Region Archives: US West

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Gianforte today announced Willy Peck as the recipient of the 2026 Governor’s Forest Products Award in recognition of his more than five decades of work in the forest products industry and his contributions to active forest management, collaborative stewardship, and Montana’s rural economies. “Willy has dedicated his career to keeping Montana’s forests healthy, productive, and resilient while supporting the communities that depend on them,” Gov. Gianforte said. “His hands-on experience and ability to bring agencies, counties, and industry partners together have made him a trusted leader in advancing forest management across western Montana.” Based in Superior, Willy Peck serves as a natural resource advisor for Mineral, Powell, and Sanders counties and co-chairs the Mineral County Resource Coalition. Since beginning his career in 1972, he has worked in nearly every facet of the forest products industry, including logging, milling, resource management, and industry outreach.

Flathead National Forest announced the Big Mountain Fuels Reduction Project on Feb. 20. Two months later, machinery was rolling, and timber was being harvested from the slopes at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Now, the project is nearly wrapped up… A two-week public comment period was provided ahead of the 200-acre project, intended to protect the ski resort’s infrastructure from wildfire risk. Deemed by forest officials to not have significant environmental effects and seen as addressing a high-risk area, the project was categorically exempt and authorized as an emergency. It represents just one of many local timber projects that are moving forward more quickly and with a narrower opportunity for public scrutiny following policy changes at the federal level.   Locally, foresters say the new rules are generally proving to be more efficient, while conservationists express concern over environmental effects and a rushed public participation process.  

Tahola, Washington — The Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized Tribe in Washington state, has acquired more than 11,000 acres of forestland within the Quinault Indian Reservation from the Anderson & Middleton Logging Company. This historic acquisition brings one of the largest remaining privately owned properties within Reservation boundaries back under Indigenous ownership and stewardship. The acquisition is a major milestone in the Nation’s decades-long effort to restore fragmented homelands and supports new opportunities for Indigenous-led stewardship across forests, rivers, salmon habitat and culturally important lands throughout the Raft River watershed. “This acquisition represents a vision in the making by our forebearers,” said Guy Capoeman, president of the Quinault Indian Nation. “This is making our ancestral land whole again and will allow future generations to strategically manage our culture and traditional land as our ancestors intended.”

The wildfire season in Washington state is officially over. In 2026, “more than 1,500 fires ignited and nearly 1 million acres burned across the state,” Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove said Tuesday. Earlier this year, the Legislature fulfilled a 2021 commitment to put $60 million into wildfire prevention and forest health, using revenue from the Climate Commitment Act. Upthegrove is asking them to fund it again next year, amid a budget shortfall. “Public safety is a core basic function of government, even in tough fiscal times,” he said. “Without that funding, we are likely to see more fires … and more risks to life and property.” The department uses about half the funding to prepare for the season. That includes training personnel, buying equipment and supplies, Upthegrove said. About $15 million is used for forest health work such as thinning trees and prescribed fire. Another $15 million helps communities develop wildfire defense plans and carry out fuels reduction work, he added. 

A hearing on whether to grant a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction to stop logging in Giant Sequoia Groves in the Sequoia National Forest’s Giant Sequoia National Monument was scheduled to be held today. …A lawsuit was filed by the John Muir Society Earth Island Institute, the Tule River Conservancy and Sequoia Forestkeeper against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife over the recovery from the 2020 Castle Fire and 2021 Windy Fire. The suit maintains the spotted owl, the Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher and the California Condor are able to survive in the burned areas left by the Castle and Windy wildfires contrary to the position of the management policies which has cleared the way for logging. …The lawsuit also seeks injunctive relief to prohibit further logging in the Giant Sequoia National Monument and that’s what Monday’s hearing was scheduled to be held for.

