OREGON — Inside the remanufacturing plant in Tangent, Oregon, owned by Eagle Forest Products, output has quietly doubled in two years. The change didn’t come from chasing volume for volume’s sake. It came from tightening flow, upgrading key machinery, installing the right leadership—and refusing to compete with the very pallet companies the firm supplies. From its headquarters in Eagle, Idaho, the company operates a national network. Eagle manufactures in Tangent and Roseburg, Oregon; Osceola, Iowa; and Piedmont, Alabama. It operates a distribution and trading yard in Montgomery, Texas, along with a small East Coast trading office. …Looking ahead, Eagle is exploring expansion into the South Atlantic region with a model similar to its Texas operation – combining distribution, sales and some manufacturing. The search begins with finding the right personnel. Brad admitted.
Arizona — Efforts to scale up forest thinning across northern Arizona are intensifying, as local officials, industry representatives and environmental groups warn that time is running short to reduce wildfire risk and protect critical watersheds. “Everybody is aware now that there is a biomass issue, but very, very, very few people have any real knowledge of the solution,” Eastern Arizona Counties Organization Executive Director Pascal Berlioux said during a recent Natural Resources Working Group meeting. A broad coalition is advocating for construction of a second biomass-burning power plant, arguing it is essential to prevent the collapse of the region’s wood products industry. Without that industry, leaders say, large-scale thinning efforts could stall, increasing the likelihood of severe wildfires threatening forest communities. 
WASHINGTON STATE– Current and former employees are suing Western Forest Products’ Vancouver operation, alleging the company failed to give employees breaks and pay wages owed. …Western manufactures lumber at its Fruit Valley location and formerly operated a Columbia Vista sawmill that closed after a fire last year. …The group of current and former employees also allege Western Forest Products didn’t keep accurate payroll records. The complaint states about 40 employees could have been impacted by the alleged practices. Babita Khunkhun, spokesperson for Western Forest Products, said “While we cannot comment on the specifics of the allegations at this time, we take all employee concerns seriously,” Khunkhun said. The company is reviewing the lawsuit and will respond through the appropriate legal process, she added. Western Forest Products recently unveiled plans to expand its Fruit Valley manufacturing operation.
Portland based Hampton Lumber, one of the nation’s largest lumber manufacturers, confirmed on Thursday that it has parted ways with CEO Randy Schillinger. Steve Zika, vice chair of the Hampton board and its chief executive for 20 years before Schillinger was named to the position in June 2023 has served in an interim capacity since early December, the company said in an emailed statement. [A Portland Business Journal subscription is required to access this full story]
An Oregon jury has awarded $305 million to 16 wildfire survivors harmed by the Santiam Canyon wildfire that burned across hundreds of thousands of acres in 2020. This is the largest jury verdict issued in relation to the James v. PacifiCorp class-action lawsuit, pushing PacifiCorp’s total liability past $1 billion. PacifiCorp — the parent company of Pacific Power, Oregon’s second-largest electric utility — kept its lines charged over the 2020 Labor Day weekend, despite fire officials’ warnings about hot, windy weather. Five people died in the Santiam Canyon fire, and more than 400,000 acres burned across four counties. In 2023, a jury found PacifiCorp was reckless and acted in “gross negligence” in relation to multiple wildfires, including the Santiam fire. In addition to the 17 plaintiffs who sued the company in that case, the jury found a broader class of thousands of people can bring additional claims against PacifiCorp for those wildfires.
Real estate professionals active in the Los Angeles market are bracing themselves for another wave of tariff-induced uncertainty following the US Supreme Court’s ruling. …Despite the Feb. 20 ruling, President Donald Trump has been adamant that he will find other avenues to impose his tariffs. Trump’s tariff policies have already caused upheaval for local businesses, and now the country’s heightened situation with tariffs will further disrupt L.A.’s real estate market, according to experts across development, manufacturing and finance. “This is a very shifting landscape for American companies,” said Ken Calligar, founder of RSG 3•D. …Garret Weyand, at Cedar Street Partners, said, “If costs are too high because of these tariffs, then projects don’t get built.” Banks will likely make borrowers increase the amount of equity so that the bank is covered in the event tariffs and inflation raise project costs.
