LONGVIEW, WASHINGTON — Travelers near Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co.’s pulp and paper mill in Longview can smell freshly cut wood from the multiple nearby businesses that produce lumber, paper and packaging. Absent is the recognizable odor emitted during wood pulping, due to the mill’s nearly complete shutdown since a deadly white liquor tank implosion there. The May 26 implosion is being called one of the deadliest US workplace incidents in decades. …The Washington National Guard is among the local, state and federal crews assisting at the NDP facility, which has largely ceased operations. …The pain and sense of loss is palpable in this 38,000-person community in Southwest Washington, as well as in the surrounding areas of the state and neighboring Oregon. Gov. Bob Ferguson called for Washington state agency buildings’ flags to remain at half staff through sunset on June 7. Tears and stoic, strained faces were visible on those near the NDP site over the weekend.
Mature and old-growth forests are vital for biodiversity, carbon storage, cultural traditions and economic activity. But in Alaska and British Columbia, these rich resources haven’t been reliably mapped, leaving much unknown about what land is protected. Now, University of Oregon researchers are leading a comprehensive mapping effort that sheds light on the location, makeup and conservation status of old-growth forests across the region. Their data show that more than 40% of mature and old growth forests in the study area are in places that lack permanent legislative protection. These forests also store the most carbon in the study area. …Old-growth forests in Alaska and British Columbia are protected through a range of land classifications, including national parks, national monuments and wilderness areas. But by far the greatest area of old-growth forest was found in “Inventoried Roadless Areas” in Alaska.
Deming, Washington — Leroy Sande was pioneering a road with his excavator in Southeast Alaska when stumps, rocks, everything else — including his rig — started to pitch down the hillside. As if reaching out with his own arm, the logger instinctively grabbed at the slick sandstone beneath 10 feet of soil with the excavator’s bucket. “Well, you ain’t grabbing sandstone,” Sande, now 83, recalled. “…There was nothing to grab onto that wasn’t going down the hill.” About 400 yards down slope, the excavator tipped over and came to a stop. It was the only time in his 50-plus-year career in the woods that Sande put an excavator on its side, and even then, he emerged from the machine unscathed. Logging is the most deadly occupation in the nation… Injuries that aren’t fatal can put someone out of work for weeks, months, years or the rest of their life. The annual 
Wildfires are reversing decades of air quality improvements across much of the US. Expanded use of prescribed fire is a primary proposed solution, but air quality trade-offs—more initial smoke for less smoke later—remain poorly quantified. Using two decades of satellite-derived measurements of fire severity and smoke particulate matter across California, we assessed the causal effect of low-severity wildfire, a proxy for prescribed burning, on subsequent wildfire activity and air quality. We found that low-severity fire reduced the probability of very-high-severity wildfire by 92%, with reductions lasting a decade and extending 5 kilometers from treated locations. Reduced future smoke far outweighed the smoke produced during treatment, with benefit-cost ratios exceeding five after a decade. Sustained treatment of 500,000 acres annually would reduce cumulative smoke fine particulate matter (PM2.5) by about 10% after a decade.
OREGON — A proposed new management strategy for the three national forests in Northeastern Oregon could more than triple the amount of commercial logging over the next two decades. The Forest Service hasn’t officially released a draft environmental impact statement for the revised management plans for the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur national forests, which will start a 90-day public comment period. …Shaun McKinney, Wallowa-Whitman supervisor, said on Wednesday that he expects the Forest Service will publish the draft in the Federal Register “any time.” …Typically, national forests update their plans every 15 years or so. But the current plans for the three forests in the Blue Mountains date to 1990. The three forests encompass about 5.5 million acres, including about 311,000 acres in Washington that are part of the Umatilla National Forest. 