For decades, the Roadless Rule banned new roadbuilding and logging across millions of acres of national forest land. …Around half of the Tongass in Southeast Alaska has no active roads, an area spanning more than 9 million acres. …the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, said the forest supports Lingit traditions, including harvesting berries and hunting deer. U.S. Department of Agriculture has said rolling back the Roadless Rule would give firefighters access to fight wildfires and remove regulatory barriers. In this part of Alaska, where wildfires are rare, many think that’s an excuse to bolster the timber industry, which has declined significantly since the 1990s. But could the move stimulate a logging boom in the Tongass? “There certainly is a piece that would make some supply available,” said Tessa Axelson, executive director at the Alaska Forest Association, a timber advocacy group. “It is not significant volume that is going to fix the challenges the industry has.”

HELENA — Montana and federal land management officials are expanding their partnership to manage forests and public lands across the state. Gov. Greg Gianforte joined Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director Amanda Kaster at the Montana State Capitol on Monday to sign a new memorandum of understanding strengthening the state’s partnership with the BLM through the Good Neighbor Authority. The Good Neighbor Authority provides a framework that allows state and federal agencies to work together on forest and rangeland management projects. Under the new agreement, the state and BLM plan to increase collaborative work aimed at expanding timber production, restoring forests and watersheds, reducing hazardous fuels and improving wildlife habitat on public lands.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s (CAL FIRE) Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP) today announced the release of the latest edition of the California Forest and Rangeland Assessment, a comprehensive,science-based report that examines the health, trends, and resilience of the state’s forests and rangelands amid growing pressures from climate change, wildfire, and land-use change. The new California Forest and Rangeland Assessment is available on the FRAP webpage. To ensure timely access to high-quality data while ongoing review and analysis continue, the Assessment will be released in batches. The final compiled report is expected to be released in Q2, 2027. The Assessment brings together data for more than 50 indicators to show trends in wildfire severity, tree mortality, water resources, wildlife habitat, and climate parameters, as well as several other wildland related topics. Together, these data provide a comprehensive statewide snapshot of California’s natural landscapes and the challenges they face. 

The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests’ Norwood and Ouray Ranger Districts have completed the environmental assessment and approved the South Uncompahgre Hazardous Fuels and Ecological Resiliency (SUHFER) project. The project will help reduce wildfire risk, improve forest health and enhance wildlife habitat across portions of the Uncompahgre Plateau and Naturita Division in Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties. Implementation of approved projects may begin immediately. … The SUHFER project area covers approximately 267,300 acres, with about 245,000 acres taking place on National Forest System lands. Treatments will focus on making forests and rangelands more resilient to wildfire, drought, insects and disease while improving habitat for big game and Gunnison sage-grouse. The first project to be implemented under this decision is expected to occur in the Naturita Division, south of Norwood, where the district will explore opportunities for combined fuels reduction and wildlife habitat improvement.

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California — The United States Forest Service (USFS) has scaled back a vegetation clearing project for the Los Padres National Forest by about 85% after hearing objections from the public and a coalition of 91 community organizations. Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) officials announced on Oct. 20 that the Wildfire Risk Reduction Project (WRRP) can now commence on 33,023 acres within Santa Barbara, Ventura, Kern, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. When the WRRP was first proposed in 2022, the project included 235,493 acres. A variety of methods will be used including mechanical thinning, piling and burning, weed-whipping and prescribed fire, LPNF officials said. The project includes portions of the Mount Pinos Ranger District in northern Ventura County but does not include the Ojai Ranger District, because officials said it was funded by money from the electrical utility PG&E which does not serve the Ojai area. 

November is National Career Development Month, an opportunity to recognize the programs introducing young people to careers in the timber and wood products industry and the importance of investing in the next generation of skilled professionals. When we think about the future of the forest products industry, conversations often focus on timber supply, forest management, regulations, and markets. While these issues are critical, there’s another challenge that deserves just as much attention: Who will make up the next generation of our workforce? …To address this need, FRA worked to introduce the bipartisan Jobs in the Woods Act (S. 1336/H.R. 4575). The bipartisan legislation would create competitive grants to expand workforce training, particularly in rural and low-income communities. …The Oregon Forest Resources Institute and the Western Forestry and Conservation Association co-hosted a summit May 2026. The resulting report, Oregon’s Forest Sector Workforce, estimates that Oregon needs about 3,400 new forest operations and management workers each year. 

