Sixteen of Canada’s largest companies—including some with major operations in BC—have US subsidiaries whose political action committees (PAC) donated directly to the campaigns of US Congress members after they voted against certifying the results of the 2020 US presidential election, a new report has found. …In the days after the attack on the Capitol, a number of US companies said they would pause all PAC donations to members of Congress who failed to certify the results of the election. Five years later, that commitment appears not to have held for the US subsidiaries of some of Canada’s companies. … The report points to BC-linked gas and forestry companies. …Domtar spokesperson Seth Kursman said the list of Congress members that received donations from its PAC represent states and congressional districts where the company has facilities. …“Our PAC supports Members of Congress aligned with our industry priorities and more broadly the manufacturing sector.”
- Related by Marc Fawcett-Atkinson in the National Observer: Fossil fuels, logging and Carney’s old employer: meet the Canadian companies backing election denialists
Richard Eaton, senior judge on the US Court of International Trade, has extended the US administration’s deadline for refunding about US$166 billion in tariffs. Eaton had orginally ordered US Customs and Border Protection to begin the refunding process at the start of the month after the US Supreme Court struck down global tariffs set by president Trump. …The administration has been inundated with lawsuits from companies like Costco, FedEx, and Pandora Jewelry – all looking to get their money back since Eaton’s order meant that everyone who had paid tariffs was entitled to a refund. Barnes, Richardson & Colburn partner 
US President Trump’s administration on Wednesday launched a trade investigation into excess industrial capacity in 16 major trading partners in a move to rebuild tariff pressure after the U.S. Supreme Court tore down the centerpiece of Trump’s trade policy last month. Canada is not named as one of the targets of the new probe. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation could lead to new tariffs imposed against China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mexico and South Korea by this summer. Other trading partners subject to the excess capacity probe include Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Switzerland and Norway. Trump and his team have made clear they’re seeking to replace the hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenues after the Supreme Court’s February ruling. In this case, the administration is starting investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act.
Portland based Hampton Lumber, one of the nation’s largest lumber manufacturers, confirmed on Thursday that it has parted ways with CEO Randy Schillinger. Steve Zika, vice chair of the Hampton board and its chief executive for 20 years before Schillinger was named to the position in June 2023 has served in an interim capacity since early December, the company said in an emailed statement. [A Portland Business Journal subscription is required to access this full story]
VANCOUVER, BC – Canfor Pulp Products announced that at the special meeting of the holders of common shares in the capital of the Company held earlier, the Shareholders voted in favour of approving the special resolution authorizing the previously announced arrangement whereby Canfor Corporation will acquire all of the issued and outstanding Common Shares that it and its affiliates do not already own by way of a statutory plan of arrangement. …The Arrangement was approved by 96.02% of the Shareholders and 84.42% of the Shareholders excluding any votes of the Purchaser and its affiliates and any other Shareholders whose votes were required to be excluded. …Assuming that all remaining approvals are obtained and all other remaining conditions precedent to the completion of the Arrangement are satisfied or waived, the Company anticipates that the Arrangement will be completed on or about March 17, 2026.
Unfortunately for retailers in the home sector, 2026 will likely look an awful lot like 2025. …While the pandemic offered a temporary financial boost, broad economic uncertainty caused many consumers to pull back on discretionary spending, leading to a decline in the high-ticket purchases. …The category has consistently seen year-over-year sales declines, according to the US Department of Commerce. …As was the case over the past few years, the weak housing market — driven by a lack of inventory and elevated interest rates — poses one of the biggest threats to the home sector this year. “The housing market is just stuck in neutral,” Zak Stambor said. “By and large, just few people are moving, and the lack of housing turnover means there’s a smaller-than-normal market for home goods.” “It’s the uncertainty that’s really driving the hesitation on the consumer side — where they should go, when they should buy, what they should buy in this market.”
