Region Archives: United States

Business & Politics

Department Of Commerce Investigates Hardwood Plywood Trade

By Keith Christman, President
The Decorative Hardwoods Association
June 26, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

On June 12, the U.S. Department of Commerce initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into hardwood and decorative plywood imported to the U.S. from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Importantly, Commerce rejected importers’ request to extend the deadline and poll the industry to determine whether the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood had standing to bring the case. Commerce initiated the investigations based on alleged antidumping duty margins of 504% for China, 85% for Indonesia, and 138–152% for Vietnam. Commerce also began investigations into nearly all subsidy programs named in the Coalition’s petition, a total of 33 subsidy programs in China, 12 in Indonesia, and 26 in Vietnam.

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The Softwood Lumber Board Q1 Report Highlights Accelerating Efforts to Expand the Use of Lumber

The Softwood Lumber Board
June 25, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

The Softwood Lumber Board published its Q1 2025 Report, highlighting how the SLB and its funded programs are accelerating efforts to expand the use of lumber—capturing market share in high-potential segments like K-12 schools and multifamily housing while pushing beyond early adopters of wood construction to engage general contractors, developers, and community stakeholders through targeted training, education, media partnerships, and project competitions nationwide.

Key highlights include:

  • 315 MM BF of incremental demand generated
  • accelerator program initiative exploring collaborations with cities in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and California, and in Washington, D.C.
  • SLB Education’s faculty development initiative a powerful driver of wood design education. 
  • Think Wood video featuring Founders Hall at the University of Washington…
  • WoodWorks continues to expand the possibilities for light-frame construction…
  • The AWC moved quickly to defeat an aggressive proposal by the concrete, masonry, and steel industries to roll back the allowance for 100% exposed mass timber ceilings

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Trump to rescind ‘Roadless Rule’ which protects 58 million acres of forest land

By Kirk Siegler
NPR National Public Radio
June 23, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

Brooke Rollins

The Trump administration is rolling back a landmark conservation rule from the Clinton era that prevents roadbuilding and logging on roughly 58 million acres of federal forest and wildlands. The announcement rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule comes as the Forest Service is under orders by President Trump to increase logging and thinning in forests to address the wildfire threat. Environmentalists have already indicated they’ll sue to prevent its reversal, however. After Clinton enacted the rule at the end of his term in 2001, it effectively created de facto wilderness protections for scores of forests in the West and Alaska. …Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, “This misguided rule prohibits the Forest Service from thinning and cutting trees to prevent wildfires and when fires start, the rule limits our firefighters’ access to quickly put them out.” Environmentalists counter that wildfires are more likely to occur in forests that have been developed with roads and other infrastructure.

Related coverage in:

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Trump rescinds protections on 59m acres of national forest to allow logging

By Cecilia Nowell
The Guardian
June 24, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

The Trump administration will rescind protections that prevent logging on nearly a third of national forest lands, including the largest old growth forest in the country, the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, announced on Monday. …Republican lawmakers from western states celebrated the announcement while environmental groups expressed dismay. On social media, the Republican representative for Alaska, Nick Begich, said: “…the ‘Roadless Rule’ has long stifled responsible forest management, blocked access to critical resources, and halted economic opportunity.” Meanwhile, the Sierra Club’s Alex Craven, said: “Once again, the Trump administration is ignoring the voices of millions of Americans to pursue a corporate giveaway for his billionaire buddies. Stripping our national forests of roadless rule protections will put close to 60m acres of wildlands across the country on the chopping block.”

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Hampton Lumber to build new sawmill in Fairfax, South Carolina

Hampton Lumber
June 24, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West, US East

Hampton Lumber announced it selected Allendale County to establish the company’s first sawmill on the East Coast. The company’s $225 million investment will create at least 125 new jobs. Headquartered in Oregon, Hampton Lumber is a fourth-generation, family-owned producer, operating nine sawmills in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Hampton Lumber will construct a state-of-the-art, 375,000-square-foot lumber mill located at Highway 321 and Barker Mill Pond Road in Fairfax. The new operation will specialize in producing quality Southern Yellow Pine framing lumber. Operations are expected to be online in 2027. Individuals interested in joining the Hampton Lumber can learn more about employment opportunities on the company’s careers page. The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits related to the project. “We are proud the company recognized South Carolina as the ideal home for its first East Coast mill,” said Governor Henry McMaster.

