Region Archives: United States

Today’s Takeaway

The Tree Frogs are hopping off for Canada Day

Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
June 30, 2025
Category: Today's Takeaway
Region: Canada, United States

In celebration of Canada Day, the Tree Frog News team is taking a short break on Monday. We’ll return to our lily pad bright and early Wednesday morning with your full dose of forestry news and insight.

Wishing all our readers a safe and happy Canada Day! And with July 4th just around the corner, we also send our best wishes to our American readers for a safe and festive Independence Day!

Kelly, Sandy, Heidi and Suzi

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Business & Politics

International Paper Plans to Exit Molded Fiber Business, Close and Sell Other Facilities

By International Paper
PR Newswire
June 26, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — International Paper announced a series of strategic changes to strengthen its North American operations. As part of this initiative, the company will: Exit the molded fiber business and convert the Reno, Nev. facility to support its packaging business; Close its packaging facility in Marion, Ohio; Close its recycling facility in Wichita, Kansas; and Sell its containerboard mill in Xalapa, Mexico and its recycling plants in Xalapa and Apodaca, Mexico to Acabados de Papeles Santinados y Absorbentes (APSA). In the U.S., these changes will impact approximately 110 hourly and 24 salaried employees. In Mexico, APSA intends to retain current onsite team members at each location. …These actions are intended to support International Paper’s ongoing transformation initiatives to become a more focused and agile provider of sustainable packaging solutions. 

In Related News: IP Completes Divestiture of Five European Corrugated Box Plants to Satisfy Regulatory Commitments from the Acquisition of DS Smith

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A public lands sell-off is struck from the GOP policy bill

By Maxine Joselow
New York Times in The Denver Post
June 30, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said late Saturday that he had dropped his contentious plan to sell millions of acres of public lands from the sweeping domestic policy package that the Senate will soon begin debating. Lee made the announcement on social media after it became clear that the plan faced insurmountable opposition from within his own party. At least four Republican senators from Western states had said they planned to vote for an amendment to strike the proposal from the bill. The plan had also triggered intense pushback from conservative hunters and outdoorsmen across the American West, who had warned that it threatened the lands where they hunted and fished. …Lee said that, because of the strict rules governing the budgetary process … he was “unable to secure clear, enforceable safeguards to guarantee that these lands would be sold only to American families — not to any foreign interests.”

Additional coverage in the Utah Dispatch: Battles over public lands loom even after sell-off proposal fails

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Western Forest Products Announces Fire Damages Columbia Vista Division Sawmill

Western Forest Products Inc.
June 30, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Western Forest Products announced today that the sawmill at its Columbia Vista Division, located in Vancouver, Washington, sustained extensive damage in a fire, rendering the mill inoperable. “On behalf of Western, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to the firefighters and first responders who attended the fire at our site,” said Steven Hofer, Western’s President and CEO. “While we are shocked by the damage to the mill, we feel incredibly fortunate that no employees or emergency personnel were injured. We are focused on supporting our team members and completing an incident investigation and assessment.” The Columbia Vista Division produced approximately 53 million board feet of lumber in 2024, with production focused on Douglas Fir specialty products for Japan and U.S. markets.

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Oregon Legislature approves tax for wildfires as survivor bill fails

By Zach Urness
Statesman Journal
July 1, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US West

It was a mixed bag for wildfire funding this session in the Oregon Legislature. Lawmakers came in with lofty ambitions — to create more stable funding to fight and prevent wildfires, to repeal an unpopular wildfire risk map and to get relief for 2020 wildfire survivors still waiting to be paid lawsuit awards. …The biggest wildfire funding bill that passed was House Bill 3940 — which includes a tax on oral nicotine products, taps the state’s rainy day fund and uses a very small increase to the timber tax. The bill should raise about $40 million per year to pay primarily for wildfire mitigation. …Ultimately, the legislature approved more than $200 million from the budget that can be used for wildfire suppression for the 2025-27 biennium. However, it didn’t come up with any new or longer-lasting funding source, Golden said. That means for now, money for suppression will come from Oregon’s general fund.