ORANGE COUNTY, California — Environmentalists are trying to raise public awareness about a plan within the Trump administration to allow roads, and potentially long-term business development, in much of the nation’s federal forest system, including the biggest undeveloped stretch of Orange County. Recently, the effort has included rallies in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. More rallies are planned in coming weeks in central and northern California. At issue is the fate of the “Roadless Area Conservation Rule,” an administrative regulation that has been in place since 2001 as a way to preserve 60 million acres of federal land for recreation and habitat protection. The rule, which is not a law, has survived every presidential administration of this century, and environmentalists say it has helped protect everything from the Pacific Crest Trail to the California Condor. …Environmentalists say ending the roadless rule would be bad for the environment and for local property values. 
On the B.C. government website, you can read the following: “B.C. is a world leader in sustainable forest management”. …However, if you talk to BC forest ecologist Rachel Holt… or former B.C. Liberal MLA Mike Morris, you get a very different perspective. …The Council of Forest Industries says, “in BC. three to four tree seedlings are planted for every tree that is cut”. That does not solve the problem. In the last 40 years, the rate of cutting has sped up. That means there are many very young forests, not suitable for wildlife habitat and not suitable for logging. …Several groups in BC are pushing for less logging, protection of our remaining primary forests and more ecologically sound forestry practices. The down side? Large forestry companies make less profit. The upside? More jobs, healthy forests… fewer wild fires and fewer greenhouse gases.
Three environmental groups are suing to block the logging of nearly 400 acres of state forestland in Washington’s Elwha Watershed. Filed Monday, the lawsuit against the state’s Department of Natural Resources argues the agency failed to adequately assess the environmental harm of two timber sales, known as “Parched” and “Tree Well.” Logging would pose a “direct threat” to Port Angeles’ drinking water, which is sourced solely from the Elwha River, the lawsuit contends. “There’s only about 800 acres of structurally complex forests left in the watershed. And nearly half of those are these two timber sales that we appealed,” said Elizabeth Dunne, an attorney with Earth Law Center… Under the Department of Natural Resources’ standards, only trees that predate 1850 are considered old growth and set aside for conservation. The oldest stands proposed for harvest in the Parched sale are around 140 years old, dating back only to the 1880s. 
Wildfire season is upon us in Northern Arizona. Although our fire-adapted ponderosa pine forest could experience a wildfire at any time, May and June are typically the driest and most fire-prone months for large, destructive wildfires, following spring’s gusting winds that strip moisture from grasses and downed logs. National Weather Service (NWS) officials say this year, especially, we need to be particularly vigilant as winter’s snowpack was far below normal. Although last fall’s warm storms bumped up precipitation for the year with 0.93 inches above-normal rainfall, winter snowfall fell short. Just 26.9 inches of snow landed in Flagstaff for the 2025-’26 winter season, far below the 90-inch annual average. Thus, Flagstaff is entering summer with a snowpack deficit that ranked this winter season as the fourth-lowest snowfall in Flagstaff’s recorded weather history, dating to 1899.
Barred owls …are now officially under attack themselves. Theoretically, they’ve been in danger since the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife released its barred owl management plan in 2024, announcing its intention to kill tens of thousands of barred owls per year for up to 30 years to protect the northern spotted owl and California spotted owl populations. The federal government and some environmentalist groups agree that protecting the endangered owl is necessary, but others argue it is inhumane and exists only to aid the timber industry. It’s been two years since the plan’s announcement, but only since November has a group in Washington officially begun killing barred owls… The Yakama Nation Tribe in South Central Washington has initiated barred owl management on reservation lands and is actively killing the once-protected species. They are the first and currently the only group in Washington to do so.
MONTANA — The US Forest Service and the timber industry have effectively lobbied Congress to enact laws based on fire paranoia that cut the public owners of these forests out of the process. They want the government to build roads at taxpayer expense to while compromising the best remaining fish and wildlife habitat and quiet spaces. Upon a molehill of truth they have constructed a mountain of disinformation. Claiming an emergency, the Forest Service is fast-tracking commercial timber sales in ways that severely limit and exempt them from environmental analysis. …They are removing the administrative review and public objection process. The bad stuff for wildlife, fish and people including ugly clearcuts, road construction and reduced water quality are being frontloaded. The good stuff including stream restoration and road reclamation are back ended. If past is prologue, the latter will not be funded or implemented as the Forest Service shifts its priority.
