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The Tree Frog Forestry News
July 27, 2026
Category: Today's Takeaway
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Wildfires challenge North America and Europe as fire season intensifies
The Tree Frog Forestry News
July 23, 2026
Category: Today's Takeaway
Wildfires challenge North America and Europe as fire season intensifies amid persistent heat and drought. In related news: BC’s Fraser Canyon fires force highway closures and evacuation orders; Ontario is battling 145 active fires; a Washington state wildfire crossed into BC; Central Oregon remains under Red Flag warnings; southwest France evacuated 12,000 people due to fire; and Spain continues to battle one of its largest wildfires on record.
In Business news: fallout from Canfor’s mill closure includes the union seeking retirement bridging; and Vaughn Palmer saying the province was warned years ago. Meanwhile: Stewart Muir says BC’s forest policies are worsening Canada’s climate problem; an Oregon commentator says mill closures make it harder to reduce wildfire risk; Blueberry River First Nations is developing a native plant orchard; and US states can’t offset the weakened federal endangered-species habitat protections.
U.S. President Donald Trump is targeting certain wood and lumber products in his latest threats. But a recent Bank of Canada report suggests lumber exports have shown some resiliency even in the face of Trump’s contentious trade policies. UBC associate professor of forestry Harry Nelson explains how reliant the Canadian lumber industry is on trade with the U.S.
Carney says trade talks to heat up after Trump’s latest tariff threats
By Laura Osman and David Reevely
The Logic – Canada’s Business and Tech News
July 21, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats won’t convince Canada to agree to piecemeal trade talks, despite the White House’s clear intention to target specific industries. … Carney said he understands why the U.S. is keen to negotiate sector by sector, but Canada is only interested in a comprehensive deal to modernize the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade (CUSMA). That means not putting American booze back on Canadian shelves until a deal is reached, Carney said. …Derek Nighbor, CEO of FPAC/CWC, challenged the idea that the tariffs wouldn’t hurt Americans very badly. The U.S. Congress just passed legislation meant to make new homes easier to build, and now the president is planning to tariff more Canadian wood used in housing. …The announcement reveals some of Trump’s weaknesses, said Unifor national president Lana Payne. A fact sheet published with the president’s tariff proclamation noted exemptions for Canadian energy exports, potash and critical minerals.
What Trump’s latest tariff threats could mean to B.C.’s forest industry
CBC News Video
July 21, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West
U.S. President Donald Trump is once again threatening tariffs on Canadian products. Forestry industry adviser David Elstone says although the latest threat won’t affect all of B.C.’s wood exports, the province’s forestry industry is already in a precarious position.
Wildfire liability is becoming a business risk B.C. cannot ignore
By Scott Harcus, partner, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP
Business in Vancouver
July 21, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West
Scott Harcus
Wildfire risk is becoming a legal and governance challenge for B.C. businesses. Wildfire season is no longer a background risk for B.C. businesses. It is a recurring operational, financial and legal challenge that is moving quickly from the fire line to the courtroom. …The human and economic costs [of wildfire] are already well understood. …What is less widely appreciated is that wildfire risk is also becoming a liability risk. For businesses in forestry, transportation, utilities, energy, agriculture, construction, tourism and resource development, the question is no longer only whether they can withstand a wildfire. It is whether they can prove they took reasonable steps to prevent, prepare for and respond to one. …For B.C. businesses, the practical lesson is straightforward. Wildfire preparedness should not sit only with operations or safety teams. It belongs in the boardroom, with risk committees, on insurance reviews and in contract negotiations.
Premier appoints new chief of staff, former MLA and minister of state, Andrew Mercier
By the Office of the Premier
Government of British Columbia
July 20, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West
Andrew Mercier
Premier David Eby’s chief of staff Cheryl Oates is concluding her interim appointment as Jim Rutkowski extends his medical leave. Andrew Mercier will take on the role of chief of staff to the Premier. Oates was appointed interim chief of staff in January 2026, with the expectation that Jim Rutkowski would return to the job in August. As Rutkowski continues his treatment, Andrew Mercier has been appointed to fill the role of chief of staff. Mercier is a lawyer who has deep roots in the labour movement. Mercier served as MLA for Langley from 2020 to 2024, and as parliamentary secretary for skills training, minister of state for workforce development, and minister of state for sustainable forestry innovation. He previously served as the executive director of BC Building Trades.