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Northeast Oregon sawmill Woodgrain Inc. is closing

East Oregonian
July 1, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

PILOT ROCK, Oregon —  Woodgrain Inc. is closing its sawmill in Pilot Rock on or after Sept. 1. The Dislocated Worker Unit of the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s Office of Workforce Investments on Tuesday, July 1, issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification — or WARN notice — about the pending closure. According to the notice, Woodgrain will layoff all 62 workers at the plant. Tracy Hayes, the director of Human Resources for Woodgrain Lumber and Millwork Division, sent a letter July 1 to Michael Welter, the rapid response coordinator for the Office of Workforce Investments, and to Pilot Rock Mayor Randy Gawith telling them about the coming shutdown. …Affected employees do not have bumping rights, as they are not represented by a union.

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Canfor Announces Closure of Darlington and Estill Sawmills in South Carolina

Canfor Corporation
June 26, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States, US East

VANCOUVER, BC – Canfor announced today its decision to permanently close the Estill and Darlington sawmills in South Carolina, effective August 2025. These closures follow an extended period of persistently weak market conditions and sustained financial losses, which have made continued operations at these facilities no longer viable. “We understand the significant impact this difficult decision will have on our employees,” said Lee Goodloe, President, Canfor Southern Pine. “This outcome is in no way a reflection of the dedication and hard work of our teams. We are committed to supporting our employees through this transition, including providing severance payments and exploring opportunities for redeployment within our other operations where possible.” Approximately 290 employees will be affected by the closures, which will also reduce Canfor’s U.S. lumber production capacity by 350 million board feet annually.

Related coverage in ABC15 News Darlington: Lumber losses loom: Darlington sawmill closes, furthers threat to $23B industry

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Indiana’s Hardwoods and Lumber Industry Plays Huge Role in State’s Economy

By C.J. Miller
Hoosier AG Today
June 26, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

When you think about Indiana’s ag industry, you might not think about hardwoods and lumber, which play a huge role in the state’s economy. Indiana’s hardwood industry has an annual economic impact of over $10 billion to the state’s economy. In fact, Indiana is the number one producer of wooden hardwood and office furniture in the US. Indiana’s hardwood sector also ranks: 2nd in wood kitchen cabinets and countertops, manufactured homes, 3rd in engineered wood products, 4th in pre-fabricated wood buildings, and 5th in upholstered household furniture. Much of the lumber that is harvested and used here in Indiana comes from private woodland owners. “There’s over 4.5 million acres of forest land in Indiana, and of that 85 percent of that is privately owned, so there are a lot of farmers and families who own forest land,” says Tyler Smith, Sales Manager of Cole Hardwood in Logansport.

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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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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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US Consumer Sentiment rose for the first time in 6 month, remains well below December 2024

By Joanne Hsu
The University of Michigan
June 27, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Consumer sentiment surged 16% from May in its first increase in six months—confirming the mid-month reading—but remains well below the post-election bounce seen in December 2024. The improvement was broadbased across numerous facets of the economy, with expectations for personal finances and business conditions climbing about 20% or more. Despite June’s gains, however, sentiment remains about 18% below December 2024, right after the election; consumer views are still broadly consistent with an economic slowdown and an increase in inflation to come. Consumers continue to be concerned about the potential impact of tariffs, but at this time they do not appear to be connecting developments in the Middle East with the economy. …Consumers’ fears about the potential impact of tariffs on future inflation softened somewhat in June. Still, inflation expectations remain above readings seen throughout the second half of 2024.

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2024 New Single-Family Starts by Census Division

By Jing Fu
NAHB Eye on Housing
June 30, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Despite persistently high mortgage rates, elevated financing costs for builders, and a shortage of buildable lots, single-family starts rebounded in 2024, following two straight years of declines. According to the NAHB analysis of the 2024 Survey of Construction (SOC), a total of 1,009,315 new single-family units started construction nationwide. This is a 7% increase compared to 2023. Among the nine Census divisions, the South Atlantic division led the nation with 344,313 starts in 2024, representing a 34% share. The second highest was the West South Central division at 187,690 starts, followed by the Mountain division with 125,911 starts. …Meanwhile, there were 99,166 new single-family units started in the Pacific division (10% of total starts) and 81,106 in the East North Central division (8%) in 2024. The other four divisions, including East South Central, West North Central, Middle Atlantic, and New England, accounted for the remaining 17% of the total new single-family housing starts.