A cross-sector group of packaging producers, farmers, restaurants and grocers has filed a class action lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of SB 343, California’s controversial recycling labeling law. The coalition argues the legislation imposes unconstitutional restrictions on free speech, ultimately working against recycling participation programs by making it harder for consumers to understand what can and cannot go in the bin. At the heart of the complaint is SB 343’s prohibition on the use of widely recognized recycling symbols and claims, even when those claims are factually accurate, according to the suit. Under the law, producers cannot label packaging as recyclable unless it meets state-defined, “rigid” criteria that allegedly fails to reflect how recycling actually works. …“SB 343 establishes labeling standards that could discourage innovation and limit the ability to provide accurate recycling information to consumers,” the American Forest and Paper Association stated.
COLORADO — The Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) unanimously voted to table its decision on adopting eight new building-related codes. Those are the 2024 editions of international codes, including the residential code, building code, energy and conservation code, mechanical code, fuel and gas code, existing building code, property maintenance code, and the swimming pool and spa code. During the meeting, the BoCC also considered, and unanimously approved, Resolution 2026-27, adopting the 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (CWRC), along with amendments to snow load requirements for manufactured structures. …Commissioner John Ranson described them as an “unfunded mandate,” adding, “there’s no two-ways about it.” He mentioned that in conversations with local builders, many are preparing for these codes to make construction costs go up.
OLYMPIA, WA — A new Washington state law aimed at expanding affordable housing options will make it easier to build small “kit homes” and backyard units across the state. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5552 into law, following four years of work by Sen. Jeff Wilson. The measure directs the Washington State Building Code Council to develop rules specifically for kit homes under 800 square feet. Supporters say the legislation is intended to help address Washington’s housing shortage by reducing costs and simplifying the construction process for smaller homes. Wilson said standardized kit-home designs could allow plans to be approved once at the state level rather than requiring separate design reviews for each project. Kit homes typically include precut lumber delivered as a package that can be assembled on site. Modern versions often use prefabricated wall and roof panels to speed construction, and start at less than $10,000.
MESA COUNTY, Colorado. – Mesa County commissioners have passed a wildfire resiliency code that will affect the construction of new houses and projects on current structures, including re-roofing. The code, required by state legislation, applies only to buildings in the Wildland Urban Interface — a designated area marking locations close to potential wildfires. It mandates that projects in those areas use more fire-resistant materials and regulates where new structures can be built. “It’s not going to keep houses from burning down…,” Davis said. “What it’s designed to do is to keep it from burning as quick and as violently so that people can get out and get to safety.” Davis said the new code could make building in affected areas slower and more expensive. “To make things fire resistant, it costs money. The cheapest siding out there is wood-based and more affordable, but it’s also going to be more flammable,” Davis said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the launch of an innovative new tool, the 
Mountains that normally see their peak snowpack in March are brown this year, thanks to a spring heat dome that baked the western U.S. for much of the second half of March. That’s raising alarm bells for the fire season, which is already ramping up. John Abatzoglu, a professor of climatology at the University of California Merced, said everything is “lining up for a potentially nasty fire season across the west… the warning signs are flashing.” The heat wave eased over the weekend after a sustained run of temperatures 11 to 17 C above normal — with highs in the 30s and 40s in some states. This would be “virtually impossible” without climate change caused by human CO2 pollution, mainly from fossil fuels. Early snow-melt has been linked to a longer fire season, as it dries out the landscape and provides more time and opportunity for fires to ignite and spread
Oregon’s congressional Democrats are asking federal officials to give the public more time to learn about and comment on new plans that would open up millions of acres of federal forests in Oregon to logging activity not seen since the 1960s. The Bureau of Land Management in late February announced it would change the Western Oregon Resource Management Plans that have governed logging and conservation in Oregon counties for decades. The stated goals were “maximum” timber production to “advance Trump administration priorities,” including logging in areas that are home to federally protected, vulnerable species. The announcement kicked off a month-long public comment period that ended March 23, but the agency did not hold any public meetings. Officials said in the announcement they would not hold any meetings before releasing a draft proposal for new logging. Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and [others], all Democrats, said such generational change in logging practices deserves far more public scrutiny.
