Region Archives: US West

Business & Politics

Sierra Pacific reportedly plans $253 million investment to revamp mill

By Larry Adams
Woodworking Network
June 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US West

EUGENE, Oregon — Sierra Pacific Industries plans to spend $253 million on upgrades to its Eugene, Oregon, sawmill site, according to published reports. The Register Guard newspaper reported that the current sawmill houses three production lines in three separate buildings, and it plans to reconstruct the lines to be under one roof making the sawmill more efficient, and, as a result, retain its employees. …Sierra Pacific was awarded tax breaks as part of the Oregon Strategic Investment Program (SIP), which allows businesses to forgo paying property taxes for 15 years on capital investments, such as new equipment. Investments beyond the first $100 million are exempt from property tax for 15 years. Sierra Pacific would see savings of about $7.9 million during that time. In exchange, Sierra Pacific promises to maintain its current staff of 347 employees at the site for the SIP period, and pay a “service fee” worth 25% of its property tax savings to the local non-education governments. 

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Map reveals Nevada public land targeted for sale in Republican senator’s amendment

By Greg Haas & James Schaeffer
8NewsNow
June 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

LAS VEGAS — What’s for sale in Nevada? About 33.5 million acres of federal land if the Senate moves forward with a plan to amend the “one big, beautiful bill.” A map showing lands eligible for sale across the West includes Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land that could be on the auction block as Republicans look for ways to finance the extension of tax cuts that went into place during President Donald Trump’s first term. …Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee is picking up where a failed attempt by Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei failed in the U.S. House, which passed the reconciliation funding bill after chopping his public land sale amendment. …“The Toiyabe Chapter has always upheld that public lands cannot solve our housing crisis. To address the housing crisis, we need real corporate accountability, not corporate handouts,” Olivia Tanager (executive director for the Sierra Club) said.

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Pending auction in Usk foretells end of papermill’s return

By Thomas Clouse
The Spokesman-Review
June 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

USK, Washington — The owners of the defunct Ponderay Newsprint Mill plan to sell its equipment at auction next month after years of empty promises to reopen what had been one of the largest employers in northeast Washington. The sprawling 927-acre property in Usk has 29 buildings and storage facilities. It is situated adjacent to the Pend Oreille River and the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad. Instead of making paper or reconfiguring the mill to make cardboard, as the new owners promised multiple times in public hearings, the site has produced nothing for the past several years. Instead the owners used vast amounts of electricity to run computers mining for cryptocurrency. The paper mill previously was owned by Lake Superior Forest Products, a subsidiary of Quebec-based Resolute Forest Products, and five major U.S. publishers. They declared bankruptcy in 2020, ending the jobs of about 140 workers. Now that equipment is being listed by Capital Recovery Group to be viewed on July 21 with online auctions to commence on July 22 and July 23.

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Sierra Pacific Industries Settles Suit Over Polluted Stormwater Management

By Alexis Waiss
Bloombert Law
June 13, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

Washington-based Sierra Pacific Industries Inc. reached a settlement agreement with water conservationists after they claimed the sawmill unlawfully discharged polluted stormwater from industrial activity into the Chehalis River and Grays Harbor. The US District Court for the Western District of Washington was alerted Thursday that the case was settled, and the parties have until July 14 to file a proposed consent decree, according to a docket entry. Nonprofit Twin Harbors Waterkeeper sued Sierra Pacific in December 2024 for allegedly violating its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit under the Clean Water Act. Sierra Pacific allegedly failed to follow water quality requirements. [to access the full story a Bloomberg Law subscription is required]

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Boise Cascade Names Rob Johnson Senior VP of Manufacturing for Wood Products

By Boise Cascade
Businesswire
June 13, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

Rob Johnson

BOISE, Idaho — Boise Cascade announced that Rob Johnson is stepping into a new role as Senior VP of Manufacturing for their Wood Products division, effective June 16, 2025. This move will backfill the role previously filled by Chris Seymour, who left the organization earlier in June. In this role, Rob will oversee the operations for the company’s 18+ manufacturing facilities across the U.S. He will continue to report to Troy Little, Executive VP of Wood Products. …Rob joined Boise Cascade in 2014. Most recently, he was the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Engineered Wood Products. Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Oregon. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