PORTLAND, Ore. — After more than 2.5 million acres of land were burned, Oregon fire officials announced the end of the state’s 2026 wildfire season on Wednesday. This year’s wildfire season was record-breaking, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry, noting this year’s 2.5 million acres burned exceeded 2024’s state record of 1.9 million acres burned. ODF explained that reduced snowpack in 2025 led to drought and dry fuels across Oregon. That, combined with several lightning events, followed by windy, hot weather, resulted in multiple new wildfires and rapid growth of existing fires in 2026. “As we mark the end of the 2026 wildfire season, I want to thank our first responders, landowners, contractors, local governments, Tribal Nations, the Oregon National Guard, other state and international responders, and every person who worked tirelessly to protect lives and property,” Governor Tina Kotek said Wednesday. “I am deeply grateful for the courage and collaboration that carried us through.” 

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A large logging project near Cooke City and an entrance to Yellowstone National Park has been scrubbed by the U. S. Forest Service after conservation groups challenged the federal government, saying it was using unproven methods at the risk of several endangered species. The Cooke City Fuels Project was withdrawn by the Forest Service and would have encompassed 19,921 acres. The purpose was to reduce the amount of fuels in order to reduce the threat of wildfire using a number of techniques, including “daylight thinning.” The Forest Service would have removed other trees and brush around the endangered Whitebark Pine trees as a means to bolster their chances of survival. However, the conservation groups which challenged the project said that there was no scientific research validating the technique. …Whitebark pine trees are threatened and considered a “keystone species.” 

©Center for Biological Diversity

SAN FRANCISCO— In a win for California’s forests, a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to finalize protections for the California spotted owl under the Endangered Species Act by April 30. The owl was proposed for protection in 2023 which triggered a one-year deadline that is now more than two years overdue. …California spotted owls were proposed for endangered status in central and southern coastal California and threatened status in the Sierra Nevada. The Center and partners first petitioned to protect the owls in 2000. “Now, more than ever, it is critical that California spotted owls receive increased protection to ensure their continued survival. Human-caused threats like logging and climate change jeopardize the owl’s habitat, and President Trump’s attacks on environmental protections like the roadless rule underscore this urgency,” said Andria So, an attorney at Earthjustice. …California spotted owls only live in mature and old-growth forests where they’re threatened by historic and current logging practices. 

©Wyoming Game & Fish

Throughout the winter, scientists will be using cosmic rays to research soil and snowpack moisture levels at the Mullen Fire burn scar. Colorado State University civil engineers are working with a Cosmic Ray Neutron Rover to study ground moisture in several scenarios, from dusty, rural roads to wildfire recovery. This winter, researchers will evaluate snow water equivalent, or the amount of liquid water content in the snowpack in the Medicine Bow National Forest, working in an area that suffered a catastrophic wildfire in September 2020 west and southwest of Laramie. The team will use the technology at the Mullen Fire burn scar, utilizing the sensor to measure hydrological changes and water content across large-scale areas. …To predict how wildfires affect water supplies, researchers hope to use the study to determine how the 176,878-acre Mullen Fire altered snowpack, soil moisture, and the connection between them. 

The U.S. Forest Service faces continued uncertainty over its staffing, leadership and funding, raising concerns among Northern Arizona loggers, environmentalists and local officials working to restore overgrown forests and sustain the timber industry. “We’re in a moment of uncertainty,” said Scot Rogers, program manager for the Four Forest Restoration Initiative, known as 4FRI. Rogers spoke at a recent meeting in Show Low of the Natural Resources Working Group of the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization. …A federal judge has temporarily blocked a plan to move the Forest Service headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City and reorganize its regional offices. A lawsuit filed by federal employee groups also challenges layoffs affecting thousands of Forest Service workers. …Restoring Northern Arizona’s forests was already a difficult task before the latest changes. Ponderosa pine forests that historically averaged about 50 trees per acre now can contain closer to 1,000 trees per acre, according to figures presented at the meeting.