A new satellite-based study indicates widespread drought stress and insect damage across the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, with significant implications for wildfire risk, forest management and long-term ecosystem change. Researchers found roughly one in four ponderosa pines are experiencing moderate to high levels of drought and insect damage. More than half show signs of “fading,” a condition tied to prolonged moisture loss, though the severity varies by ranger district. The study analyzed tree “greenness” across the forest, a key indicator of health derived from satellite imagery. The Apache-Sitgreaves spans roughly 6 million acres in northern Arizona, including the White Mountains, among the state’s wetter regions. Despite that reputation, the findings reinforce a growing body of research showing that decades of drought, increasingly severe wildfires and bark beetle infestations are reshaping these forests. In some areas, ponderosa pine stands have failed to recover following high-intensity fires, particularly where drought stress was already severe.
After firing about 3,400 employees nationwide and instituting a seasonal hiring freeze last year, the U.S. Forest Service is planning to hire 2,000 seasonal workers this year. A Colorado lawmaker wants more information about the U.S. Forest Service’s plans to hire seasonal staff again this summer, after the agency cut thousands of positions and did not employ seasonal help last year. U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, whose district includes Eagle, Grand, Jackson, Routt and Summit counties, penned a letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz earlier this month describing the impact that massive cuts to staffing have had on the agency and the importance of seasonal workers. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, also joined the letter. “As you know, seasonal employees play a critical role in the maintenance and stewardship of some of our most treasured public lands and national forests,” Neguse wrote, noting that more than 130 million people visit the country’s national forests annually.
A large chunk of private forest land near Mount Spokane is now permanently protected from development. The Idaho Department of Lands announced Wednesday that more than 22,000 acres of Inland Empire Paper Co. is now protected under a conservation easement. Inland Empire is owned by the Cowles Co., which also owns The Spokesman-Review. The property is between Mount Spokane and Spirit Lake in Bonner and Kootenai counties. …It includes habitat for a variety of wildlife, such as elk, deer and westslope cutthroat trout, according to a Department of Lands news release. It also covers part of the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which provides drinking water for people in Spokane and Kootenai counties. The deal locks in public access for the property, which has long been used by hunters, hikers, berry pickers and other recreationists.
When the US announced plans to rescind a rule limiting roadbuilding and timber harvests on national forests, officials called the repeal necessary to prevent and manage wildfires. But as the USDA prepares to release its draft environmental impact statement for the rescission, that justification is unraveling. And many critics of the move see the claim that roads are needed to fight fires in remote forests as cover for a giveaway to the timber industry. …Wildfires on federal lands average about five times the size of those in the rest of the country, leading some land managers to argue that national forests are a front line for fighting the nation’s steep increase in wildland blazes. Yet a new study has fire scientists, frontline firefighters, legal experts and the agency’s own historical record saying that roads don’t reduce wildfire risk; they multiply it. [see 
You have until Monday to provide input on the Trump administration’s plan to dramatically increase logging in western Oregon forests. Last month, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management 
Three organizations and an individual are suing the Gardiner District of the Custer Gallatin National Forest — for a plan they say hurts the already-endangered whitebark pine tree while ignoring lynx and grizzly habitat, and relying on unproven studies. The groups say the federal government is ignoring its rules and seems to be disregarding its own maps of protected lynx area in an effort to preserve the rare whitebark pine trees, despite admitting in its own documents that the efforts to preserve the trees could actually harm them. The lawsuit … centers on logging north of Yellowstone National Park. A technique, called “daylight thinning,” which involves removing trees near a whitebark pine, is not backed by scientific research according to the court documents, and the organizations point out that the Forest Service admits that in the process of thinning, it could actually wind up killing some of the whitebark pine trees. 