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Impending duty hikes on Canada lumber should help mills here

By Chris Peterson
Hungry Horse News
June 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US West

Duties placed on Canadian lumber entering the U.S. could eventually help markets here, a local mill manager is saying, but they are still a few months out. There’s a misconception that recent tariffs announced against Canadian goods extended to lumber products, F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber vice president and general manager Paul McKenzie said Monday. The U.S.-Canada lumber market is governed under a separate and oft disputed softwood agreement that places duties on Canadian lumber. The duties are supposed to keep Canadians from dumping government subsidized lumbers onto U.S. markets. They currently amount to about 14% combined. By August or September, they’re expected to climb to 34%, McKenzie noted. That will be helpful to us,” McKenzie said. Stoltze has operated its independent mill in Columbia Falls, Montana over 100 years. McKenzie said Canadians are currently dumping their products into the U.S. ahead of the hike in duties. 

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International Paper to Explore Building a New State-of-the-Art Sustainable Packaging Facility in Salt Lake City, Utah

By International Paper
PR Newswire
June 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

MEMPHIS, Tennissee — International Paper announced the strategic exploration of a new sustainable packaging facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. The exploration of a prospective new facility is part of International Paper’s strategic growth plans to expand manufacturing capabilities in the US. The company is eyeing Utah to increase its footprint in the region and better serve customers by meeting the growing demand for high-quality, sustainable packaging. This announcement comes shortly after the company celebrated the groundbreaking of a new state-of-the-art sustainable packaging facility in Waterloo, Iowa. …”This exploration would be a new market for IP and an opportunity to better serve existing customers in the region,” said John Berry, Packaging Group West.

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Swiss Krono Group to acquire Collins Pine Company’s Klamath Falls facilities in Oregon

The Collins Pine Company
May 30, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

KLAMATH FALLS, Oregon – The Swiss Krono Group has entered into an agreement to acquire Collins Pine Company’s particleboard and engineered wood siding manufacturing facilities located in Klamath Falls, Oregon. This acquisition marks a strategic expansion for Swiss Krono in North America, complementing its existing operations in Barnwell, South Carolina, and building its presence in the Western United States. The decision by Collins to divest the Klamath Falls facilities supports the company’s strategic focus on its core business of timberlands management and softwood and hardwood lumber manufacturing. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Financial terms of the deal will not be disclosed. …Collins Pine Company, founded in 1855, is family-owned with over 370,000 acres of FSC certified land in California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. 

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Finance & Economics

How uncertainty around tariffs is affecting housing affordability

By Ken Magri
Solving Sacramento
June 9, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US West

SACRAMENTO, California — There is already a crisis of available and affordable housing in America. But now, political uncertainty and economic volatility could make home buying even less attainable.  …The proposed Trump tariffs on building materials are creating financial volatility that could send housing prices up significantly. Since his announcement of widespread tariffs on April 2, the additional costs imposed on imported lumber, gypsum, aluminum, electronics and other related materials delayed the nation’s housing starts in April, according to NAHB. …“More tariffs equal more anxiety and uncertainty for American businesses and consumers,” said David French, at the National Retail Federation. “Tariffs are a tax paid by the U.S. importer that will be passed along to the end consumer. …One of the largest material costs for housing construction is lumber, and the largest amounts are imported into the US from Canada.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

‘Maintenance-free decks’ aren’t what they seem

By Tim Carter, home improvement professional
The Seattle Times
June 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

I recently gave my electric pressure washer a vigorous workout. …Years ago, I walked into a lumber company to purchase materials and saw a placard on the counter advertising new maintenance-free pressure-treated lumber. Yes, at one time, residential pressure-treated lumber was a new thing. …We all discovered the claim was wrong. Pressure-treated lumber requires extensive maintenance. …This reality led to the first generation of composite decking. I remember when Trex was introduced. It dominated the marketplace, even though it was quite unattractive. It, too, was marketed as maintenance-free. Millions of other homeowners demanded a more realistic composite deck material. Generations two and three of composite decking followed. …The corporate attorneys for some decking manufacturers have reined in the optimistic marketing managers. You’ll now see clever descriptions such as “minimal maintenance.”