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A historic Garfield industry rises from the ashes

By Savannah Beth Withers Taylor
Utah Business
June 23, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US West

…In August 2024, a lumber mill owned by K & D Products and nestled in Panguitch, Garfield County’s largest city, went up in flames. Reports stated that, while the blaze didn’t get to the timber, the site’s machinery was severely damaged. The destruction landed a heavy blow to the community and the Frandsen family, who have owned and operated the mill for generations. …Between the area’s lumber heritage and the need to balance out tourism’s seasonal employment waves, Fiala gained enthusiastic support from state and local governments to build another sawmill. With his business partner, Barco — a logging company — Fiala acquired 25 acres north of Panguitch and began clearing space and bringing in power, water and gas. When the K & D Products sawmill burned during Fiala’s development, he spoke to the Frandsens and together they worked out a way for Fiala to take over what was left of the old mill and utilize it for his new business.

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U.S. Senate passes bill to reauthorize funding for rural Oregon, Idaho schools

By Mia Maldonado
Herald and News
June 23, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill to reauthorize a program that has provided billions to schools, roads and other services in rural Oregon and Idaho. The U.S. Forest Service’s “Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Program,” was initially crafted in 2000 to help offset the loss of timber revenue in rural counties. The program expired at the end of 2023, but the recently passed “Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025” would reauthorize the funding for more than 4,000 school districts and 700 counties across the country through the 2026 fiscal year. The bill’s lead sponsors include U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Oregon Democrats, and U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, both Idaho Republicans. …This year, bill sponsors are urging the U.S. House to reauthorize the program. Without its passage in the House, rural counties in Oregon, Idaho and across the country will fall short of funds that support local services.

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Domtar to clean up decades of PFAS contamination under Michigan settlement

By Fuad Shalhout
Michigan Live
June 25, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Dana Nessel

PORT HURON – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has finalized a settlement agreement with Domtar Industries to clean up PFAS-contaminated materials at the Techni-Comp composting site near Port Huron. The agreement follows a lawsuit filed by the attorney general against the paper manufacturer in December 2022. As part of the settlement, Domtar will remove compost piles containing PFAS-contaminated sludge from the site and dispose of the waste at a licensed landfill. The company will also investigate the presence of PFAS in sediment and surface water at the location. …The mill began using PFAS chemicals to make specialty paper in the 1980s. Domtar acquired E.B. Eddy and the Port Huron mill in 1998. …Nessel’s office said the waste was “fraudulently” declared inert… and that Domtar continued to maintain that representation until the mill closed a few years ago. Under the decree, Domtar will pay $300,000 to support further response efforts at the site. 

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Logs from overturned truck collide with train in northern Ontario

By Chelsea Papineau
CTV NewsBy
June 25, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, US East

ONTARIO — A northern Ontario forestry company says a train crossing Highway 560 collided Wednesday morning with logs that were spilled by an overturned contractor’s trailer. It happened at the railroad crossing near Interfor’s Gogama Division and resulted in the road being closed between highways 144 and 560A. “There are no injuries or derailment,” Ontario Provincial Police said in a social media post at 8:40 a.m. “A train stop order is in place.” Interfor also confirmed this. …“At Interfor, the safety of our people and the communities where we operate is our highest priority. We are focused on supporting those affected and are actively monitoring the situation.” There is no estimated time of reopening, said OPP Const. Michelle Simard. “The officers are still investigating,” Simard said.

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SmartLam North America, in Dothan, featured in Business Alabama

By Debora Storey
Business Alabama
June 24, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

SmartLam makes wood construction products at two locations — Dothan and Columbia Falls, Montana. The company just invested $60 million in a new manufacturing facility in Dothan adjacent to the existing cross-laminated timber, or CLT, plant. The new facility spans 144,000 square feet and is designed to produce 84 million board feet of glulam beams and columns each year. …A total of 113 people work in manufacturing and another 10 in management. The Montana division employs roughly 100. SmartLam is the largest mass timber producer in North America. The company started in Montana in 2012. In 2019, they acquired IB X-Lam in Dothan, a CLT and glulam plant that had been operating since 2018. …The Dothan location works with mostly yellow pine but can process spruce and Douglas fir, too. The Montana operation gets about half of its wood from Montana and the remainder from Oregon, Washington and Canada.