This week, we have yet another reminder that Idaho can’t possibly afford to take over or manage federal lands. A forthcoming study, which will be published Friday, provides the most recent reliable estimates of exactly how much Idaho would lose if it were to take over federal lands. The study, which was commissioned by Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Idaho Business for the Outdoors, the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, and the Idaho Wildlife Federation, was performed by Peterson and Associates, which has long been a go-to source for economic analysis of this type in Idaho. While the full results won’t be released until Friday, the top-line figures are stark. Idaho would lose $837.7 million directly, in the form of spending by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies, as well as Payment in Lieu of Taxes and Secure Rural Schools payments. That’s nearly 16% of Idaho’s general fund budget.
A federal judge in Alaska 
OREGON — 
From the moment he became BC’s forests minister, Ravi Parmar has been under pressure to increase logging rates in the province. One way he has decided to do that is by expediting the logging of forests burned in recent wildfires. He issued the Fort Nelson First Nation a new licence to log 100,000 cubic metres of trees in burned forests in BC’s remote northeast corner. …A number of industry associations, including the Council of Forest Industries, asked him to set “definitive, aggressive timelines for completion” of plans to accelerate logging in burned forests. …But increasing “wildfire salvage” of forests, Parmar is travelling down the same road that has seen BC’s logging rates plummet by more than half since the heyday of the 1980s. …Accelerated logging of burned trees may help bend the curve, but history shows that it is short-lived and comes at the cost of degraded ecosystems and even sharper declines ahead.
Montana and the U.S. Forest Service announced last week they were moving ahead on a shared agreement between the two to do forestry work in large swathes of the state. Last summer, the state and Forest Service signed an agreement formalizing closer cooperation between federal forest management operations and the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. That came about two months after a Trump Administration executive order seeking to increase domestic timber production. On Friday, Gov. Greg Gianforte, DNRC Director Amanda Kaster and U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said that two large areas have been selected for state and federal work. The focus of the work will be on approximately 213,910 acres in the Flathead and Kootenai National Forests and 200,000 acres within the Bitterroot National Forest. The project areas were selected due to wildfire risk and how close they are to being implemented.
Dismantling environmental protections is in vogue, even those enhancing safety and economic prosperity. But California is bucking the trend and now on the verge of modernizing how its 14 Demonstration State Forests are managed. Cal Fire manages these public lands, which span 85,000 acres and 10 counties. Redwoods and other trees are routinely logged to pay for operations, according to a 1947 law that mandates “maximum sustained yield” – that’s simply a euphemism for removing as much lumber as possible without shrinking the forest. This extractive agribusiness model prioritizes revenues, often contrary to the goals of demonstration, recreation and forward-looking research. …In February, Assemblyman Chris Rogers, a Democrat from Santa Rosa, introduced AB 2494, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Information Center, to modernize and align forestry management with the state’s broader goals. The new science-based approach prioritizes restoration and tribal co-management. It decouples funding from timber operations, financing it instead through an existing lumber tax. 