NEW YORK — Stocks fell and oil prices traded above $100 per barrel Monday as investors grappled with a potential energy crisis caused by the war with Iran. …Stocks have been jolted by nerves about the Middle East conflict disrupting the global flow of oil and reigniting inflation at a time when the US labor market appears to be on shaky ground. Oil prices Monday surged to their highest level since mid-2022 when markets were rocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. US crude oil surged 11%, to $101 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was also up 11%, to $103 per barrel. …The war with Iran has effectively halted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway off Iran’s coast through which 20% of global oil consumption flows. …Wall Street’s fear gauge, the VIX, jumped 5% and hit its highest level since April, when markets were rocked by uncertainty about tariffs. 
A recent 
WASHINGTON — American employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs last month, a sign that the labor market remains under strain. The unemployment rate blipped up to 4.4%. The 
Four Montana-based Conservation Groups — Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Native Ecosystems Council, and Council on Fish & Wildlife — sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service for removing wildlife protections on 1.1 million acres of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in Montana. The federal government agencies issued a “Forest Plan Amendment” in 2025 to remove protections on 1.1 million acres of habitat that was formerly mapped and protected as “lynx habitat” for the Canada lynx, a threatened species listed under the Endangered Species Act. …The lynx population in the Greater Yellowstone Area is currently at risk of extinction, but if managed properly, the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest could aid the recovery of the imperiled Greater Yellowstone lynx population by serving as a connectivity corridor with the healthier lynx populations in Northern Montana. 
ELOCHOMAN RIVER VALLEY, Washington — Investment companies have whittled away the land hunters can use in Wahkiakum and Pacific counties. Access to tens of thousands of acres of longtime hunting grounds is now blocked because a new generation of private landowners won’t offer access. The landowners are often investment companies, not based in the region or even the country. Not only is hunting off limits on their lands, they also often block access to adjacent properties that are state-owned — and therefore should be public — or adjacent privately owned property that still allows free hunting. Steve Ogden, an assistant manager for land operations at Washington Department of Natural Resources, said the agency’s hands are tied — private landowners can’t be forced to allow people on their land. The companies’ land restrictions have begun to erase generations-old family traditions, especially among the working class, and reduce access to affordable foods, like elk, in Washington’s second-poorest county.
The Bureau of Land Management sold 27.6 million board feet of timber across 1,255 public acres in Oregon, for a total of $8,327,275, and indicates a strong demand in American lumber manufacturing by exceeding total appraised values by over $3 million. This timber will feed local mills and support jobs in local communities. The Coos Bay District sold the Eckley Empanada timber tract (1.8 million board feet, 105 public acres) to Harveys’ Selective Logging, Inc., of Creswell, Ore., for $$142,228. The Medford District sold the Thom Bone timber tract (6 million board feet, 585 public acres) to Estremado Logging Inc. of Gold Hill, Ore., for $458,766. The Northwest Oregon District sold the Gopher Broke timber tract (7 million board feet, 223 public acres) to Boise Cascade Wood Products of Willamina, Ore., for $2,499,716; and the John Boy timber tract (8 million board feet, 167 public acres) to Rosboro Company, LLC, of Springfield, Ore., for $3,913,070.
In western Oregon, public forests that once fueled rural prosperity – and later came under strict habitat protections that sharply reduced logging and local revenues – are again at the center of a political and economic storm. The Trump administration is proposing to quadruple logging in Oregon, raising timber harvests to levels not seen since before spotted owl protections in the 1990s. The plan has stirred a mix of hope and dread across the state. In cash-hungry rural counties hollowed out by decades of dwindling timber receipts … the proposal looks like a long‑awaited lifeline that could stabilize county budgets and create new jobs. … But in forested watersheds and old growth reserves, a sweeping expansion of logging would undermine hard-won conservation protections and threaten the recovery of the northern spotted owls, marbled murrelets and coho salmon…
As retired Forest Service leaders who had the privilege of managing millions of acres of national forests across the West, we understand the importance of stewarding these lands for the benefit of local communities and the nation. Full repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule would undermine trust in agency managers, hinder collaborative agreements, adversely affect resources the public cares about and ultimately restrict efficient land management. Repealing the rule is favored by many of those who opposed it from the beginning or perceive that it undermines effective forest management. …after over two decades of implementation and learning, forest managers and partners know there could be thoughtful improvements to the Roadless Rule. …Rather than seeking to repeal the rule, the Forest Service should meaningfully engage stakeholders to update the rule and improve implementation based on what has been learned over the past 25 years. This will allow future land managers to benefit local communities and the nation.