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Forestry turmoil: Mill closures threaten $23B industry and jobs

By Caitlin Richards
ABC News 15
June 25, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

The timber industry in South Carolina is grappling with significant challenges following the closure of major mills, including the International Paper mill in Georgetown and the WestRock plant in Charleston. These shutdowns have left local loggers scrambling to find new markets for their products. The forestry sector is a crucial part of South Carolina’s economy, contributing over $23 billion and being the top job provider in the state, according to the Forestry Commission. However, the loss of pulpwood markets due to mill closures has raised concerns among industry leaders. …Chip Campsen, chairman of the Senate Fish, Game, and Forestry Committee said when you have logging crews and timber owners who can’t bring their product to market, they’re going to have to just shut down, and he said they’re not going to come back. Industry leaders emphasize the need to find new markets for pulpwood quickly to sustain the state’s timber industry.

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US trade faces pressure in Middle Eastern markets amid recent Israel-Iran conflict and Trump tariffs

By Asher Redd
Fox Business News
June 25, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tennessee – Recent missile attacks put global trade on alert as the Baltic and International Maritime Council warned the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf could face disruption. …Mike Cardin, Cardin Forest Products Chief Manager, said the conflict could hurt the American lumber industry as well. Cardin’s hardwood sawmill reported fewer orders coming out of the Middle East. Uncertainties about President Trump’s future tariff policies forced Cardin to change how his sawmill operates. Before Trump took office, Cardin said his sawmill shipped wood products across the globe. He said foreign buyers proactively stopped buying American wood because they expect Trump to slap new tariffs on timber imports by the end of the year. Most of Cardin’s sales now come from Mexico and within the U.S. …”Right now, no one knows what’s going to happen,” Jarrod Cardin, Cardin’s Controlling Member, said.

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Finance & Economics

Deloitte Canada expects NAFTA 2.0 ‘carve-out’ in new US trade deal

By Jeff Lagerquist
Yahoo Finance
June 25, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

A new Canada-US trade deal will likely carry forward the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement tariff exemptions shielding most Canadian exports from American tariffs, says Deloitte Canada chief economist Dawn Desjardins. …US President Donald Trump has set July 9 as the deadline for countries to ink a trade deal in order to avoid his “Liberation Day” tariffs. For Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump agreed on the sidelines of the recent G7 meeting in Alberta to strike a deal by July 21. “Our baseline view assumes that at a minimum, we continue to operate with our CUSMA carve-outs. “The sounds we’re hearing seem to be moving in the right direction. Obviously, I have no inside information. It’s just an assumption that we will not be severely hit by 25 per cent tariffs across the board.” …Deloitte Canada’s latest economic forecast, published on Wednesday, calls for a “modest recession” in the second and third quarters of the year. 

Related coverage in Bloomberg Economics: Trade clarity to help Canada’s economy rebound after modest recession: Deloitte

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Is US Lumber Self-Reliance Possible?

By Jesse Wade
NAHB Eye on Housing
June 24, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber cost uncertainty has risen from the start of the year, driven in part by potential higher tariffs, particularly on Canadian softwood lumber. Despite the continued use and threat of tariffs, US sawmill and wood preservation firms have not increased production to a level that replaces imports. In fact, utilization rates continue to fall, meaning they have the capacity to produce more lumber but are simply not operating at that level. As these firms produce at lower levels, their employment has fallen over the past few quarters. At the same time, reduced foreign competition and artificially higher prices have lessened the incentive for firms to expand output, even as demand remains high. As a result, US mills remain unable to meet the nation’s full lumber consumption needs. …There is ample room to increase production, but… producers may see no benefit of increasing output, as it would push prices lower since demand has fallen from the start of the year. 