In 2002, Crater Lake National Park ecologist Michael Murray thought the park’s majestic whitebark pine trees were as good as gone. An invasive fungus called white pine blister rust was killing the trees around the crater of the lake. …It was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in a shipment of infected nursery trees from Europe around 1900. Since then, it’s wiped out millions of whitebark pine trees and threatened the survival of the species. But Oregon scientist Richard Sniezko, a geneticist with the U.S. Forest Service, said some whitebark pine trees have natural resistance to the blister rust disease. …Murray took this science with him to his current job as forest pathologist for 
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by timber industry groups and operators seeking to force increased old-growth logging in the Tongass National Forest, ruling the industry groups had no valid legal claim. U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason granted the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service’s motion to dismiss and directed the clerk to enter final judgment for the federal defendants. “This ruling is a big victory for the Tongass’ old-growth forests. I’m relieved the court squarely rejected the logging industry’s rash attempt to force large-scale logging,” said Marlee Goska, Alaska attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity in a statement. “We need to leave the Tongass standing for the sake of wildlife, climate and local communities.” The case centered on how the Forest Service manages timber sales in the Tongass, the nation’s largest national forest and the world’s largest temperate old-growth rainforest.
Four Montana-based Conservation Groups — Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Native Ecosystems Council, and Council on Fish & Wildlife — sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service for removing wildlife protections on 1.1 million acres of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in Montana. The federal government agencies issued a “Forest Plan Amendment” in 2025 to remove protections on 1.1 million acres of habitat that was formerly mapped and protected as “lynx habitat” for the Canada lynx, a threatened species listed under the Endangered Species Act. …The lynx population in the Greater Yellowstone Area is currently at risk of extinction, but if managed properly, the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest could aid the recovery of the imperiled Greater Yellowstone lynx population by serving as a connectivity corridor with the healthier lynx populations in Northern Montana. 
ELOCHOMAN RIVER VALLEY, Washington — Investment companies have whittled away the land hunters can use in Wahkiakum and Pacific counties. Access to tens of thousands of acres of longtime hunting grounds is now blocked because a new generation of private landowners won’t offer access. The landowners are often investment companies, not based in the region or even the country. Not only is hunting off limits on their lands, they also often block access to adjacent properties that are state-owned — and therefore should be public — or adjacent privately owned property that still allows free hunting. Steve Ogden, an assistant manager for land operations at Washington Department of Natural Resources, said the agency’s hands are tied — private landowners can’t be forced to allow people on their land. The companies’ land restrictions have begun to erase generations-old family traditions, especially among the working class, and reduce access to affordable foods, like elk, in Washington’s second-poorest county.
The Bureau of Land Management sold 27.6 million board feet of timber across 1,255 public acres in Oregon, for a total of $8,327,275, and indicates a strong demand in American lumber manufacturing by exceeding total appraised values by over $3 million. This timber will feed local mills and support jobs in local communities. The Coos Bay District sold the Eckley Empanada timber tract (1.8 million board feet, 105 public acres) to Harveys’ Selective Logging, Inc., of Creswell, Ore., for $$142,228. The Medford District sold the Thom Bone timber tract (6 million board feet, 585 public acres) to Estremado Logging Inc. of Gold Hill, Ore., for $458,766. The Northwest Oregon District sold the Gopher Broke timber tract (7 million board feet, 223 public acres) to Boise Cascade Wood Products of Willamina, Ore., for $2,499,716; and the John Boy timber tract (8 million board feet, 167 public acres) to Rosboro Company, LLC, of Springfield, Ore., for $3,913,070.
In western Oregon, public forests that once fueled rural prosperity – and later came under strict habitat protections that sharply reduced logging and local revenues – are again at the center of a political and economic storm. The Trump administration is proposing to quadruple logging in Oregon, raising timber harvests to levels not seen since before spotted owl protections in the 1990s. The plan has stirred a mix of hope and dread across the state. In cash-hungry rural counties hollowed out by decades of dwindling timber receipts … the proposal looks like a long‑awaited lifeline that could stabilize county budgets and create new jobs. … But in forested watersheds and old growth reserves, a sweeping expansion of logging would undermine hard-won conservation protections and threaten the recovery of the northern spotted owls, marbled murrelets and coho salmon…
OREGON — The Pacific Northwest isn’t known as maple syrup country, but a burgeoning syrup industry in Oregon and Washington is trying to change that perception, one gallon of sap at a time. The Northwest’s more temperate climate and more watery maple sap make it harder to make syrup at a commercial scale. Producers can invest in technology, much of it developed in Canada, to improve their harvests, but that means steeper initial investments for farmers, and it doesn’t solve the fact that making bigleaf maple syrup still requires long, grueling hours that producers say can be a barrier to entry. Because of that, the Northwest maple syrup industry has required more effort to get off the ground. But those passionate about local syrup say the delicious, boutique product is well worth the trouble.