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Crafted to Last: Timber Framing in the Era of Modern Luxury

Fine Homes and Living Magazine
June 14, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

In an age of sleek finishes and synthetic shortcuts, timber framing offers something few modern materials can: substance. There’s a quiet grandeur to exposed beams that hold not only the weight of a home but the stories it gathers over time. The appeal isn’t rooted in nostalgia—it comes from discernment. Choosing timber is a commitment to craftsmanship, to the feel of hand-hewn structure beneath polished design. Bespoke estates, mountain retreats, and coastal getaways are embracing timber as both a form and a functional element. No longer reserved for rustic cabins or historical reproductions, it’s becoming the architectural signature of homes designed with permanence in mind. That kind of durability begins with sourcing, ensuring the materials behind the beauty are as intentional as the design itself. Timber framing is one of the oldest construction methods still in use, with roots stretching back over a thousand years. 

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Port of Portland OKs lease for mass timber facility to boost jobs, housing

By Michaela Bourgeois
Yahoo! News
June 11, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

PORTLAND, Oregon – The Port of Portland is leasing a former marine terminal to a mass timber company as part of an effort to spur housing development and job growth in the area. On Wednesday, the Port of Portland approved a lease for Zaugg Timber Solutions to open a factory at the Port’s Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at Terminal 2. …“Our partnership with ZTS marks a major leap forward in developing the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at T2,” said Kimberly Branam. “Their new manufacturing facility will boost our region’s economy by promoting sustainable forestry practices, creating quality jobs, and increasing housing production.” While the new 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is expected to open in 2028, ZTS will produce mass timber modular housing units, industrial and commercial buildings and other building components starting in 2026 in an interim manufacturing facility at the terminal, officials noted.

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Forestry

State of Idaho lending fire crews to B.C., western Canada

By Steve Berard
Energetic City
June 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West, US West

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Teams of firefighters from Idaho are joining the BC Wildfire Service’s (BCWS) efforts to combat the growing number of wildfires across the province. The Idaho Department of Lands — a government agency that oversees forestry practices and provides fire protection on state land in Idaho — announced on June 2nd that it’s sending fire crews to Canada. The news comes during a particularly intense period of B.C.’s wildfire season… According to a social media post that includes the announcement, the state of Idaho and the province of B.C. are both members of a group of regional governments called the Northwest Wildland Fire Fighting Compact. Members of the compact have agreed to pool together their firefighting resources in times of need.  Other members in Canada include Saskatchewan, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Meanwhile, other American members of the compact include Alaska, Oregon and Hawaii, the newest member.

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Fixing Yellowstone: How an intact ecosystem set the stage for a wolf queen’s long reign

By Clark Corbin and Heath Druzin
News From The States
June 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Sitting in an old-growth spruce fir forest, Doug Smith says he can see first-hand the impact of reintroducing wolves on the larger ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park. Long before Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in 1872, wolves thrived in the U.S. Rocky Mountains. But early Yellowstone rangers killed off the last of the park’s wolves by 1926. Then, in 1995, the U.S. government reintroduced wolves to Idaho and Yellowstone using wolves captured in Canada. Smith helped bring them back to the park and was in charge of Yellowstone’s wolf project for nearly 30 years until he retired in 2022. “Yellowstone is a very different place, with and without wolves,” Smith said. “Wolves definitely have changed this landscape with the help of other predators,” he added. “It’s very different.” And one wolf, in particular, fascinated wolf watchers for longer than almost any other.

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City Council Votes to Move Tree Regulation Team to Permitting Office, Removes $2 Million From Enforcement

By Sophie Peel
The Willamette Week
June 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Portland City Council made a major change last week to the team of inspectors that enforces the city’s Tree Code, which regulates all street trees and some trees on private land across the city. The council voted to move the entire tree regulation team—which currently falls under the Urban Forestry division, a program nested within the parks bureau—to Portland Permitting & Development. …Councilor Eric Zimmerman called into question Urban Forestry and how it polices and fines Portlanders seeking to trim or remove trees on or near their property. …The tree regulators—who also process and vet permits for tree removals, replantings and prunings—will no longer be the under the oversight of city forester Jenn Cairo, whose management has come under scrutiny.The council also voted to transfer $2.1 million of Parks Levy funds from the Tree Code regulation division to backfill maintenance cuts to outdoor parks. 