DENVER — A longstanding specter of the Colorado mountains is gaining ground in a new conquest of ponderosa pine forests. An outbreak of the mountain pine beetle is spreading quickly and expected to continue this summer under “prime conditions,” according to a 
With Oregon facing what state leaders say could be another difficult wildfire season, questions are emerging about whether major changes inside the U.S. Forest Service could eventually impact how quickly fires are detected and attacked across the West. “All indications suggest a more challenging fire season ahead of all of us,” said Oregon Governor Tina Kotek… The warning comes after a historically warm winter, low snowpack levels, and worsening drought conditions across parts of Oregon. At the same time, the Forest Service is undergoing major national restructuring efforts, including consolidating research facilities and closing its nine regional offices nationwide. …Still, federal firefighters and local fire leaders say they do not expect major disruptions to wildfire response this season. “I think there’s just a growing amount of apprehension about what it’s gonna look like on the ground level in a couple of years’ time,” said Kieran Evans, a squad leader with the Forest Service.
AccuWeather has released its latest outlook on what Oregon could expect for the 2026 fire season, forecasting another active year for wildfires for much of the western half of America. Experts said that 2026 may see fewer fires overall, however, drought conditions, dry vegetation and extreme heat are likely to cause fires to spread more quickly and grow larger before crews are able to contain them, resulting in more land burned. According to the company’s newly released wildfire forecast, between 65,000 and 80,000 wildfires are expected nationwide this year, burning an estimated 5.5 million to 8 million acres. That compares to 77,850 fires that burned 5.1 million acres in 2025. …Forecasters said the highest wildfire risk this year is expected across the Southwest, Rockies, Great Basin and Interior Northwest, including parts of Oregon and Washington. AccuWeather meteorologists said drought and prolonged heat are continuing to intensify wildfire conditions across much of the west.
LONGVIEW, Washington — Recovery crews on Friday located the ninth and final person missing at the site of the Nippon Dynawave industrial incident, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to 11. …The ruptured tank spilled up to 570,000 gallons of white liquor, a strong alkaline liquid made mostly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used in the papermaking process to dissolve wood chips. Officials said the liquid made it into the nearby Columbia River and several nearby ditches, sloughs, and dikes. …Longview city officials reassured residents on Thursday that the city’s water was safe, and the Washington State Department of Ecology stated that the water treatment plant would shut down automatically before contaminated water could enter the public water system. …Response crews have documented some impacts to fish and wildlife in drainage systems adjacent to the incident area. Officials said approximately 200 dead fish have been collected.
This week’s chemical blast that killed at least eight workers at Longview’s Nippon Dynawave Packaging highlights the potential dangers in the timber and paper manufacturing industries. …“We work in a highly hazardous atmosphere, in a highly hazardous industry,” Brian Wood, director of support services for Nippon Dynawave, said. …The industries involved in the range of economic activities from cutting timber to manufacturing paper have shed jobs in recent decades, yet this sector continues to have some of the deadliest occupations. The disaster in Longview highlights the dangerous chemicals used in paper making. In 2024, 13 people were killed while working at their paper manufacturing job, according to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Across the country jobs in the sector have plummeted. In the last quarter century, BLS figures show paper manufacturing employment fell by 230,000 jobs to sit around 355,000 across the country. Industry researchers estimate as many as 45 mills closed last year.
LONGVIEW, Wash. — A massive chemical tank holding nearly a million gallons of a highly corrosive liquid imploded and collapsed Tuesday at a Washington paper mill, killing at least one worker and leaving nine others unaccounted for with no hope for rescue, authorities said. Another nine people were injured, some severely, in the spill at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview. The cause remained unclear. “At the moment we are not aware of any rescues that are yet to be made,” Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein said during a Tuesday evening news conference in which officials repeatedly referred to the situation as a recovery effort. That effort would not resume until Wednesday morning, when emergency responders planned to work on stabilizing the collapsed tank, which still had about 90,000 gallons (more than 340,000 liters) of a chemical brew known as “white liquor” inside, and then search for the missing, Goldstein said.