VANCOUVER, BC — Canfor announced the closure of its Plateau and Fort St. John operations located in northern BC. These closures will impact approximately 500 employees and will remove 670 mbf of production capacity. Don Kayne, CEO said “Our company has proudly operated in BC for more than 85 years. …We have always been prepared to manage through challenging times and market fluctuations, recognizing the cyclical nature of our business. However, increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber to support our manufacturing facilities has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of losses in our BC operations… exacerbated by increases in the punitive US tariffs. …Continuing to operate under these conditions would put additional operations at risk. …The wind down of operations is expected to be complete by the end of the year. With the dramatic reduction in available timber supply, we will explore opportunities to divest some of our northern BC tenure, which may help support other BC forest companies facing the same significant challenges in accessing economic fibre.”
Canfor announced Wednesday it would close its sawmills in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John, B.C., by the end of the year. …Canfor blamed the mill closures on “increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber.” …Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen said the city was “deeply shocked and saddened” by Canfor’s announcement. “This news is a significant hit to our community and the families directly affected,” she said. Brian O’Rourke, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 in Prince George, B.C., said the job losses would hit hard for Vanderhoof and Fort St. John. …O’Rourke pointed a finger for the continued mill closures at the BC government. “We had a forestry summit a number of months ago in Victoria where three of the largest unions came together, and we pointed out to the government all of the faults and things they needed to do,” the president said. “And since that time, it’s been crickets.”
EDMONTON — The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the wildfire that tore through Jasper is the second-most expensive one in Alberta’s history for insured losses. It says initial estimates suggest more than $880 million in insured damage was caused by the fire. The 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta resulted in inflation-adjusted insured losses of $4.4 billion and was the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. About 25,000 people were forced to flee Jasper National Park and the town on July 22. …More than 350 buildings in Jasper were destroyed, representing a third of its structures.
State foresters say their project will help the land and help curb the effects of climate change. But some environmentalists, climate scientists, town officials and a growing number of residents don’t agree, and want the land largely left alone… The project involves killing invasives like barberry that are running amok, and preparation to cut dead and dying trees that are infested with pests like the emerald ash borer and spongy moth. It also involves cutting that will open up areas of the forest for new trees so there is variation in future that will help sequester carbon. The forest cutting plan says it will yield 458 Mbf, or thousand board feet, from a variety of trees including sugar maple, as well as 350 cords of wood.
Alabama’s economy is heavily supported by its forestry industry – but is facing a new challenge, with a widespread outbreak of the southern pine beetle. This native pest is known for its ability to rapidly destroy pine trees. The Alabama Forestry Commission reports that it has already affected numerous counties, particularly in the northern half of the state. Drew Metzler, forest health coordinator at the commission, said the outbreak this year is the most widespread Alabama has seen since 2001. …But these beetles aren’t just impacting Alabama. Metzler said neighboring states, such as Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina, are also experiencing outbreaks. … Metzlers said the beetles aren’t just making their way through forests, but onto private land as well. He said to combat the southern pine beetle outbreak, it’s important to consider preventive measures.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts — a forestry management plan in South County has attracted criticism from local residents and environmental activists. At issue is the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s forest cutting plan at the so-called “Cattle Barn Lot” in Mount Washington. …DCR has outlined a 275-acre project area where the agency hopes to …”produce immediate and maximize long-term income, enhance wildlife habitat, improve recreational opportunities, protect soil and water quality, or produce forest specialty products.” …We’re heartened to see state officials and local stakeholders confronting their disagreements in a healthy way to find a path of compromise for this project. In a corner of the commonwealth that often feels overlooked by the powers that be in Boston, it was refreshing to see several Healey administration environmental and forestry leaders make the trip to South County and hear residents’ concerns. 
Wildfires in the North American boreal forest burn vast tracts of land every year, continuously changing the terrain while affecting plant physiology, permafrost thaw and carbon fluxes. Climate warming has been shown to lead to larger areas being burned annually, as seen in the record fire season of 2023 that burned a land mass about seven times greater than an average fire year. Now new research, published in 
The California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research on Aug. 27 filed comments with the California Air Resource Board expressing concern over the treatment of forest biomass waste and provisions governing where biomass can and cannot be sourced included the agency’s proposed changes to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. “We believe that these amendments risk undermining the state’s ongoing efforts to meet its ambitious wildfire prevention, forest resilience and climate goals,” wrote Samuel Assefa, director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, in the comments. In his comments, Assefa notes that CARB’s 2022 Scoping Plan for Achieving Carbon Neutrality identified the need for an expansion in wood biomass residue utilization, particularly from forest and agricultural residues, as necessary for achieving carbon neutrality by 2024.