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State foresters take to skies to survey forest health

KEZI News 9 Oregon
June 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

SALEM, Ore. – Researchers are taking to the skies this month to survey Oregon’s forests for damage from pests and other threats, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry and USDA Forest Service. Forest officials said that the Pacific Northwest Aerial Detection Survey is the longest continuous annual survey of its kind in the U.S. Airborne researchers use fixed-wing aircraft to identify trees in distress, flying between 1,500 to 2,500 feet above ground. “Oregon has about 30 million acres of forest so flying in a grid pattern over it allows us to find problems even in remote areas hard to reach by vehicle or on foot,” said Christine Buhl, ODF Forest Entomologist. The survey has highlighted a concerning trend of increasing tree deaths due to drought stress and beetle attacks.

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California’s 2025 wildfire season was already going to be dangerous. Trump has made it worse

By Hayley Smith
The Los Angeles Times
June 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

As California continues to reel from the historic firestorm that decimated portions of Los Angeles, the state is now facing the prospect of an exceptionally active wildfire season fueled by hot, dry conditions. It may not be ready: Experts say sweeping changes at federal agencies that play key roles in California’s wildfire preparation and response could make a challenging season even worse. …The forecast arrives as the Trump administration is enacting budget cuts, layoffs, office closures and restructuring at the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Trump says changes will help eliminate federal waste and save tax dollars. However, these three agencies are critical components of California’s wildfire response capabilities… Weakening them at the start of fire season — and at a moment when human-caused climate change is driving larger and more destructive blazes — puts California at a dangerous disadvantage, multiple experts said.

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Oregonians deserve a smarter approach to wildfires

By Derek Johnson & Lorelei Juntunen, Nature Conservancy
The Oregon Capital Chronicle
June 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

Each year, Oregon braces for wildfire season. And each year, we spend tens of millions (sometimes hundreds of millions) trying to put those fires out. But despite our best efforts, the fires keep getting worse — more dangerous and more destructive.  Science tells us that suppression alone isn’t enough. To meaningfully reduce risk, we must invest in proactive mitigation, restoring the health and resilience of fire-prone landscapes, and helping communities prepare for wildfire and smoke.  This legislative session, Oregon lawmakers have a chance to make an important initial investment to protect our forests, our homes, and our public health in the long run.  A package of bills now under consideration would provide $280 million per biennium for a comprehensive wildfire response. These bills reflect recommendations from the Wildfire Funding Work Group, convened by the State Fire Marshal, Oregon Department of Forestry, Governor Tina Kotek, Tribal Nations, and shaped by a wide array of stakeholders.  

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Cal Fire Allocates $72 Million for Forest Health and Resilience Projects in California

Sierra Daily News
June 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has announced the allocation of nearly $72 million to support extensive land management projects aimed at restoring forest health and resilience across the state. Through its Forest Health Program, Cal Fire has distributed 12 grants to various local and regional partners working on projects spanning state, local, tribal, federal, and private lands. These initiatives are designed to tackle critical forest health issues, reduce wildfire risks, improve ecosystem resilience, and enhance carbon sequestration across California’s diverse landscapes. The forest health grant projects must focus on large-scale forestlands that involve multiple landowners and jurisdictions, with a minimum size of 800 acres. These projects are expected to be applied across expansive areas to achieve regional forest resilience, prioritizing initiatives that incorporate a mix of activities involving experienced partnerships.

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Sierra Nevada Conservancy launches new Wildfire and Forest Resilience grant round to reduce fuels, protect communities

Sierra Nevada Conservancy
June 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) is accepting statements of interest for its Wildfire and Forest Resilience Directed Grant Program. Funded through Proposition 4 (Climate Bond) and fast-tracked by Governor Gavin Newsom’s emergency proclamation, this immediate action program will allocate $10 million for projects within SNC’s Sierra-Cascade service area that will protect people and communities. Passed in November of 2024, the Climate Bond allocates $1.5 billion to wildfire and forest-resilience programs. In March 2025, the Governor signed an executive order authorizing $170 million of Climate Bond funds to be issued to a variety of state entities to expedite forest-health, prescribed fire, and fuel-reduction projects that will advance wildfire resilience statewide. The SNC received just under $31 million of this allotment and at its recent June meeting, the SNC Governing Board approved grant guidelines for the first cycle of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Directed Grant Program that will distribute $10 million.