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Western Governors Association Unveils Housing Plan That Includes NAHB Priorities

The National Association of Home Builders
June 26, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

During its June 22-24 meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Western Governors Association (WGA) unveiled a new report focused on expanding housing to western states. NAHB worked closely with the WGA in drafting the report, Building Resilient and New Affordable Developments in the West, and NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes participated in a panel that highlighted the key findings. Hughes encouraged the governors to keep the “5 Ls” in mind when working on housing issues: Labor, Land, Lumber and materials, Lending, and Laws and regulations. The lack of skilled labor, local land use policies that restrict home and apartment construction, lumber price volatility and elevated material prices, high lending costs for builders, and high regulatory burdens are the main drivers of low housing supply and high home prices, he noted. The report contains a number of policy objectives that seek to ease home building costs and increase the supply of housing.

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Harvard Report Shows US Housing Affordability Crisis Worsening

The National Association of Home Builders
June 26, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

The US housing market continues to face uncertainty and record-high unaffordability as home prices and interest rates push sales to their lowest level in 30 years, according to The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 report by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS). The report highlights the record-high number of cost-burdened renters, the staggering increase in cost-burdened home owners, and the pricing out of first-time home buyers. …Builders have responded to these issues with smaller homes and mortgage rate buydowns, and while the new homeownership rate continues to fall and existing home sales hit a 30-year low, new home sales increased by 3% last year. The JCHS report notes that increasing housing supply would help alleviate the crisis. Zoning reforms and revisiting land-use policies can be used at the local level. 

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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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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Sandra Lupien Receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for 2025-26

By Lauren Noel
Michigan State University
July 1, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Sandra Lupien

Sandra Lupien, an Academic Specialist who serves as Director, MassTimber@MSU at Michigan State University (MSU) , has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to conduct a professional product focused on mass timber policy for the 2025-26 academic year in Finland from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Through the Fulbright Finland Foundation’s “Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges” program, Lupien will collaborate with Dr. Nataša Lovrić, faculty in the University of Eastern Finland’s (UEF) School of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology to catalog, analyze, and compare mass timber-focused policies and initiatives across Michigan, the United States, Finland, and the European Union. The project…will highlight models and guidance that mass timber proponents and policymakers worldwide can use to advance mass timber goals in their regions.

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Softwood Lumber Board Monthly Update

The Softwood Lumber Board
June 27, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

In the June Update, the SLB is featuring these stories and more:

  • SLB Generated 315 MM BF of Incremental Demand in Q1 — The SLB recently published its Q1 Report, highlighting its accelerating efforts to grow demand and expand markets for lumber in 2025. 
  • The SLB Expands Accelerator Initiative — the accelerator program initiative drives innovation in wood construction with a focus on affordability and housing access and is now exploring collaborations with cities in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oregon, California, and in Washington, D.C.
  • Former Chair Highlights the SLB’s Role in Driving Innovation — Marc Brinkmeyer, Owner of Idaho Forest Group, highlights how the SLB and its funded programs can spur innovation to drive lumber demand.
  • Think Wood Case Study Highlights Light-Frame’s Flexibility and Value — Think Wood’s storytelling in this segment helps architects and developers learn how wood structural systems can offer cost-effective and timely solutions for affordable housing developers and practitioners, leading to increased specification of wood.
  • WoodWorks Award Program Drives Scale; Winners Announced at AIA

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One of the biggest obstacles to building new California housing has now vanished

By Ben Christopher
Cal Matters
July 1, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

A decade-spanning political battle between housing developers and defenders of California’s preeminent environmental law likely came to an end this afternoon with only a smattering of “no” votes. The forces of housing won. With the passage of a state budget-related housing bill, the California Environmental Quality Act will be a non-issue for a decisive swath of urban residential development in California. In practice, that means most new apartment buildings will no longer face the open threat of environmental litigation. It also means most urban developers will no longer have to study, predict and mitigate the ways that new housing might affect local traffic, air pollution, flora and fauna, noise levels, groundwater quality and objects of historic or archeological significance. And it means that when housing advocates argue that the state isn’t doing enough to build more homes amid crippling rents and stratospheric prices, they won’t — with a few exceptions — have CEQA to blame anymore.