The Trump administration is turning to rarely used laws to circumvent environmental restrictions and expand logging in certain Pacific Northwest forests, legal analysts and advocates say. In plans announced in February to expand logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest and on federal land in western Oregon … administration is using the 1990 Tongass Timber Reform Act to prioritize logging in the largest national forest in the US, and BLM is citing a 1937 law, the Oregon and California Revested Railroad Lands Act, to do so on its land in western Oregon. Both apply only to specific forests and envision logging as a primary use of those lands. The agencies are using federal laws that “privilege timber harvesting and will use that argument to short circuit environmental protections,” especially at the expense of endangered species, said Andrew Mergen, a Harvard Law School professor who was previously a lawyer at the Justice Department’s Environment & Natural Resources Division.
Across the Front Range, century-old, iconic ponderosa pines span thousands of acres …But over the past three years, that landscape has noticeably shifted. More hillsides are now marked by … signs of a growing pine beetle outbreak, according to the state’s Forest Service lead entomologist, Dan West. “The ability for these small, little insects to work in concert to all attack one tree all at the same time and to overcome the tree’s defenses that have been there for a century is truly staggering,” West said. It only took a few years for these tiny insects, no bigger than a grain of rice, to explode across the Front Range and impact more than 7,000 acres of forested land. Now, Gov. Jared Polis has launched an aggressive response. …Whether the state’s new task force can slow the outbreak remains to be seen. 
OREGON — A historic state-tribal collaboration in Oregon has stalled after a charitable foundation pulled out of a potential land deal. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was preparing to purchase 11,438 acres of private timberland using a federal grant. The area is about 10 miles southwest of La Grande in the Blue Mountains. The agency planned to manage the land alongside the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — the first such collaboration in Oregon. But the landowner, the Harry A. Merlo Foundation, has withdrawn from the deal “for undisclosed reasons,” according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The state wildlife department and tribes had secured $22 million in federal funding to acquire and co-manage the land. …The plan was to restore this swath of forests and meadows for elk and salmon habitat.
Wildfires in the northern boreal forests of Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia may be more damaging to the climate than previously thought, a new UC Berkeley-led study suggests. That’s because these fires don’t just burn through trees; they can also penetrate deep into the carbon-rich layers of soil underneath many boreal forests, releasing carbon that has been accumulating for hundreds or even thousands of years. These carbon-rich soils, also known as peat, are primarily found in the far north, where the cold, wet climate prevents vegetation from fully decomposing and leads to a buildup of partially decayed organic matter over time. The study found that major models of wildfire carbon emissions — which are largely based on data from fires at lower latitudes, and use satellite images of visible flames to guide their estimates — are not properly accounting for the impact of fire on these underground carbon stores. 
The wildfire burning south of Colorado Springs has grown to more than 7,300 acres and officials said the state highway on the west side of Fort Carson will likely remain closed through Friday. The 24 fire started Wednesday and currently there is no containment, but in an update Monday morning officials said overnight “fire crews were successfully able to tie in all control lines, boxing in the fire. As of this morning, control lines remain strong.” The fire started near mile marker 24 on Colorado 115, which connects Colorado Springs to Penrose. The road will be closed at least through Friday, but will be reevaluated daily, officials said Monday. The cause of the fire remains under investigation but started off the highway, not on the Army base, officials said last week. The fire was mapped at 7,385 acres early Monday morning, up from 4,900 acres Sunday morning.