‘An emergency measure’: Wood products industry calls on Ottawa to impose tariff on foreign goods
By Abigil Bimman
CTV News
July 17, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada East
COATICOOK, Que. – Alain Ouzilleau’s custom cabinet plant in Coaticook, Que., is only running at half capacity. Ouzilleau spent $25 million to expand Cabico&Co’s operations over the last five years, with a new 50,000-sq. ft building and state-of-the-art robots. But instead of growth, the double hit of 25 per cent U.S. tariffs and a flood of foreign imports now has him breaking even. He laid off about 200 of his 700-person workforce, which includes the company’s second plant in St. Catharines, Ont. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to double those tariffs to 50 per cent in January, but delayed that move by a year. However, even at the 25 per cent level, Ouzilleau says Cabico&Co “cannot be profitable.” “We’re breaking even, but we want to continue to invest,” he told CTV News at the plant. “One of the options to protect our Canadian jobs, will be having operations south of the border, which I hate to do.”
Woodworking named the trade hardest hit by skill shortage, says recent survey
By Blake Schwartz, Eagle Woodworking
The Woodworking Network
July 23, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States
When construction and trades professionals are asked which single trade the skills shortage will hit hardest, they don’t name electricians or plumbers first. They name the carpenters and woodworkers, and the consequence they point to most isn’t a blown budget or a slipped schedule. It’s a decline in the quality of the work itself. Eagle Woodworking surveyed 500 U.S. construction and trades professionals, a mix of contractors, tradespeople, project managers, and builders, to understand where the skilled-labor shortage is landing hardest and what it’s doing to the work. The results describe a shortage that has moved well past a hiring inconvenience. Respondents report … watching the most experienced hands in the trade age out faster than anyone is replacing them. …The shortage isn’t mainly a story about too few workers. It’s a story about too few skilled ones, and in a trade built on craft, that’s where the real damage shows up.
Finch Paper to Discontinue Pulp Production at Its Glens Falls Mill
PaperAge
July 20, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US East
Glen Falls, New York – Finch Paper on July 17 announced that it will no longer produce pulp at its pulp and paper mill in Glens Falls, New York. Instead, it will buy pulp on the open market. …Finch said the change will allow it to focus on the core of its business, which is producing paper. …The company’s decision, however, will affect the independent loggers and truckers who have supplied the mill with wood for pulp production for many years. “…it will no longer be necessary for the company to purchase large quantities of logs from wood suppliers in the Northeast and New England,” the company said. Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast (PLC) voiced its concern saying the closure of the pulp mill “is a significant loss for the region’s logging and trucking industry with far reaching economic consequences as well as serious negative impacts on the ability to properly manage forest health.”
Cambium acquires General Woodcraft, connecting a 75-year old specialty wood leader to its modern market for wood
By Cambium
PR Newswire
July 16, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: US East
WASHINGTON — Cambium, the modern market for wood, today announced its acquisition of General Woodcraft, a Connecticut-based specialty wood products company founded in 1949. The acquisition expands Cambium’s presence in the building products market and adds premium materials and deep technical expertise to a platform built to connect and modernize how wood is sourced, priced, and moved. The deal marks Cambium’s fifth acquisition in five years, following Lumber Tracker, OE Custom, Forward Forestry and Intectural, signaling continued momentum as it builds the national market for wood. General Woodcraft brings Cambium more than seven decades of experience across decking, siding, rainscreen systems, architectural millwork, hardwoods, and specialty building materials. Its portfolio centers on premium, domestically sourced options, including Mataverde SaferWood, its ignition-resistant thermally modified line, and the Climate Shield rainscreen system.
Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau expands online training offerings with launch of STUDS grading course
By Erik Wilson, Executive Vice President
Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau
July 24, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, United States
Federal Way, Washington – Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau (PLIB) has expanded its online grader training offerings with the launch of STUDS, a stand-alone course designed to help prospective graders, as well as sales and management personnel, learn to grade STUDS according to the National Grading Rule for Dimension Lumber (NGR). PLIB’s 6-unit STUDS course opens with an in depth overview of the NGR and the grade rules that differentiate STUDS from the other NGR grade classifications (Structural Light Framing, Light Framing, and Structural Joists & Planks). Units 1-4 describe in detail the most common characteristics used to define the STUD grade. Hundreds of close-up photographs and three dimensional images captured from in-mill scanners provide an ultra-realistic learning environment. A variety of learning activities teach users to recognize and accurately measure and assess each grade-defining characteristic. Progressively more difficult grading practice exercises are sprinkled throughout.
More B.C. municipalities are providing incentives, planning tools and creating policies that support the adoption of mass timber construction. And the appeal isn’t just about its good looks. The District of Saanich’s decision to select a mass timber hybrid design for the Saanich Fire Station No 2 that is now under construction was also about its life-cycle performance and low-embodied carbon, according to Stacy McGhee, manager of strategic facilities planning with the District of Saanich. In a Canadian Wood Council webinar, McGhee said during the pre-design stage, the district looked at three options for the firehall: maintain the existing building, select the most economical design, or select a performance-based building that included mass timber. Based on a calculated life-cycle cost over 80 years, the performance-based design was the least expensive by about $5 million, making it the district’s choice, a first Step 3 commercial compliant building under the B.C. Energy Step Code in Saanich.
Cleveland High School in Oregon’s Portland Public Schools will be replaced with an approximately 300,000-sf high school on the same site. The modernization project, which broke ground in June, will also upgrade the athletics stadium and adjacent city park fields. The new Cleveland High School, designed by Mahlum Architects and constructed by Skanska, will be one of the largest K-12 mass timber projects in the Pacific Northwest, according to Skanska. The project will incorporate almost 870,000 board feet of regionally sourced mass timber. The structure will combine acoustic dowel laminated timber (ALDT) decking, glulam beams and columns, structural steel, and low-carbon concrete. Several building components will be prefabricated, including exterior wall systems, ALDT roof panels, and long-span steel trusses for the gym and theater spaces.
The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music is dedicated to telling the story of music in this country and celebrating Bruce Springsteen’s contributions to that tradition. COOKFOX’s design seeks to express those interwoven themes. The building’s weathering steel façade references New Jersey’s industrial legacy and the protagonists of Springsteen’s music, and the mass timber structure creates authentic and welcoming interiors. …The building is constructed from sustainably harvested European glue-laminated and cross-laminated timber. Exposed beams, girders and columns of unstained wood are visible immediately; the timber’s inherent, tactile quality brings authenticity to the interior. The space reads as welcoming and grounding: just as a major chord produces innate, positive emotions, natural materials like timber inspire equally deeply-rooted feelings of warmth and familiarity. …Consistent with COOKFOX’s biophilic design approach, staff work areas are daylit, timber and other natural materials are used throughout, and views to nature are emphasized, creating an environment that supports health.
In a world where fossil-based, single-use plastic packaging is viewed as the antithesis of a circular, resource-efficient future, paperisation has become a hot topic of debate. Paper has an impressive 87% recycling rate across Europe, and is derived from a resource that is … renewable. Consumers tend to view it as a “green” choice. A survey by Pro Carton found that 72% of UK consumers prefer cartonboard or cardboard packaging over plastic. …Yet a 2023 report by a coalition of environmental groups describes paper-based food packaging is a “false solution”, because the addition of coatings and composites make them difficult to recycle. …Jamie Stone, a sustainability partner at UK-based PA Consulting, agrees that pivoting to paper or fibre comes with complex challenges. …For businesses … [paper packaging] is a bit of a minefield. Weighing up deforestation concerns, cost and overall sustainability is one thing. Navigating evolving regulations is another.