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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

Rescinding the Roadless Rule won’t protect from wildfire

By George Wuerthner
The Bend Bulletin
July 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

George Wuerthner

…In nullifying the Roadless Rule, Secretary Rollins specifically justified her decision by suggesting it would allow “for fire prevention and responsible timber production.” She claims it will enable “responsible forest management,” which is code for more logging. The underlying cause of the increase in wildfires across the country is a warming climate. …“Extreme fire weather” is characterized by low humidity, drought, high temperatures, and high winds. …There are numerous examples where logging and prescribed burning have increased the spread of fires. Opening up the canopy by logging dries out soils and surface fuels. It also permits greater wind penetration. …The second problem with this approach is that embers tossed by high winds can go through, over, and around any “fuel treatments.” A third problem is that the majority of urban home destruction is the result of grass or shrub fires, not forest blazes.

Related coverage:

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Forest Service will lift “roadless rule” to encourage logging

By Peter Aleshire
The Payson Roundup
June 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The U.S. Forest Service has proposed lifting the rule that bars roads in designated wilderness areas. The change could open 1.2 million acres of federal land in Arizona to logging. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins proposed canceling the 25-year-old “roadless rule” that created some 58 million acres of wilderness areas throughout the west. Arizona’s forested wilderness areas come to about 1.2 million acres of the 11 million acres of Forest Service land in Arizona. …Environmental groups immediately decried the proposal. They said it would increase the danger of wildfires and destroy wilderness areas essential to wildlife and many forms of recreation. …However, a century of logging, cattle grazing and fire suppression has dramatically increased tree densities across forested Northern Arizona … from about 50 per acre to more like 1,000 per acre in the past century. …The Four Forests Restoration Initiative has tried and mostly failed to ramp up logging on six million acres of non protected forest already criss-crossed with roads.

Related coverage

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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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USDA Signs Historic Agreement to Reduce Wildfire Risk in Montana

US Department of Agriculture
June 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

HELENA, Montana — US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced US Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz and Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a historic Shared Stewardship Memorandum of Understanding, establishing a new framework between the US Forest Service (USFS) and the State of Montana to advance forest restoration and reduce wildfire risk across the state. Montana’s Shared Stewardship Agreement expands collaborative efforts to accelerate active forest management, safeguard communities, and support sustainable timber production. …“By cutting burdensome, unnecessary red tape and empowering Montana to lead, we’re proving that through real partnership, conservation and economic growth can go hand-in-hand. …The Forest Service and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) will jointly identify and execute large-scale forest management projects, initially focusing on approximately 200,000 acres in northwest Montana.

Related coverage: Governor Gianforte Press Release

 

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Judge considers delay of Garnet Mountain logging

By Laura Lundquist
Missoula Current
July 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A federal judge has less than two weeks to decide whether to halt a U.S. Bureau of Land Management project east of Missoula for its potential harm to grizzly bears or Canada lynx. On Monday, Missoula federal district judge Dana L. Christensen heard arguments on whether five conservation organizations were likely to win their lawsuit against the Missoula BLM Office regarding a series of logging projects in the Garnet Mountains, known as the Clark Fork Face Project. …The BLM has already accepted a bid and appropriated $880,000 to pay for the Big River Thinning Project, which is supposed to start on July 15. So Christensen needs to decide before then whether or not to grant the injunction. The plaintiffs also seek to stop three other timber sales but they’ve yet to be sold.

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Federal budget bill would boost logging — but cut funds to Oregon timber counties

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Republican-backed budget bill that passed in the U.S. Senate Tuesday authorizes dramatic increases to logging on federal lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. But Oregon counties won’t see most of those revenues if the bill clears the U.S. House unchanged. “Rural counties, all counties that receive timber revenue from the Forest Service and the BLM will lose,” said Doug Robertson, executive director of the O&C Counties Association, a group that supports Oregon timber counties. …Counties can’t collect property taxes from federal lands that are within their boundaries, which leaves many counties with limited options to raise local taxes to pay for schools, law enforcement and public infrastructure. …Oregon counties have typically gone with Secure Rural Schools, since it provides more funding. That funding expired in 2023. …Counties wouldn’t see any of the revenues from those long-term sales.

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Final decision released for Bonanza Project in Castle Mountains

The USDA Forest Service
June 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, Montana — The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest has released a final decision for the Bonanza Project, located in the Castle Mountains just east of White Sulphur Springs. Primary management activities planned include timber harvest and prescribed fire. “The project area is highly impacted by the mountain pine beetle and some areas have experienced 90% tree mortality,” said District Ranger Jason Oltrogge. “The timber generated from this project will provide wood products to local companies and prescribed fire will restore forests and reduce wildfire severity.” The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest partnered with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to plan this project, and the joint effort made this project a reality. …The project includes commercial timber harvest on 1,980 acres and prescribed burning on 918 acres. Project implementation is anticipated to start later this summer.