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Lumber Futures Eases Past $610

Trading Economics
June 23, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber futures traded below $610 per thousand board feet, easing from two-month highs of $626 seen June 13th, driven by improving supply while demand slowed. This pullback reflects a temporary surge in supply as sawmills and wholesalers restocked early-season safety stocks, while builders delayed purchases after earlier buying . The decline also stems from softer demand: high mortgage rates continue to suppress new house builds and remodeling activity, with treaters and end-users scaling back orders. Although longer-term forecasts expect a pickup in Q3, driven by renewed tariff pressure and projected housing recovery, the current correction is supply-led, driven by modest restocking, seasonal slowdown, and rate-constrained construction spending. [END]›

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Elevated Rates, Challenging Affordability Conditions Put a Damper on New Home Sales

By Robert Dietz, Chief Economist
NAHB Eye on Housing
June 25, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty sent more home buyers to the sidelines in May as housing affordability conditions remain challenging. Sales of newly built single-family homes declined 13.7% in May, falling back to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 623,000 according to the US Census Bureau. This was the slowest pace since October of last year, as mortgage rates averaged 6.83% in May. Sales were particularly slow in the South, with the pace of sales down 21% in May. …On a year-to-date basis, new home sales are 3.2% lower thus far in 2025. As a result of slowing home sales conditions, inventory continues to rise, marking an elevated 9.8 months’ supply in May. As estimated by NAHB, total months’ supply, defined as a combination of current new and resale single-family inventory, now stands at 5.2. This is the highest sales-adjusted inventory level since 2015 and will place downward pressure on housing construction starts in the months ahead.

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The US economy shrank much faster in the first quarter than previously reported

By Bryan Mena
CNN Business
June 26, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

The US economy contracted in the beginning of the year at a much faster pace than previously reported, after new data factored in much weaker consumer spending. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, registered an annualized rate of -0.5% from January through March, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its third and final estimate. That’s worse than the 0.2% decline reported in the second estimate. …The latest estimate showed that consumer spending — the lifeblood of the US economy — was tepid in the beginning of the year. Spending in the first quarter grew at a rate of just 0.5%, down from 1.2% in an earlier estimate. That’s the weakest rate in more than four years. …Economic data released Thursday provides a clearer picture how the US economy has fared in the face of Trump’s policy shifts, which includes fresh figures on new applications for unemployment benefits, and mortgage rates.

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Vietnam, US promote sustainable timber trade, legal supply chains

Vietnam+
June 24, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, International

HANOI, Vietnam – Speaking at a workshop on Vietnam-US timber and wooden product trade… Secretary General of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST) Ngo Sy Hoai said that in 2024, Vietnam exported wood and wood products worth 9 billion USD to the US, up 24% year-on-year. The US accounts for 55% of the country’s total wood exports. …Meanwhile, Vietnam imported 316.36 million USD worth of timber from the US in 2024, up 32.9% year-on-year, accounting for 11.2% of Vietnam’s total wood imports. …Vietnam has banned natural forest logging since 2014, focusing instead on sustainable plantation forestry… on 3 million hectares of planted forests, mainly acacia and eucalyptus and 1 million hectares of rubber plantations. 700,000 ha of commercial forests in Vietnam have been certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement ofForest Certification (PEFC) standards. Vietnam aims to reach 70% certified plantation coverage by 2030. Vietnam is also preparing to comply with the EU’s Deforestation Regulation.

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US Consumer Confidence Retreats in June

By Fan-Yu Kuo
NAHB Eye on Housing
June 24, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

After a strong rebound in May, consumer confidence resumed its downward trend in June. Consumers remain concerned about the economy and labor market amid ongoing uncertainty, especially around tariffs. This month’s decline erased almost half of last month’s sharp gain, suggesting continued volatility in consumer sentiment. The Consumer Confidence Index, reported by the Conference Board… fell from 98.4 to 93.0 in June, the second lowest level since February of 2021. The Consumer Confidence Index consists of two components: how consumers feel about their present situation and their expected situation. The Present Situation Index decreased 6.4 points from 135.5 to 129.1, the lowest since October 2024; and the Expectation Situation Index dropped 4.6 points from 73.6 to 69.0. This is the fifth consecutive month that the Expectation Index has been below 80, a threshold that often signals a recession within a year.

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Southern Pine Lumber Exports Are Up In April

The Southern Forest Products Association
June 24, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

April 2025 Southern Pine lumber exports (treated and untreated) were up 22.7% over the same month in 2024 at 57.4 MMBF and up 34.8% over March 2025, according to April 2025 data from the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Services’ Global Agricultural Trade System. Year-to-date exports, however, are running 4% behind the same period in 2024 at 179.7 MMBF. When looking at the report by dollar value, Southern Pine exports were up 27% to $22.6 million in April – a 12-month high – compared to the same month in 2024 and up 26% over March 2025. Mexico leads the way YTD 2025 at $20.7 million, followed by the Dominican Republic at $15.8 million, and Canada at $5 million. Treated lumber exports, meanwhile, were up 47% compared to April 2025 at $15 million and up 53% over March 2025. …Softwood lumber imports were down 5% in April to 1.2 MMBF over the year and down 13.7% over March 2025.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Chico State Celebrates Opening of California State University System’s First Mass Timber Building