OREGON — The Pacific Northwest isn’t known as maple syrup country, but a burgeoning syrup industry in Oregon and Washington is trying to change that perception, one gallon of sap at a time. The Northwest’s more temperate climate and more watery maple sap make it harder to make syrup at a commercial scale. Producers can invest in technology, much of it developed in Canada, to improve their harvests, but that means steeper initial investments for farmers, and it doesn’t solve the fact that making bigleaf maple syrup still requires long, grueling hours that producers say can be a barrier to entry. Because of that, the Northwest maple syrup industry has required more effort to get off the ground. But those passionate about local syrup say the delicious, boutique product is well worth the trouble.
The Trump administration is turning to rarely used laws to circumvent environmental restrictions and expand logging in certain Pacific Northwest forests, legal analysts and advocates say. In plans announced in February to expand logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest and on federal land in western Oregon … administration is using the 1990 Tongass Timber Reform Act to prioritize logging in the largest national forest in the US, and BLM is citing a 1937 law, the Oregon and California Revested Railroad Lands Act, to do so on its land in western Oregon. Both apply only to specific forests and envision logging as a primary use of those lands. The agencies are using federal laws that “privilege timber harvesting and will use that argument to short circuit environmental protections,” especially at the expense of endangered species, said Andrew Mergen, a Harvard Law School professor who was previously a lawyer at the Justice Department’s Environment & Natural Resources Division.
RHNELANDER, Wisconsin — Wisconsin’s Forest Industry Roadmap and Strategies for Tomorrow, or Wisconsin Forests FIRST is a statewide initiative made for developing a plan and roadmap to ensure Wisconsin’s forests remain healthy and productive, while strengthening the timber industry. Wisconsin’s timber industry is one of the leading economic factors in the state, especially in the Northwoods. The new roadmap being developed by Wisconsin Forests FIRST Initiative aims to identify challenges within the industry to ensure long-term success. Wisconsin Council on Forestry chair, Tom Hittle, explains what the roadmap will consist of. …The research for the roadmap will last two years and seek out data-driven insights to support forest health in collaboration with local and statewide experts. The Great Lakes Timber Professionals and the Paper Council received a $1 million grant from the state to pursue the project with the Wisconsin Council on Forestry.
MONTANA — Three national forests east of Missoula are proposing a plan to require continuous logging across almost a million acres of southwest Montana for at least the next decade. On Monday, the U.S. Forest Service released a draft plan for a Tri-Forest Sustained-Yield Unit, which would direct logging to occur on more than 925,000 acres across the Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Helena-Lewis and Clark and Custer Gallatin national forests. The plan’s stated purpose is to “to support local economies and the timber industry.” Logging is predicted to ramp up to produce 35 million board-feet of lumber annually by the end of 10 years, according to the plan. … The plan says logging won’t occur in wilderness areas, recommended wilderness or wilderness study areas. …But some regional public land advocates are questioning the plan at a time when the Trump administration has pushed a number of other initiatives that favor the timber industry and reduce public comment.
In November 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a 
OLMYPIA, Washington – Washington state is poised to significantly expand its efforts to combat climate change with a proposed agreement to link its carbon market with those of California and Quebec. The move, announced Tuesday by the Washington Department of Ecology, aims to stabilize and reduce the costs associated with decarbonizing the state’s economy. The draft linkage agreement is now open for public comment until May 1, 2026, with the shared market potentially launching as early as 2027. This collaboration represents a major step forward in regional climate action, building upon Washington’s 2021 Climate Commitment Act. …The linkage would allow businesses in all three jurisdictions to participate in joint auctions and trade carbon allowances freely. This expanded market is expected to stabilize Washington’s relatively new and more expensive carbon market, as California and Quebec have been operating linked markets since 2014. While aligning with California and Quebec, Washington maintains distinct climate goals. 