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In new proposal, 60% of kicker would go to wildfire, rest to Oregonians making less than $95k

By Alex Baumhardt
The Oregon Capital Chronicle
June 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A late-in-the-session Hail Mary proposal to redirect the bulk of the state’s “kicker” tax rebate to fund statewide wildfire work would still kick some of the rebate back to most Oregonians. Under a forthcoming amendment to Senate Bill 1177 — still a placeholder bill for some mechanism to fund wildfire prevention and response work in the state — Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, proposes the Legislature move $1 billion of the expected $1.64 billion state tax rebate to an interest-bearing wildfire account. “The notion of walking into every session with $100 to $150 million waiting for us for wildfire, is really attractive, as opposed to starting from scratch every two years,” Golden said. Under his proposal, $1 billion from next year’s kicker would be put into an interest-bearing account that could, if earning 5% each year, send $100 million each biennium to the state for wildfire — covering about one-third of the total $300 million the state hopes to budget each biennium.

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We set a big chunk of California wilderness on fire. You’re welcome

By Jack Dolan
The Los Angeles Times
June 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

HOPLAND, California — …Dripping gasoline onto dry grass and deliberately setting it ablaze in the California countryside felt wildly reckless, especially for someone whose job involves interviewing survivors of the state’s all too frequent, catastrophic wildfires. But “good fire,” as Nielson called it, is essential for reducing the fuel available for bad fire, the kind that makes the headlines. The principle is as ancient as it is simple. …With that in mind, the state set an ambitious goal in the early 2020s to deliberately burn at least 400,000 acres of wilderness each year. …But California officials worry their ambitious goals are likely to be thwarted by deep cuts to those federal agencies. Gov. Gavin Newsom added $72 million to the state’s forest management budget to bridge some of the gap expected to be left by federal agencies. But wildfire experts say that’s just a drop in the bucket.

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New state forest rule could mean another hit to timber revenue in Lewis County

By Jacob Moore
The Centralia Chronicle
June 13, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

After a June 6 vote by the Washington state Forest Practices Board, a new rule could lead to 200,000 acres of private forestland across the state going out of production and being left to grow. A report from the Washington Department of Commerce suggests the rule could cost Lewis County more than $350 million in lost lumber revenue. The proposed rule calls for a major expansion of buffer zones around non-fish-bearing streams. Called riparian buffer zones, they are places where trees must be left to shade streams and keep them cool. …The divisiveness of the new rule was apparent in the board room not just during the vote but for hours of public comment and discussion between board members beforehand. …Many who testified against the new rule were small forestland owners, who the Department of Ecology says will be the most impacted by the new rule.

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Latest federal budget bill would sell Oregon public lands, boost logging

By Courtenay Sherwood
Oregon Public Broadcasting
June 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The federal government could start selling off thousands of acres of Oregon public lands if provisions added to the Big Beautiful Bill win Congressional approval. A draft of the legislation was released Wednesday. Housing is also part of this latest push to sell Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land. US Senator Mike Lee is calling for the heads of the US Interior and Agriculture departments to dispose of between 2.2 and 3.3 million acres of federal BLM and Forest Service land from 11 states – including Oregon. …Separately, the legislation calls for the Forest Service to boost logging by 75% over the next decade. It’s not clear if those logging goals are realistic. The Forest Service has missed its timber targets every year for more than a decade, though it’s possible that tariffs on Canadian lumber could boost demand for logging in the United States, according to industry analysts.

Related coverage by Janet Wilson in the Palm Springs Desert Sun: National forest, BLM lands could be sold for housing under Senate proposal

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Federal cuts threaten Oregon’s disaster response ahead of wildfire season

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
June 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

As Oregon faces what’s supposed to be an intense wildfire season, counties are grappling with federal cuts and uncertainty that could hinder their ability to help Oregonians during fires, floods and other disasters. The Trump administration hasn’t renewed a critical grant that helps fund local disaster response, leaving Oregon counties and tribal governments vulnerable ahead of a potentially active wildfire season. “Getting alerts out will be a little bit later or delayed, or not as clear and concise,” said Bryan Lee, emergency manager for Benton County and chair of Oregon’s Emergency Management Command Council. “The other impacts would be potentially no mass care shelter sites being stood up or managed very well.” Oregon’s counties have asked state lawmakers to help by putting $9 million toward local emergency systems in the next two-year budget. But the chance of that happening is somewhat slim during a leaner-than-expected budget cycle.