By Michael Drummond
Chico State Today
June 23, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: US West

Chico State will make California State University history on Wednesday, June 25, with the grand opening of its University Services Building (USB)—the first in the 23-campus CSU system to be constructed almost exclusively from mass timber. To honor the achievement, the University will host a celebration at the new building with its campus community, project partners, and members of the City of Chico community. …“This project is a major achievement for Chico State,” said Zachary Smith, director of design and construction at Facilities Management Services. “Mass timber allowed us to build sustainably, efficiently, and beautifully. The warm, natural wood makes the building unique while fitting into our picturesque campus.” The USB was brought to life through a collaborative effort between Swinerton and Dreyfuss & Blackford. …The building features modern open offices, conference rooms, flexible workspaces, and inviting break areas—all infused with the warmth and calming presence of natural wood.

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Mass timber company picks Portland for manufacturing facility

By Kyra Buckley
Oregon Public Broadcasting
June 21, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

A mass timber company from Switzerland has chosen Portland for one of its North American facilities. Zaugg Timber Solutions is entering into a long-term lease with the Port of Portland to develop a manufacturing site at Terminal 2. Port commissioners approved the transaction this month. The company is expected to be the anchor tenant for the port’s efforts to create what it describes as a mass timber housing and innovation campus at the terminal. “Having Zaugg as this incredibly trusted international leader within mass timber really adds a lot of credibility to the vision,” Kimberly Branam, chief trade and economic development officer at the port, told commissioners. “It will bring the vision to life.” That vision, Branam said, is to have manufacturing facilities alongside research and development sites. …Zaugg is a manufacturer of engineered wood products and uses its own materials to build structures.

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Council launches wood industry internship program

The Bennington Banner
June 25, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: US East

MONTPELIER — The Vermont Wood Works Council (VWWC) announced the launch of its new Internship Program, a hands-on initiative designed to connect emerging woodworkers with professional makers, manufacturers, and artisans across the state. This program aims to strengthen Vermont’s wood economy by offering real-world experience in local shops to students, career changers, and anyone curious about working with wood. Internships are hosted by Vermont-based woodworking businesses and tailored to each shop’s unique style — whether it’s furniture, cabinetry, millwork, or modern manufacturing. The goal is to introduce the next generation of craftspeople to the skills, tools, and culture that define Vermont’s wood products industry. “This program is about preserving our legacy while preparing for the future,” said Scott Duffy, president of the Vermont Wood Works Council and owner of Rockledge Farm Woodworks. “Woodworking is not just a trade — it’s a meaningful, creative, and sustainable career path rooted in Vermont values.”

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Forestry

Position on President Trump’s Executive Order “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response”

The Federation of American Scientists
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response” is the latest of several significant federal policy efforts aimed at tackling the wildfire crisis. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) focuses on embedding science, data, and technology into government to support communities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from wildfires. FAS applauds several elements of President Trump’s EO. For instance, the EO correctly recognizes that wildfire technology and prescribed fire are powerful tools for reducing risk and strengthening wildfire resilience. FAS is also glad to see the Administration promote interagency coordination; emphasize the importance of state, local, and Tribal leadership; and recognize the intersection of wildfire resilience and other sectors, such as the grid and our bioeconomy. We are encouraged that the Administration and Congress are recognizing the severity of the wildfire crisis and elevating it as a national priority. Yet the devil is in the details when it comes to making real-world progress.

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Mike Lee vows to resurrect public lands sale as Wyoming conservatives pan original proposal

By Christina MacIntosh and Jasmine Hall
Jackson Hole News & Guide
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

A proposal to sell public lands through the U.S. Senate’s budget reconciliation bill died by the sword of parliamentary procedure Monday, though the budgetary battle over public lands is not yet over. The Senate parliamentarian … nixed a provision to sell up to three million acres of Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land across 11 states, including Wyoming, finding that it violated a rule limiting budget reconciliation bills to measures that are directly related to federal spending. The provision, which framed the sale as a way to alleviate the housing crisis by opening up more land for development, has roiled Westerners of all political persuasions since it was unveiled June 11. …U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the architect of the provision, will introduce a new measure removing Forest Service land from the bill and narrowing the amount of BLM land for sale to tracts within 5 miles of population centers.