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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.

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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 administration plan could allow reconstruction in 85,000 acres of Tennessee National Forest land

By Justin Wallace
WBIR.com
June 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Around 85,000 acres of national forest land in Tennessee could be open to road construction, reconstruction and timber harvest under a new Trump Administration plan, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. …The USDA described the rule as being “outdated,” claiming it contradicts the will of Congress and goes against the mandate of the department’s Forest Service to “sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands.” …Rescinding the rule would remove the prohibitions on reconstruction, allowing for fire prevention and possible timber production, the federal department said. …The USDA also said the rescinding aligns with President Trump’s “Executive Order 14192, Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation” to get rid of “overcomplicated, burdensome barriers that hamper American business and innovation.”

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Trump administration shuts down U.S. website on climate change

By Ian James and Noah Haggerty
The Los Angeles Times
July 1, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

The Trump administration on Monday shut down a federal website that had presented congressionally mandated reports and research on climate change, drawing rebukes from scientists who said it will hinder the nation’s efforts to prepare for worsening droughts, floods and heat waves. The U.S. Global Change Research Program’s website, globalchange.gov, was taken down along with all five versions of the National Climate Assessment report and extensive information on how global warming is affecting the country. “They’re public documents. It’s scientific censorship at its worst,” said Peter Gleick, a California water and climate scientist. …In May, Trump signed an executive order saying that his administration is committed to “restoring a gold standard for science to ensure that federally funded research is transparent, rigorous.” …The president cited an example relating to climate science, saying federal agencies previously used a “worst-case scenario” of warming “based on highly unlikely assumptions.”

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How carbon capture works and the debate about whether it’s a future climate solution

By Tammy Webber
The Associated Press in ABC News
June 26, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Power plants and industrial facilities that emit carbon dioxide are hopeful that Congress will keep tax credits for capturing the gas and storing it deep underground. The process, called carbon capture and sequestration, is seen by many as an important way to reduce pollution during a transition to renewable energy. But it faces criticism from some conservatives, who say it is expensive and unnecessary, and from environmentalists, who say it has consistently failed to capture as much pollution. …The most commonly used technology allows facilities to capture and store around 60% of their CO2 emissions during the production process. Anything above that rate is much more difficult and expensive, according to the IEA. …Even so, carbon capture is an important tool to reduce CO2 emissions, particularly in heavy industries, said Sangeet Nepal at the Carbon Capture Coalition. “It’s not a substitution for renewables … it’s just a complementary technology”.

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Proposed California project pivots from wood pellets to wood chips

By Erin Krueger
Biomass Magazine
June 26, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

The board of Golden State Natural Resources on June 25 voted to revise its plans for the proposed development of two wood pellet plants in California and will instead move forward with the development of two smaller-scale wood chip projects. GSNR is a nonprofit public benefit corporation … their initial plans focused on the conversion of woody biomass gathered as part of forest treatment and restoration activities into wood pellets… The board, however, voted to move forward with a plan to revise the scope of the project, which could include reducing the size and throughput of both facilities while transitioning from producing wood pellets for export to the production of wood chips for domestic use. GSNR noted wood chips could have applications in domestic alternative energy production, such as sustainable aviation fuel, marine biofuels, or in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage applications. Alternatively, wood chips can be used to produce wood products, such as oriented strand board. 

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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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Health & Safety

APA Members Honored for Excellence in Workplace Safety

APA – The Engineered Wood Association
June 27, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States

Engineered wood manufacturers from across North America were named winners of APA – The Engineered Wood Association’s 2024 Safety and Health Awards — the premier safety award program for North America’s engineered wood products industry. The program promotes and recognizes operational excellence with the goal of reducing injury and illness rates. The Safest Company Award went to three members: Domtar won in the category of three or fewer mills, West Fraser won for companies with four to 10 mills, and LP earned the title for companies with 11 or more member mills. There were two winners in the prestigious Innovation in Safety Award category. Domtar’s Larouche, Quebec, mill won the Equipment-Based Innovation in Safety Award for their submission, “Distancing Handle,” while LP’s Jasper, Texas, mill won the Jack Wagner Process-Based Innovation in Safety Award for their submission, “Safety Champions – Future Leader Development – Safety Projects.”

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