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Last month, arborist Isaac Long drove to a residence in Walla Walla County to save a residential green ash tree. …Long inspected the canopy, and found what became the first documented emerald ash borer infestation in Washington state. Adult emerald ash borers measure about half an inch long and sport a shiny green exoskeleton. Originally from Asia and first identified in the U.S. in Michigan in 2002, the invasive pest has decimated ash trees in North America, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. …Washington State Department of Agriculture staff visited the site, found the pale larvae in multiple trees and sent specimens to the USDA, which confirmed the insect species, according to a release. …“Once emerald ash borer has been detected, it’s only a matter of time before you see large-scale mortality of ash on the landscape,” said Zeima Kassahun, with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Rich Elliott

…For nearly 40 years, I’ve served as a firefighter, including as deputy chief of Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue, often battling wildfires. To preserve the landscape we love, we need to change our relationship to fire. Virtually every Western ecosystem evolved with fires as an integral part of wildland ecology. …However, more than a century of total suppression policy interrupted that cycle, and fuel has been accumulating on the landscape. …If we don’t reconsider our federal wildfire policy, resources will be stretched even further and wildfire season will only worsen. The Fix Our Forests Act … aims to tackle wildfire response holistically. FOFA is a science-based solution, built on the recommendations from experts in conservation, land management and firefighting. It … authorizes more projects to prevent and mitigate the threat of catastrophic wildfire – prescribed burning, grazing, selective thinning. The bill also addresses coordination issues in our federal wildfire response. 

Three conservation groups are suing the U.S. Forest Service for reducing the size and wildlife protections in the Idaho portion of the Great Burn Recommended Wilderness. On Tuesday, the Great Burn Conservation Alliance, Montana Wildlife Federation and Idaho Conservation League sued the U.S. Forest Service in Central Idaho federal court over the changes that the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest made to the Great Burn Recommended Wilderness in its 2025 Forest Plan. The new Forest Plan shrank the Great Burn Recommended Wilderness that had existed for 40 years by removing approximately 3,700 acres in two large areas to the north and south that are critical to wildlife, particularly mountain goats and wolverine. As compensation, the plan added new acreage on the west side of the area, but the groups say it’s marginal wildlife habitat.

Mike Crapo

The historic drought and heat our state has experienced have only exacerbated wildfires in Idaho. I am working [on] federal policies that help reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires and improve long-term forest management. This includes ongoing efforts to address how the federal government budgets for fire suppression. …in 2013, I joined Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in introducing legislation to end fire borrowing and worked steadily over the years with a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, including fellow members of the Idaho congressional delegation, to enact legislation in 2018 to stop the erosion of the Forest Service’s and BLM’s budgets and ramp up fire prevention projects. …Given the current fire borrowing fix is set to expire at the end of fiscal year 2027 and federal agencies’ wildfire suppression funding needs are on pace to exceed budget caps, I am working with congressional colleagues to iron out bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the funding fix. 

With cooler temperatures and increased moisture across Arizona, the Department of Forestry and Fire Management (DFFM) is getting ready to begin prescribed fire work across the state. Starting this fall and continuing through early 2027, DFFM will conduct both broadcast and pile burns to treat thousands of acres as part of wildfire risk reduction, community protection, and forest health improvements. Multiple projects are tentatively planned, including the 180-acre Mingus Springs pile burn on Mingus Mountain in Yavapai County. The project aims at reducing large debris piles leftover from previous mechanical thinning work at the 4-H Mingus Springs Camp, helping protect the camp and surrounding properties. Other projects include the 775-acre Flying M Ranch prescribed fire, south of Twin Arrows Casino, east of Flagstaff, and the 400-acre Little Colorado River (LCR) project west of Eagar along State Route 261.