Related content:

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Plan to sell public land in Oregon, Washington and 9 other states hits roadblock in Senate

By Matthew Daly
The Associated Press in Oregon Live
June 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

A plan to sell more than 2 million acres of federal land in Oregon, Washington and 9 other Western states has been ruled out of Republicans’ big tax and spending cut bill after the Senate parliamentarian determined the proposal by Senate Energy Chairman Mike Lee would violate the chamber’s rules. Lee, an Utah Republican, has proposed selling public lands to states or other entities for use as housing or infrastructure. The plan would revive a longtime ambition of Western conservatives to cede lands to local control after a similar proposal failed in the House earlier this year.The proposal received a mixed reception Monday from the governors of Western states. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, called it problematic in her state because of the close relationship residents have with public lands. …Lee said he would keep trying. …Environmental advocates celebrated the ruling late Monday, but cautioned that Lee’s proposal was far from dead.

Additional coverage from Associated Press, by Morgan Lee: Governors of Western states give mixed reactions to proposed federal land sell-off

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USDA Rescinds Roadless Rule, Opening Logging on Federal Lands

The National Association of Home Builders
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced yesterday during a meeting at the Western Governors’ Association in New Mexico that the U.S. is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, which prohibits road building on more than 58 million acres of federal forest lands. NAHB supports this action to repeal the Roadless Rule because it is overly restrictive, prohibits land to be properly managed at the state and local level, and needlessly blocks federal timber harvesting in a healthy and sustainable manner. With the nation importing more than 25% of the softwood lumber it needs to build new homes, opening up federal forest lands in an environmentally responsible manner is an important step forward to increase domestic timber production to meet the needs of American home owners and home buyers. [END]

Additional coverage from the US Department of Agriculture: WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Strong Support for Secretary Rollins’ Rescission of Roadless Rule, Eliminating Impediment to Responsible Forest Management

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Why nature loss matters to companies — and what they can do

By Rajat Panwar, Oregon State University
Financial Times
June 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Rajat Panwar

Over the past two decades, corporate sustainability has made meaningful strides. But the central focus on climate action has been too narrow. Nature loss — from deforestation and biodiversity decline to soil and ecosystem degradation — poses profound risks to business operations, supply chains, and long-term value creation. While climate action can help, it cannot replace a dedicated strategy for protecting and restoring natural ecosystems.  Business leaders are beginning to take notice. A growing number are now incorporating nature into their sustainability agendas. Some are embedding biodiversity considerations into procurement and product design. Others are working to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains or investing in ecological restoration. Investors are rallying behind the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which seeks to make nature-related risks visible to markets. 

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Watch Out For This Tree Eating Bug

The US Department of Agriculture
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

SANTA FE — If you see brownish-yellow or red discoloration of trees while exploring the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF), it may be the result of defoliation from the Douglas-fir tussock moth (DFTM). Do not pick up this cute – and potentially dangerous – caterpillar. These caterpillars have thousands of tiny hairs covering their bodies. The female moths, egg masses, and cocoons also have hairs, which can cause tussockosis, an allergic reaction from direct skin contact with the insects themselves or their airborne hairs. …Trees with brown branches signal the outbreak of the Douglas-fir tussock moth, whose larvae feed on the needles of a variety of fir tree species. …An aerial survey will also be conducted to pinpoint specific locations and assess the acreage of the defoliation. …Anyone seeing these caterpillars is asked to leave them on the ground and report the sighting to the nearest Santa Fe National Forest district office. 

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Merkley, Murray, Heinrich, and Klobuchar demand immediate halt to forest service reorganization, funding cuts

Jeff Merkley, Senator for Oregon
June 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Washington, D.C. – Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately cease its plans to reduce Forest Service staffing and to distribute federal funding to states and communities as the law requires. The letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins follows U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz testifying before the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee and admitting the agency was intentionally withholding Congressionally approved federal funding. “We write to express our concern that the staff reductions and unauthorized funding cuts that have occurred since February 2025 threaten the Forest Service’s ability to fulfill its statutory responsibilities to states, local governments, Tribes, and forest landowners.” They are asking for a response by July 9, 2025.

