors had chewed out of the dense ponderosa forest with the intention of saving critical Arizona watersheds from just such a fire. …“The intended result is to reduce hazardous fuels, improve watershed conditions and wildlife habitat,” the Forest Service’s incident commander said. …The main reason for thinning, though, is to restore balance and, ultimately, fire itself to a landscape that had grown too thick to burn at less than catastrophic intensity. 

Read More

Forest Service seeks public comment on proposed changes to Northwest Forest Plan

By Taylor Caldwell
Lake Chelan Mirror
January 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

PORTLAND, Ore. – The United States Forest Service (USFS) is currently taking comments on its proposed changes to the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) through March 17. The NWFP dates back to the mid-1990s, serving as the blueprint for conserving forests and wildlife habitat along the West Coast. It covers over 24 million acres managed by the Forest Service and other federally managed lands, spanning from California and up through Washington. The proposed amendments intend to provide an updated management framework that incorporates best available scientific information and current conditions in order to better address the social, economic, and ecological changes experienced over the last 30 years. The proposed changes outlined in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement focus on themes of fire resilience, economic benefits, and forest stewardship, with Tribal inclusion and adapting to changing conditions interwoven throughout these themes.

Read More

Robot developed by students makes weeding easier at forest nursery

By Ralph Bartholdt
University of Idaho
January 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

In a brown dirt field, wet from irrigation and washed in early morning sunshine, a curious metal contraption moves like a mini tractor. As large as a love seat, and set on caterpillar tracks, the machine hums and zaps as it rolls at a snail’s pace over rows of small pines at the U.S. Forest Service tree nursery in Coeur d’Alene. “This machine can potentially save us a half million dollars annually in manual labor costs across our six nurseries,” said retired Forest Service Senior Research Scientist Kas Dumroese, M.S.’86, Ph.D. ’96. The machine, a weeding robot developed by this year’s University of Idaho robotics team, is designed to kill weeds in the nursery’s seedling beds. The team is comprised of graduate and undergraduate students and is based at the North Idaho College campus in Coeur d’Alene.

Read More

The Need for Seed

The Nature Conservancy
January 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota and our partners have an ambitious, collective goal to reforest a million acres in Minnesota. We can’t do that without a steady supply of tree seedlings. To get seedlings, we need seed. Lots and lots of seed… Seed scouts are doing the important work of collecting seeds. The work is year-round. A lot of planning goes into collection: the scouts must find a viable site where there are several trees of the desired species to ensure genetic diversity, they must get permission from the landowner or agency in charge of the site and they must find the right time to collect, when the seeds are ripe and beginning to fall, but before they become infested with bugs or eaten by wildlife.

Read More

Louisiana forests are lush with trees, agency encourages industry to use them

By Shannon Heckt
Louisiana First News
January 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana produces 70% more forests than it is cutting down. The Forestry Association is trying to encourage industry to utilize those resources, including renewable fuel makers. The state has been working on reforestation closely since the 1940s when the issue of losing critical timber came to a head. With paper mills closing up shop over the years, Louisiana Forestry Association Executive Director Buck Vandersteen said the state is nearing a forest level that will be hard to manage against disease and wildfires. Vandersteen talked about four mills that are in the works of opening in some of the northern parishes in the state. Those companies harvest the larger trees for hardwood. Smaller brush and trees offer an opening for the biofuel industry to thrive. …With the Trump administration … undoing the push towards renewable energy, there is a question of how this will impact the industry in Louisiana.

Read More

Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Conditions that fueled Los Angeles fires were 35% more likely because of climate change, scientists find

By Evan Bush
NBC News
January 28, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Climate change increased the likelihood of the extreme conditions that allowed the recent fires to roar across the Los Angeles area, an international group of scientists said Tuesday. The hot, dry and windy conditions that preceded the fires were about 35% more likely because of human-caused global warming, according to a new report from the World Weather Attribution group, which analyzes the influence of global warming on extreme events. …“This was a perfect storm when it comes to conditions for fire disasters,” John Abatzoglou, at the University of California, Merced said. …The authors analyzed weather and climate models to evaluate how a warmer atmosphere is shifting the likelihood of fire weather. …The researchers found that the kind of conditions that drove the L.A. area fires are expected to occur on average once in 17 years in today’s climate. Such conditions would have been expected once every 23 years without climate change.

Read More

Forests + Climate Learning Exchange Series Announces 2025 Series Focused on High-integrity Forest Carbon Offsets and Programs

Michigan State University
January 27, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Forests + Climate Learning Exchange Series (LES), co-hosted by the Forest Carbon and Climate Program (FCCP), the Society of American Foresters (SAF), and the FOCCE Program at Pennsylvania State University invites academics, practitioners, policymakers, and other experts to present innovative and important research, projects, and strategies relating to forest carbon. The series aims to develop and expand forest stakeholder knowledge and perspectives on forest carbon science, management, and strategy. The 2025 Forests + Climate Learning Exchange Series will feature six webinar panels that will bring together leading experts in forest carbon science, management, and policy to advance dialogues in support of high-integrity forest carbon offsets and credits. Panel conversations will not only identify major questions, barriers and gaps surrounding forests carbon offsets, but work to further the dialogue by identifying current research needs and potential pathways forward to foster the role of forests as natural climate solutions.

Read More

Forest Fires

Evacuations lifted for western N.C. community as wildfires burn

By Charles Duncan
Spectrum Local News
January 30, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US East

OLD FORT, N.C. — Evacuations lifted Thursday morning for residents in a McDowell County community as firefighters make progress to contain a wildfire. The fire spread quickly in Crooked Creek Wednesday with high winds and dry conditions, officials said. The evacuation order that went into place Wednesday lifted at 8 a.m. Thursday, and officials said residents may safely return to their homes. As of Thursday morning, the Crooked Creek Fire burned more than 250 acres and was 55% contained. …Two other wildfires broke out in the county Wednesday afternoon. …”Gusty winds are pushing this fire making it difficult to control,” county officials said in an alert to residents Wednesday. “Do not risk  your life. Evacuate now and move to safety.”

Read More

Forest History & Archives

Logging, Lumbering, and Forestry in the North Cascades

By Forest History Washington
HistoryLink.org – online encyclopedia of Washington state history
January 27, 2025
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US West

The North Cascades ecosystem includes diverse forests shaped by natural processes and human history. Indigenous peoples have used these forests for millennia, employing cultural fire and benefiting from harvesting various resources to live a rich life. Europeans and Americans arrived in the mid-nineteenth century and saw the forests in economic terms. The subsequent rise of the timber economy, facilitated by railroads, transformed North Cascades forests. But the exploitation of labor and the land forced reform as workers and conservationists organized to lessen abusive practices. Federal land management sought to protect forests, develop them for recreation, and help the timber industry. By the 1950s, these competing demands clashed. This struggle culminated in efforts to preserve the North Cascades as a national park in 1968. This and subsequent developments reflect evolving values that view forests as more than standing timber. …When lumbering started in the North Cascades, the prime value of forests was economic. By late in the twentieth century, other values had ascended, including protecting biodiversity. 

Read More