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Feds ask court to dismiss timber industry lawsuit that aims to increase Tongass old-growth logging

By Alix Soliman
KTOO
June 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The largest timber companies operating in Southeast Alaska want the Tongass National Forest to sell them more old-growth timber, and they’re suing the federal government to get it. … The Alaska Forest Association along with two of their members, Viking Lumber and Alcan Timber, filed the lawsuit in March, alleging that the U.S. Department of Agriculture failed to fulfill a promise to supply the companies with enough timber to meet market demand. But the government filed a motion to dismiss the case, writing that it didn’t make such a promise. …Frank Garrison is an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation representing the timber industry. He said the industry has faced a 30-year decline, and that Viking and Alcan are struggling. …The Forest Service has not met its annual target for timber sales in Alaska since 2014, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report published last year.

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Trump’s executive order sparks concern among Pacific Northwest loggers

King 5 News
June 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

SEATTLE — The US Forest Service has been tasked by President Trump to create a plan that will increase timber production in federal forests, and Pacific Northwest industry leaders are waiting to see how that plan will be implemented in a region rich in logging history. Many leaders are worried that this new order will disrupt the decades of work put into policies locally. …Logging has historically been a staple industry in the northwest that has simultaneously been an ongoing conversation between the need to harvest for building and economy, and also protecting the environment within these forests. …Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove said the constant balancing act between the economy and the environment continues. “As our state has grown, as many of our forest lands have been developed, it’s more important that we manage these forests now, not just as economic resources, but as valuable assets that contribute to our quality of life,” said Upthegrove. 

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Pacific Northwest startup promising to replant forests faces allegations of deception in whistleblower lawsuit

By Justin Higginbottom
Oregon Public Broadcasting
June 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Seattle-based Mast Reforestation had a novel idea to help save the planet: sell voluntary carbon credits and use that money to replant forests destroyed by wildfire. …Mast positioned itself as a rising star in the carbon credit market, claiming to be the only “vertically-integrated reforestation carbon credit developer in the industry.”…Now, the company is facing allegations that it deceived potential partners to secure its reforestation projects. The way Mast structures its credits is central to the controversy. Mast sells carbon credits to businesses that want to voluntarily offset emissions. …But Mast’s model hinges on future climate benefits. Instead of waiting for trees to grow and capture carbon, Mast sells its credits based on projections of reductions. …In a wrongful termination lawsuit filed in Siskiyou County, Mast’s former senior director of business development Arnoud de Villegas, claims the company misled potential partners.

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Why California’s Forestry Workforce is Critical to the Future of our Forests

By Elizabeth Berger
College News
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Forestry professionals are at the frontlines of California’s battle against the wildfire emergency in the West. Our forestlands play a vital role in sequestering carbon, maintaining biodiversity, and providing critical ecosystem services like clean air and water. However, they are increasingly threatened by wildfires, drought, insects and disease—all of which are exacerbated by a changing climate. To combat these threats, we need a robust and well-trained forestry workforce with the knowledge and skills necessary to manage our forests sustainably. The forestry workforce is critical in wildfire prevention and mitigation. With California experiencing record-breaking wildfire seasons in recent years, there has never been a more urgent need for skilled forestry professionals to confront this emergency. Beyond fire prevention, forestry professionals manage forest health and help create landscapes that are resilient to changing conditions.

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Sawmill school: New Idaho program prepares students for careers in logging, forestry

By Lauren Paterson
Boise State Radio
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Reagan Brown sliced a board from a cut log using a brand new bright orange sawmill as a crowd of students, teachers and lumber industry workers looked on. He was part of a day-long event Orofino Junior Senior High School put on to show off its new trade programs, including the sawmill. Aiden Olive, a senior, was helping Reagan. “ This is completely new, we got this about a month ago, we put it together ourselves,” he said. The school is in a river valley surrounded by hills covered in evergreen trees – the kind of forest that has been logged for more than a hundred years. It’s a $2.5 billion industry in Idaho, but it’s looking for workers. “ I wasn’t really certain about going into forestry at first, but after getting this mill and running it and seeing how it works, I really actually think that could be some possibility of going into forestry,” Olive said.