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US Agriculture Secretary says ‘roadless rule’ roll back impacts all but two states — Colorado and Idaho

By Robert Tann
Sky-Hi News
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

When U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Monday that her department would be opening up more US Forest Service land to development, she did so with the caveat that just two states — Colorado and Idaho — would not be impacted.  Rollins, who serves in President Donald Trump’s cabinet, unveiled the plans during a meeting of Western state governors in Santa Fe, where she told reporters that the Agriculture Department would be rescinding the 2001 “roadless rule” established under former President Bill Clinton. The rule, hailed by conservationists as a landmark preservation effort, protects roughly 58.5 million acres of backcountry Forest Service land from road construction, logging and other development. “For too long, Western states, especially those with large swaths of land administered by our incredible Forest Service, have been inhibited from innovating because of burdensome regulations imposed by the federal government,” Rollins said.

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Oregon House passes bill to repeal controversial wildfire risk map

By Zach Urness
Idaho Statesman Journal
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

After a longer wait than expected, the a bill that would eliminate the unpopular Oregon Wildfire Hazard Map passed the Oregon House on June 24. Senate Bill 83 repeals a map meant to identify parts of Oregon at high risk of catastrophic wildfires but has become a lightning rod for anger from rural residents who say it places an unfair burden on them. The bill, which passed the Senate in April, now heads to the desk of Gov. Tina Kotek. The map, which was released earlier in 2025 and identifies areas at high wildfire risk, requires stricter building codes and creation of defensible space for roughly 100,000 properties in the name of wildfire prevention. The map was roundly condemned by impacted residents who said it was inaccurate, decreased property values and imposed burdensome regulations.

Related content:

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Idaho Roadless Rule won’t be affected by revocation of national directive

By Eric Barker
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

The Idaho roadless rule is not included in the effort by the Trump administration to rescind the national rule. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, “the Idaho state-specific roadless rule was part of the Administrative Procedures Act petitions and will not be affected by rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule.” The rule, a collaboratively written offshoot of the national rule, was spearheaded by then-Gov. Jim Risch in 2006. It is more flexible than the national rule and allows limited logging and road building in some of the state’s roadless forests that are not otherwise protected as wilderness areas. But it also offers more stringent protections to the most remote areas. …Risch’s Idaho-specific roadless rule, implemented in 2008, overrides the national rule and forbids logging and roads on 3.2 million acres of the state’s 9 million acres of inventoried roadless areas. Some logging and roads are allowed, under limited circumstances, on the remaining 6 million acres.

Additional coverage in the Idaho Statesman: USDA to end rule that kept logging from national forests. What’s it mean for Idaho?

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Trump’s elimination of Roadless Rule concerns conservationists

By Laura Lindquist
The Missoula Current
June 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

Less than two weeks have passed since the public learned of a Senate proposal to sell off public lands, and now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has removed roadless protections for more than 58 million acres of federal land across the nation. …Helena Hunters and Anglers …decided to call an emergency meeting for Tuesday to discuss the implications of the announcement. If roadless areas were truly gone, the group might not continue their yearly monitoring of roadless areas. Montana has almost 6.4 million acres of inventoried roadless areas… Helena Hunters and Anglers has been monitoring some of those roadless areas for the past few years to assess their condition, and some of the findings aren’t good. …A number of other conservation organizations immediately criticized the action, calling it another handout to corporations to the detriment of the American public and future generations. The Colorado-based Center for Western Priorities said Rollins’ reasons were suspect.

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How Maine is impacted by Trump administration’s plans to rescind rule blocking national forest logging

By Russ Reed
WMTW ABC News 8
June 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday that the Trump administration plans to rescind the Roadless Rule, which blocked logging on national forest lands for nearly 25 years. The Roadless Rule has affected 30% of national forest lands nationwide… This includes the White Mountain National Forest, which is located mostly in New Hampshire. But part of that national forest land is located in western Maine… According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the White Mountain National Forest contains approximately 368,000 acres of inventoried roadless areas. The nonprofit organization said the Roadless Rule has kept logging at bay on about 213,000 roadless acres, but noted the remaining 155,000 roadless acres are vulnerable to road construction and timber sales because they were identified later in the 2005 Forest Plan. …The announcement comes amid recent talk of selling off federal lands in part to improve housing affordability, an idea criticized by Democrats as a public land grab.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Burying forest waste could slow heating of planet, study finds