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon is working to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest health, and protect communities by investing $10 million in projects that are part of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) landscape resiliency approach. The current grant awards will fund joint projects in Douglas, Grant, Jackson, and Josephine counties. The projects will reduce hazardous fuels, restore fire-adapted landscapes, and improve landscape resilience across more than 6,400 acres. Forest Resources Division Chief Josh Barnard said, “with more than 2 million acres burned by wildfires in Oregon so far in 2026, this work has become more important than ever. Every responsibly managed acre helps reduce wildfire risk around communities and improves the long-term health of Oregon’s forests and rangelands.” …ODF is focusing on larger forest resiliency by reducing tree density in some areas and planting better adapted trees in others.

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A financial benefit for surviving family members of wildland firefighters who die fighting blazes on federal lands could increase tenfold under a new bill proposed by Oregon’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and Utah’s Republican U.S. Sen. John Curtis. Merkley and Curtis on Monday introduced the Honoring Fallen Wildland Firefighters Act to provide for firefighters’ families the up to $100,000 benefit currently extended to families of U.S. military members killed in combat. The federal government currently provides a maximum death benefit of $10,000 to federal wildland firefighters’ families. The bill would not only increase the benefit for those families, but extend it to privately contracted wildland firefighters and those employed by state and local fire agencies. Merkley said it reflects the “ultimate sacrifice” firefighters make. “We must do all we can to support our firefighters who risk so much in their service to communities in Oregon and across the nation,” he said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry recognized two honorees Thursday morning at the Forest of Honor ceremony in Zaleski State Forest for their outstanding contributions to forestry in Ohio. “Ohio’s forests are stronger because of the people and organizations that dedicate their time and expertise to caring for them,” said Division of Forestry Chief Dan Balser. “This year’s honorees have educated Ohioans, advanced responsible forest management, and helped connect people to the importance and value of our state’s forests.” Trees were planted in the Forest of Honor to recognize the following recipients: Kathy Smith, Forestry Program Director, Retired and The Dawes Arboretum. Induction into the Forest of Honor recognizes individuals, groups, and organizations that have contributed significantly to the accomplishment of the Division of Forestry’s mission and the advancement of Ohio forestry

Two environmental conservation groups and a Southeast Alaska tribe have filed a motion to stop a timber sale that’s part of a logging project east of Ketchikan. The Shelter Cove Timber Sale is the first timber harvest in the South Revilla Integrated Resource Project. That’s a plan greenlit by the U.S. Forest Service in July that includes harvesting over 5,000 acres of trees, mostly old growth, in the Tongass National Forest. It also includes construction of new roads, trails, cabins and boat launches. The motion for a preliminary injunction was filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday by the Ketchikan Indian Community, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. They argue that stopping the timber sale is “necessary to prevent irreparable harm to Plaintiffs’ way-of-life and interest in the Tongass’s habitat, wildlife, subsistence resources and other important values.” 

The white Cessna banked right to reveal dense forests of Douglas fir, pines and quaking aspen in varying shades of green bathed in the early morning light. Yet secreted under the layered bark of some pines is a pest whose upcoming flight places Colorado’s highest concentration of real estate and infrastructure values at risk. Damage wrought by the mountain pine beetle is already evident in thousands of dead and dying red-needled ponderosa pine knitted throughout these stands. Their gray skeletons line highways, heighten already elevated wildfire risk and threaten watersheds that millions of residents rely on for clean drinking water. On some mountain properties about 40 miles west of Denver most every pine is dead. Many residents cannot afford to remove the infested century-old ponderosas. One quote ran $15,000 an acre. The growing price tag to mitigate the damage and protect high-value trees from the next onslaught presents a quandary for local, state and federal agencies.