In a city with a deep-rooted history in masonry and concrete, a quiet revolution is taking place. One built from timber, driven by community, and led by women. Magdalena Pios, an architect based in Warsaw, is the founder of Ambient, a sustainable architecture firm. She recently designed Warsaw’s very first public timber building and the city’s first Warsaw Green Building Standard (WGBS) certified project: the Choszczówka Library. Magdalena is proving that the future of the construction sector in Poland is far more diverse, ecological, and human-centred than many might expect. …Magdalena saw a chance to return to the historical tradition of wooden architecture that once defined Warsaw’s suburbs. However, introducing a bio-based public building in a market unaccustomed to timber was no small feat. …The success of the Choszczówka Library serves as a powerful proof-of-concept. It has catalysed a noticeable shift in how the city and other Polish architects view timber construction.
Why large Canadian boreal crown fires can be nearly impossible to extinguish
By Glenn McGillivray, Managing Director, Institute for Catastrophic Loss
LinkedIn
July 22, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada
Glenn McGillivray
When the wildfires get rolling, the armchair experts get trolling. …social media is filled with onlookers asking why tankers cannot simply extinguish massive blazes… when it comes to Canada’s vast boreal forest, the sheer physics of extreme fire behavior can render standard suppression tactics practically useless. High-intensity crown fires often generate their own weather systems, create immense thermal energy and travel at remarkable speeds across vast and remote landscapes. Understanding why these massive forest fires can be nearly impossible to suppress is not a story of inadequate firefighting response. It is a lesson in the unyielding forces of nature, the contributions made by a rapidly warming climate, and the realities of wildland fire management in Canada’s north. Here are a just a few reasons why large Canadian boreal crown fires can be nearly impossible to extinguish … It is a fundamental conflict between limited human resources and the raw, untameable physics of a fire-adapted ecosystem.
Prime Minister Carney convenes the Incident Response Group
By Prime Minister Mark Carney
Government of Canada
July 22, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada
The Prime Minister, Mark Carney, convened the Incident Response Group with ministers and senior officials to discuss the wildfire situation across Canada. The group was briefed on increased wildfire activity, with hundreds of active fires burning across the country in every province and territory. …The group discussed the federal government’s ongoing coordination with the Government of Ontario and First Nations leadership, including support provided in response to Ontario’s Request for Federal Assistance for air evacuation operations. The Prime Minister outlined the federal government’s actions to provide urgent assistance wherever required. …The Prime Minister reiterated the federal government’s commitment to deploy every resource needed to keep Canadians safe. He underscored efforts across all levels of government to strengthen Canada’s forest management and wildfire response capacity. …The Prime Minister directed ministers and senior officials to continue working closely with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to support affected communities.
Canada’s forest industry plays a big part in the wildfire problem. Will it be part of the solution?
By Peter Kuitenbrouwer, RPF, University of Toronto
Globe and Mail
July 22, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada
…Now Canada’s forest industry, a pillar of our economy since colonial times, must also look itself in the mirror. …So does that mean the Americans are right? Republican John James, a U.S. Congressman from Michigan, blamed Canada for abdicating its “responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country’s airspace.” The short answer is no. …but the responsibility lies not with Canada, per se; the main culprit is human-caused climate change. …The current U.S. administration has recklessly and suicidally turned its back on a transition to a low-carbon economy. …Meanwhile, our own federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney has pulled away from Justin Trudeau’s bold moves to curb fossil-fuel use, and has instead championed pipelines. …The key, big-picture, is to transition to a low-carbon future. In the meantime, we can do a better job with forest management, informed by Indigenous knowledge, to avert or mitigate wildfire disaster. [Access to this story requires a Globe and Mail subscription]
Industrial development is fragmenting Canada’s boreal forest. Governments should think carefully about future approvals
By Maria Strack, University of Waterloo
The Conversation
July 20, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada
There’s been a lot of talk about major infrastructure projects in Canada lately, with the federal government planning to fast-track resource development across the country. …Yet these economic benefits result in trade-offs for the environment… Examples of unintended environmental consequences aren’t hard to find across Canada. If someone told you about a high-density network of corridors, often spaced less than 100 metres apart, you might picture city roads or an urban park trail system. In fact, such a network of linear clearings, also called seismic lines, can be found across Canada’s boreal forest. There are an estimated over 1.8 million kilometres of such clearings in Alberta alone. …Seismic lines fragment forests and alter their ability to act as habitats and provide climate change mitigation benefits. Forest fragmentation shifts how animals use the region, and has been linked to sharp declines in woodland caribou.