By Saul Elbein
The Hill
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

The world’s sawmills and plantation forests offer a powerful weapon against climate change, a new study has found. A paper published in Nature Geosciences found that burying the vast quantities of wood waste produced in the course of logging and processing trees could markedly slow Earth’s heating. Heat waves like the one currently afflicting the East Coast in the U.S. have been made far more likely by centuries of unchecked burning of fossil fuels — which release heat-trapping chemicals like carbon dioxide. …But in addition to the need to halt that burning, researchers found that burying waste from trees … offers an unparalleled way to counteract its impacts. …the study burying waste could reduce the Earth’s heating by 0.42 degrees Celsius, or about one-sixth of the estimated 3 degrees Celsius that scientists believe the Earth is on track to heat up by the end of the century.

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California nonprofit revises plan for controversial wood pellet project

By Edvard Pettersson
Courthouse News Service
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

A California nonprofit organization has decided to revise its controversial plan to build two wood pellet processing plants that would turn excess biomass in the state’s forests into pellets to be shipped overseas for use in renewable energy generation. Golden State Natural Resources said Wednesday it will develop a reduced-scale project focused on domestic, rather than international, use of sourced wood, producing wood chips instead of pellets. The project will target emerging demand in California and nearby regions for sustainable energy and alternative wood products. The organization’s proposed Forest Resiliency Project has drawn the ire of environmentalists who say California needs to rethink “falling for the biomass delusion.” Golden State Natural Resources was formed by rural counties to reduce massive wildfires fueled by overgrown, undermanaged forests. The project aims to use low-value forest material like ladder fuels and dead trees to lower wildfire risk and improve forest health. 

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A forest the size of North America would be needed to offset Big Oil’s reserves, study finds

By Hayley Smith
Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

The world would need to plant a forest the size of North America in order to offset planet-warming emissions from the 200 largest oil and gas companies, new research has found. A study published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment analyzed the economic and ecological benefits of planting trees as a means of balancing potential carbon dioxide emissions from the projected burning of oil reserves held by the fossil fuel industry. …The burning of fossil fuels represents about 90% of planet-warming emissions. …But, as the paper notes, “fossil-fuel companies currently face little incentive to reduce the extraction and use of fossil fuels, and regulatory measures to limit these activities have been slow to materialise.” …Indeed, the researchers acknowledged that the study has limitations as it relies on broad assumptions, including that all existing fossil fuel reserves will be sold and burned.

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Forest Fires

France Canyon fire now burning 23,353 acres, at 10% containment

By Renisha Mall
ABC News 4
June 23, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West

PANGUITCH, Utah — The France Canyon fire has increased to 23,353 acres and is currently at 10% containment, according to the latest information posted by the U.S. Forest Service – Dixie National Forest. Officials say fire activity increased at around 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 22, pushing eastward into the Kings Creek Campground area. Firefighters had to conduct a tactical firing operation to protect the campground. A total of 749 personnel are battling the fire and working on securing structures within Wilson Peak, the Hillsdale and Johnson Canyons. Firefighters are also working to keep the fire west of East Fork Road. Efforts are also underway to protect the Bryce Woodland community on the southwest side of the wildfire perimeter.

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Forest History & Archives

Washington Forest History Interviews: Toby Murray, Murray Pacific Corp.

By Elisa Law
History Link
June 23, 2025
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US West

Lowell Thomas “Toby” Murray III (b. 1953) served as the president and CEO of the Murray Pacific Corporation from 2001 to 2017. Murray Pacific is a family-owned timber business founded by Lowell Murray, Sr. (1885-1971). In this June 2025 interview with HistoryLink’s Elisa Law, Murray recounts the 104-year history of the Murray Pacific’s business, from its establishment as the West Fork Timber Company in 1911 to its sale to Sierra Pacific Industries in 2015. Murray reflects on the successes and unique challenges faced by each generation. He discusses his grandfather’s pioneering efforts with selective logging in the 1920s and 1930s and how his father, Lowell Murray, Jr., engaged in a protracted battle with the St. Regis Paper Company in the 1970s to reclaim the family’s tree farm. He also talks about his experiences managing the family business, including restoring the family’s tree farm after years of mismanagement, and his experiences navigating a new era of environmental regulations.

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