A top U.S. Fish and Wildlife official told Idaho lawmakers Monday the Trump administration will immediately push to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list after a proposed rule is finalized. Gov. Brad Little joined Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in July in announcing a proposed rule that would give states more control over managing endangered grizzly bears. Grizzlies have been on the Endangered Species list since 1975 after nearly being wiped out by settlers across their original range. Their inclusion gives them broad protections from hunting and development within their habitat. A release from the agency said the proposed rule would not change the bears’ protection status. Instead, it would be up to states – in this case, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming – to implement their own recovery plan for the animals.

©Mael Glon/USFWS

The push to kill one kind of owl to save another has reached Oregon’s Elliott State Research Forest. Beginning Thursday, contractors will begin shooting invasive barred owls inside the 83,000-acre state-owned territory, in an effort to protect northern spotted owl populations. The state hired them to kill up to 350 barred owls over the next year as part of a bigger effort led by the federal government, according to Amy Price, research biologist at the Elliott state forest. “We are using the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s management strategy,” she said. “We could have come up with our own strategy, but we chose to follow them, because the science has already been done.” That federal agency has authorized the killing of almost half a million invasive barred owls across Oregon, Washington and California — and has an unlikely array of allies and opponents. 

Related coverage in The Northcoast Environmental Center: Future of a New Resident: Barred Owls

Washington Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove is dialing back his goal to protect 77,000 acres of older state forests from timber harvest even as he asks lawmakers to give him more tools to do so. On Sept. 24, the first-term commissioner dropped the figure to 55,000 acres, blaming the reduction in part on mapping errors. While those forests are now exempt from logging through 2030, Upthegrove is banking on the state Legislature granting his Department of Natural Resources broader authority in how it generates revenue from its management of state lands so that those acres do not eventually end up in a timber sale. …Land management is only one concern of Upthegrove’s. Another is the agency’s internal budget problems. A key account that funds forestry work was on track to go negative by midsummer. The agency deferred work on some lands to keep the account positive, according to agency officials.

EASTERN OREGON – The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and Associated Oregon Loggers (AOL) are urging the U.S. Forest Service to adopt a Blue Mountain Forest Plan that will improve and increase active management across the 4.9 million acres that comprise the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman, and Malheur national forests. In separate comments submitted for the plan’s draft environmental impact statement, both groups said the plans should improve active management using local professional land managers and giving them the flexibility needed to respond to unhealthy forest conditions that increase the risks of severe wildfire. “Eastern Oregon is losing too many forested acres to severe wildfire, insects and disease, and we need forest plans that allow the forest service to mitigate those threats,” AFRC Director of Forest Policy and Monitoring Andy Geissler stated. 

The constantly changing forest and trade policies happening right now in the United States are causing much expense and frustration for the B.C. forest sector. Consequently, a sudden infusion of common sense from south of the border raises eyebrows. And possibilities for here at home. The U.S. Forest Service and the state of Montana have set the groundwork for a long term agreement to allow timber harvested within three sustained yield units in the central state to remain there for processing into wood products. …What the Montana foresters are talking about is returning the magic word of “stability” to the B.C. forest industry’s lexicon. Stability and predictability tied to the anchor of a renewable … would invite sorely needed investment potential into B.C.’s forest sector. …Little is more infuriating for local loggers and sawmill operators [than to see] harvested logs leave for distant mills for processing.

For harvesting to be profitable on the scale necessary, we need a competitive market for logs, and our forest products industry was decimated with the earlier cessation of harvesting on federal lands. Today, 25% of our lumber supply, worth about $19.7 billion, is imported from Canada. While we ignored our federal forests, the Canadians have been exhausting their easier pickings. With only difficult sites left, they are cutting back, with more cutbacks planned in the future. In the last decade, lumber production there has decreased by 55%. This is an opportunity that we need to capitalize on. By reestablishing a modest forest products industry, we could create a market for the material we need to thin and harvest. Were we to replace the Canadian lumber with domestically produced lumber, the downstream financial stimulus could add an additional $39.4 billion to our GDP. …Let’s consider some of the possible end products for the thinned and harvested timber.