More than 900K trees planted on Osoyoos Indian Band land so far this year
By Chelsea Powrie
Castanet
July 22, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West
Nk’Mip Forestry, with support from Siya Forestry, has planted more than 900,000 trees and native plants across Osoyoos Indian Band territory this year as part of the federal “2 Billion Trees Program.” The restoration project focuses on areas damaged by wildfire and other disturbances, including land severely burned during the 2021 Nk’Mip Creek wildfire where natural regeneration has been limited. “These sites were severely burned by the 2021 Nk’Mip Creek wildfire and were not regenerating on their own,” said Peter Flett, head of operations for Nk’Mip Forestry, in a press release issued Tuesday. “By planting now, we can help establish mixed-species forests that are better suited to future environmental conditions.” …In addition to restoring forests and wildlife habitat, the initiative is creating employment opportunities for local crews through seed collection, nursery work, planting and monitoring. The project is funded through the Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees Program
Len Vanderstar is a retired professional forester and professional biologist who worked in various capacities for the B.C. government before retiring. …[Since the late] 1980s, Vanderstar witnessed a steady progression of logging, with companies extracting much of their trees from forests at middle and low elevations. But that logging caused the companies to run short of commercially attractive trees close to town… Now, timber companies are pushing into the hinterland in search of trees … going higher up mountains. …Vanderstar believes that the price paid [for logging that timber] will be even deeper ecological, social and economic pain ahead. [Higher elevation trees are] smaller and may be centuries old. …To deliver enough logs …companies must sometimes log twice the number of such trees at higher elevations… B.C. chief forester Shane Berg said the Ministry of Forests doesn’t track how much logging occurs by elevation zones but rather calculates logging on an area-by-area basis.
Xat’sull First Nation files petition for emergency order to protect caribou
The Williams Lake Tribune
July 21, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West
A First Nation north of Williams Lake has filed a petition to the Government of Canada to issue an emergency order to protect southern mountain caribou (selcwéycen) and work collaboratively with First Nations to implement immediate habitat protections and long-term recovery measures. Xatśūll First Nation (XFN) announced in a press release on Monday, July 20, they were filing the petition under Section 80 of the Species at Risk Act arguing years of provincial and federal efforts have failed to halt the continued decline of selcwéycen that has been a federally listed endangered species for over two decades. Additionally, according to the release, existing federal and provincial measures have not prevented the continued destruction and degradation of critical habitat or the ongoing decline of selcwéycen populations. XFN reiterated it is not calling for an end to forestry. Rather, XFN is advancing practical solutions through its proposed First Nation Woodland License
Manitoba logging industry threatened amid raging wildfires
By Toni De Guzman
Global News
July 20, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West
Arnold Reimer is among the Manitoba loggers concerned their supply is turning to ash as wildfires continue to burn through forests across the country. Last year’s wildfire season burned around 8.9 million hectares nationwide. In Manitoba, 445 wildfires and 2.38 million hectares burned, according to the government of Manitoba’s 2025 wildfire report. Canada’s forest sector supports nearly 200,000 workers and contributes more than $20 billion to the GDP, according to the government of Canada. …John Morris, executive director at the Forestry Industry Association of Manitoba, said the loss of timber means job losses, fewer economic opportunities, and impacts on rural and northern communities that depend on the industry.