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Colorado counties, towns step up to fund Forest Service workers amid federal budget cuts

By Jason Blevins
The Colorado Sun
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

As the Forest Service contracts with slashed staff and funding, local communities are stepping up with funding for backcountry trail crews, visitor education campaigns and management of campsites and trailheads.  “These folks need help. We know how important it is to have a physical human presence out there,” said Dave Ochs, the head of the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association, which is administering $62,500 in local funding to support three seasonal Forest Service employees around Crested Butte. “Let’s help our partners. They are in need and we care very much for our backyard.” This is a scene unfolding across Colorado’s public lands as communities labor to fill gaps left by the sudden retraction of the federal government under the Trump Administration.

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Targhee growth may kill over 450 whitebark pine

By Christina MacIntosh
Jackson Hole News & Guide
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The proposed development and expansion of Grand Targhee Resort may require the removal of about 456 whitebark pine trees. At the level of detail in the environmental impact statement released last month, it’s unclear whether some projects can be amended to save trees within the project area. It’s also unclear how many of the trees within the project area are mature, cone-bearing trees necessary for the species’ reproduction. Caribou-Targhee National Forest officials, who are reviewing Targhee’s expansion plans, said the 456-tree estimate is likely high. In past projects, Teton Basin District Ranger Jay Pence said, “Grand Targhee and the Forest Service [have] routinely been able to shift some of the disturbances to avoid whitebark pine stands.”.. Whitebark were listed as “threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2023. But its Endangered Species Act protections do not prohibit them from being hewn.

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Conservation groups, Forest Service, argue merits and harms of Big Belts logging operation

By Micah Drew
Daily Montanan
June 3, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Conservation groups argued in federal court that a forest management project comprising 1,241 acres of timber harvest east of Helena may violate several federal statutes, but the government lawyers said rules were followed and the timber sale has economic and public interest benefits. …A portion of the temporary roads will be constructed in elk wintering grounds, according to the project plan, which the plaintiffs argue will decrease elk habitat effectiveness. …The plaintiffs also challenged the logging project on the basis of affecting grizzly bear habitat connectivity. …But Assistant U.S. Attorney Abby Nordhagen Cziok, said the plaintiffs were mischaracterizing their arguments as a “false choice between logging, and elk and grizzly bears.” …Judge Christensen said he would work to deliver an expedient ruling due to the impending restart of Sun Mountain’s operations, but again took issue with the plaintiff’s last-minute actions in the case.

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Federal dollars will go toward forest conservation in southern Utah

By Kyle Dunphy
Utah News Dispatch
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The federal government is awarding Utah $3 million to purchase conservation easements in southern Utah near Zion National Park. The funding — awarded to the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — was announced Monday and will go toward ongoing forest preservation efforts outside of the national park. Called the Zion Connectivity Project, the state will direct the funding at two properties totalling 766 acres near the north section of the national park. A conservation easement — a legally binding agreement between a landowner and government that places restrictions on the land for environmental purposes — will prevent the land from being fragmented or developed. That will help preserve the ecologically rich stretch of forest. Old-growth ponderosa pines, some of them hundreds of years old, can be found in the area.

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Forest Service chief wants wildfires extinguished ASAP. Scientists say approach caused crisis

By Murphy Woodhouse
KJZZ Phoenix, Arizona
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Tom Schultz

Tom Schultz, the head of the U.S. Forest Service, is calling for wildfires to be extinguished “as swiftly as possible this season.” But aggressive suppression policies are widely believed to be one of the key culprits in the current wildfire crisis. Decades of aggressive suppression have led to dramatic changes in ecosystems across the West, and allowed for the buildup of trees, shrubs and other wildfire fuel. The Forest Service itself acknowledges that “rigorous fire suppression” has contributed to what it calls a “full-blown wildfire and forest health crisis.” Mark Kreider, a scientist with the Nature Conservancy, is concerned by the agency’s direction this fire season. He was lead author on a 2024 paper that identified another way that suppression leads to more dangerous wildfires.