Officially known as “inventoried roadless areas,” roadless areas are protected under a federal rule enacted 25 years ago that generally prohibits logging and road-building. In Montana they cover about one-third of the state’s 17 million acres of public land administered by the U.S. Forest Service. …The original intent of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, in part, was to curb the spread of roads and development into the agency’s wildest landscapes. It was also a recognition that the Forest Service’s sprawling road network — today comprising 368,000 miles — was already beyond its capacity to maintain. …President Donald Trump’s administration announced last summer it would move to rescind that roadless rule, effectively returning those lands to the land-use designations established by each individual national forest. Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, released a lengthy analysis looking at the pros and cons of doing so.

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Utah entered 2026 with heightened concerns about the wildfire season, given the record-low snowpack. Those concerns materialized as wildfires burned across Utah, affecting nearly every corner of the state. The 2026 wildfire season might be better described as a wildfire year. For example, on Jan. 22, the Beaver Canyon Fire started near Strawberry Reservoir in Wasatch County. At that time of year, the area should have been under several feet of snow. …More than half a million acres have burned in Utah in 2026, making it the state’s most severe fire season since 2007, when 629,212 acres burned. The next-highest total in recent history was 438,983 acres in 2018. This summer, Utah experienced several megafires, three of which made the list of the top 10 Utah wildfires since 2002, including the Widemouth 2 Fire at 129,741 acres burned, the Babylon Fire at 107,189 acres burned, and the Cottonwood Fire at 97,464 acres burned.

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JACKSON, Wyoming—When Jared Friedman took a core sample of an incredibly gnarled, spindly and not-very-tall whitebark pine in Paintbrush Canyon, it did not occur to him that the tree might be ancient. It was less than 30 feet tall. Friedman, a doctoral student in forest ecology at the University of Wyoming, was in Grand Teton National Park studying what kills whitebark pines. He takes core samples of every dead tree he encounters. He dated the unsuspecting tree at 1,289 years old, making it the oldest recorded whitebark pine tree on record. The tree eclipsed the previous record-holding whitebark from Idaho’s Sawtooth Range by 22 years. …He dated the tree to have died in 2021, killed by mountain pine beetles, a native insect that is wreaking havoc on whitebark as its population grows and expands due to climate change.

Chris Edwards

Travis Joseph

Oregon made history this summer, and not the celebratory kind. It’s a wakeup call: The system is broken and fixing it requires new thinking. …Beginning in 2019, the Wasco County Forest Collaborative… worked with the U.S. Forest Service on the Grasshopper Restoration Project to reduce hazardous fuels and wildfire risk. …Professional foresters and scientists concluded treatments would reduce wildfire risk. …Now those “protected” acres are burning in the nearly 94,000-acre Grasshopper Fire, and years of collaboration were wasted. Oregonians should be outraged. …But here’s where the conversation gets uncomfortable. When a proposed solution includes the word “logging,” many Democrats recoil. We say this as two native Oregonians who have worked within the Democratic Party. That response is rooted in outdated ideology. …Active management does not mean managing national forests like industrial timberlands. It means giving public land managers the tools and access to thin overcrowded forests, reduce hazardous fuels and respond to wildfire.

Today Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove announced an updated vision for conservation and the management of forests on state lands, outlining a plan to shore up budgets for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) forestry programs. The Commissioner discussed his August 2025 Commissioner’s Order to manage 77,000 acres of structurally complex forests using methods other than traditional logging techniques. He announced that he’s learned that it will not be possible to get to 77,000 acres and that the Commissioner’s Order has been updated to reflect his new management direction. That new direction includes roughly 55,000 acres of structurally complex forests that will be exempt from Agency harvest plans through at least 2030. During this time DNR will work to secure the authority and develop innovative tools needed to continue managing those acres without variable retention harvests. 

• Related by Isabella Breda in the Seattle Times: WA public lands commissioner scales back order protecting older forests