What Stanley Park’s dying trees reveal about B.C.’s climate future
By Jennifer Van Evra
BCBusiness
July 21, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West
It was December 2024, and a four-year looper moth infestation had ravaged Stanley Park. The City of Vancouver estimated that 160,000 of the park’s 600,000 trees were dead or dying… The hemlocks had faced years of drought …which made them more susceptible to the ravenous looper larvae that stripped the trees of their needles. …Bruce Blackwell has spent 38 years watching this slow-moving disaster unfold. …Blackwell says the stress on the trees and the increased forest fire risk is being exacerbated by our longer, drier summers. “Historically we would’ve had significant rains in April, May and June. And in some of these driest years, the precipitation is stopping in May,” he says. “And we’re not getting significant precipitation for months on end.” As a result, municipalities are rethinking the trees they plant… “These things take resources—and when it comes to green spaces, we’re good at planting them… but we’re not managing them to the standard we need to manage them,” says Blackwell.
Improving B.C.’s natural resource appeals process for permitting decisions
By Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Government of British Columbia
July 20, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West
People in British Columbia are invited to provide feedback on proposed improvements to the Province’s natural resource appeals process. The Province has launched public engagement on potential legislative and procedural changes affecting appeals heard by the Environmental Appeal Board and the Forest Appeals Commission, two major natural resource tribunals in B.C. If approved, changes are expected to help deliver timelier decisions, strengthen compliance and enforcement, and support more efficient permitting, while maintaining environmental protections and the Province’s obligations to First Nations. These independent tribunals hear appeals related to environmental protection, natural resource management and land-use decisions.
Blueberry River First Nations aims to restore land through native plant orchard
By Edzi’u Loverin
CBC News
July 17, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West
Blueberry River First Nations in B.C. says its new native plant orchard will help restoration efforts on land ravaged by industry and wildfires, while creating economic and cultural opportunities for the nation. Grandmother’s Greenhouse’s Native Plant Orchard is located around 50 kilometres from Fort St. John on about 50 hectares of agricultural land owned by the First Nation, and produces commercial seeds, seedlings, and seed capsules. Blueberry River Chief Sherry Dominic, said the orchard’s plant products will be sold to industry, “so when they’re doing reclamation of the lands that they are restoring, they’ll use these native plants, seeds that we’ve grown, that our members had picked in this Blueberry traditional area.” …The orchard is a $9.7 million initiative funded through Blueberry River Restoration Society, a Blueberry River First Nations organization. The venture will see 1.7 million seedlings in the orchard this season, which has been designed to reflect a healthy diverse and resilient forest ecosystem.
CCIB names Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. as inaugural Indigenous Small Business of the Year Award recipient
Canadian Council for Indigenous Business
July 14, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West
Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB) is proud to announce that Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) is the inaugural recipient of the Indigenous Small Business of the Year Award, in recognition of its work creating economic opportunities through Indigenous-led forestry, wildfire rehabilitation and environmental stewardship. CCR is an Indigenous-owned forestry organization representing the communities of Tŝideldel, Tl’etinqox, and Yunesit’in in the Chilcotin region of British Columbia. Established to restore and protect traditional territories while creating sustainable prosperity for Nations, CCR has become a recognized leader in Indigenous-led forestry and land stewardship. “Today, we are demonstrating that Indigenous-led forestry can create jobs, restore forests, help reduce wildfire risk, support economic independence and deliver lasting benefits for communities,” said Percy Guichon, CEO of CCR. “This award reinforces the importance of Indigenous leadership and collaboration in shaping the future of forestry in British Columbia and across Canada.”
New research finds a particular tree species can act as a wildfire barrier
By Jonathan Migneault
CBC News
July 23, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East
Flavie Pelletier
Ontario — …new research from McGill University reaffirms that aspen trees can act as a fire barrier. Flavie Pelletier, a PhD graduate and the study’s lead author, said aspen have always anecdotally been considered a species that is especially resilient to fire. “But the paradox is that aspen can burn very quickly by itself because it has thin bark,” she said. By analyzing satellite imagery of Canada’s boreal forest before and after wildfires, Pelletier and her colleagues found that large patches of aspen can slow down wildfires. The before-and-after images showed that larger patches of aspen were more prevalent at the perimeters of burned out areas. …[But] Pelletier said “there’s kind of a war against aspen in commercial forests.” Every summer, forestry companies in Ontario spray thousands of hectares of Crown land with herbicides designed to kill broadleaf vegetation which competes with coniferous trees that are harvested for their lumber.