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As Trump cuts U.S. Forest Service, California deploys an extra $72 million to reduce wildfire risk and ‘rake the forest,’ fast-tracks critical projects

By Governor Gavin Newsom
Government of California
May 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

SACRAMENTO – As the Trump administration cuts the U.S. Forest Service and creates rampant uncertainty ahead of peak wildfire season, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the state is continuing to ramp up its efforts to reduce wildfire risk and increase forest health. CAL FIRE awarded nearly $72 million today to support large-scale, regionally based land management projects aimed at restoring forest health and resilience throughout California, while enhancing long-term carbon storage. Additionally, Governor Newsom announced that under his wildfire prevention emergency proclamation, which became operational on April 17, the state has already fast-tracked approval for 13 projects totaling nearly 7,000 acres, on top of the 2 million acres treated in recent years. These projects involve tribes and other partners, natural resource managers and fire districts.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Study projects that increasing wildfires in Canada and Siberia will actually slow global warming

By Stefan Milne
The University of Washington
June 3, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Even if you live far from the boreal forests in Canada and Siberia, you’ve likely noticed an increase in smoke from their forest fires. During major blazes in 2023, the smoke oranged the New York sky and drifted as far south as New Orleans. These blazes have surged in the last decade due to the effects of climate change — warmer summers, less snow cover in the spring, and the loss of sea ice. Experts expect that trend to continue. Yet recent climate change projection models have not accounted for the increase. For instance, the widely used sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, or CMIP6, released in the late 2010s, kept these fires constant at a relatively low severity. A new University of Washington-led study projects that in the next 35 years these increasing boreal fires will actually slow warming by 12% globally and 38% in the Arctic.

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Health & Safety

Truckers get hit with $65 million wake up call

By By Christy Rakoczy
The Street in the Modesto Bee
June 13, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

The trucking industry has been facing unprecedented challenges in recent years, with a shortage of qualified drivers, rising fuel and insurance costs… and now economic uncertainty caused by tariffs. …Now, one large lawsuit against a trucking company highlights a dangerous practice that has been going on. …The Estate of Sarah Susman v. Starker Forests, Inc., R&T Logging of Oregon, Wolf Cr. Timber Services, Shane Mcvay – is a $65 million wrongful death claim. Sarah Susman… was driving to work in September 2021 when a logging truck operated by a 67-year-old driver rolled over and lost its load. …Family members of the victim believe that the incident can be attributed to a dangerous injury practice referred to as “double brokering.” …Court filings explained that double-brokering is a practice within the trucking industry where multiple contractors pass hauling jobs between them with very little oversight or enforcement of safety regulations.

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Forest Fires

A wildfire near Bryce Canyon grows, with high winds, rough terrain hindering containment efforts

By Brooke Larsen
The Salt Lake Tribune
June 17, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West

@USDA

Hot, dry and windy conditions are putting much of Southern Utah at higher risk for wildfires. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the region through Monday evening, and the France Canyon Fire — the largest wildfire in the state — has grown to 2,159 acres and is just 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. “Fire behavior is expected to increase,” the U.S. Forest Service said in a press statement Monday afternoon. …The France Canyon Fire was first discovered 6.5 miles south of Hatch in Dixie National Forest on June 11. Officials suspect the blaze was started by lightning. Five hundred acres of active fire are burning in the Black Butte area on the Paunsaugunt Plateau west of Bryce Canyon National Park. Visitors to Bryce, as well as surrounding communities such as Tropic and Escalante may experience significant smoke impacts as wind gusts increase.

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US Forest Service takes command of 60 acre Red Bridge Fire as residents evacuate

KOMO News
June 10, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West

KITTITAS COUNTY, Wash. — The US Forest Service has taken command of the 60-acre Red Bridge Fire burning about 7 miles east of Cle Elum. Level 3 evacuations were issued for those nearby. A Level 3 evacuation means residents should “go now” or leave immediately. A Level 2 evacuation means there is significant danger in the area; be ready to go or voluntarily evacuate. Level 1 means there is danger in the area. Residents should plan escape routes, but evacuations are voluntary, according to the Washington Smoke Blog. The Red Bridge Fire started on June 9, 2025, at approximately 3:57 p.m. As of 8 p.m., the fire is estimated at 60 acres and growing, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

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