Ontario forest firefighters warned for years about retention, pay issues
By Isaac Callan
Global News
July 22, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East
It was more than a decade ago that the Ontario government started to worry about its wildland firefighting program. In 2016, a report warned that fire rangers were quitting at an alarming rate, were less experienced than in previous years and were comparatively underpaid. Those issues have persisted ever since. Versions of the report repeated the warnings in 2018 and 2019, while an internal memo from 2022 warned of “an increase in the number of people leaving our organization for employment opportunities elsewhere.” …The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has pushed for major pay increases, to reclassify wildland firefighters as firefighters, not resource technicians, and more year-round jobs. …The government has vehemently denied claims it has failed to prepare for the fire season or that it is underfunding the fight to control the blazes.
Hiring Young Workers? What Forestry Employers Need to Know
Forest Resources Association
July 23, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: United States
Hiring young workers can be an effective way to address labor needs, but forestry employers should understand that federal and state laws place significant restrictions on the work employees under age 18 may perform. Before hiring a minor, employers should familiarize themselves with those requirements to ensure they remain compliant while making informed staffing decisions. The federal government generally defines the youth labor force as individuals between the ages of 16 and 24. Under federal employment law, however, workers under age 18 are subject to additional protections that do not apply to older members of that group. Many forestry occupations are considered particularly hazardous under regulations administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. States may also impose their own requirements governing the employment of minors, so employers should review both federal and applicable state laws before hiring a worker under age 18.
The feds no longer protect endangered species habitat. States say they can’t pick up the slack.
By Alex Brown
Stateline
July 20, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: United States
The Trump administration is removing protections from the key places where endangered species live, saying states can keep the areas safe. But experts say states aren’t equipped for the task. Earlier this month, the Trump administration finalized a major change to the Endangered Species Act, rolling back protections [and opening] many landscapes to development, logging, mining and oil and gas drilling. …States that wish to continue protecting habitats can do so under state law… But legal experts and wildlife veterans say that almost no states have endangered species laws on the books that allow state officials to prevent habitat destruction in the name of saving wildlife. …In public comments after the rule was initially proposed, wildlife agency leaders from both liberal and conservative states said the change would be a blow to their conservation efforts. …Last week, a coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit challenging the “harm” rule.
U.S. Forest Service, New Mexico sign agreement to strengthen long-term partnership
By the Forest Service
The US Department of Agriculture
July 22, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Forest Service and the State of New Mexico today signed a next-generation agreement that builds on a successful shared stewardship partnership. The agreement expands opportunities for timber production, new wood uses, landscape restoration, and reducing wildfire risk to communities, ecosystems, and local economies across New Mexico. “This 20‑year commitment strengthens our partnership with New Mexico to increase fuel treatments and protect the watersheds that serve as the state’s critical water towers,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “By aligning federal and state resources across priority firesheds, we will accelerate restoration, expand wood utilization, and reduce wildfire risk across millions of acres that communities depend on for water, wood products, recreation, and jobs.” “This agreement means more boots on the ground in New Mexico doing the hard work of thinning overgrown forests and reducing fuel loads before the next fire season.” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Oregon hit by 8,357 lightning strikes, sparking new wildfires
By Zack Urness
Salem Statesman Journal in Central Oregon Daily News
July 23, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West
Oregon was hit by 8,357 lightning strikes during the thunderstorms on July 22, which sparked a collection of new wildfires and will likely produce more, even as the system brought helpful rain. The lightning was most concentrated in Oregon’s Coast Range, Central Cascades and in southeast Oregon, but also in the Willamette Valley particularly near Albany and Corvallis. A smattering of new fires ignited from the lightning, including 24 in central Oregon, but they’re more likely to pop up as “holdovers” in the coming days and week on the west side of the state. “Lightning fires can take some time to show,” said Jessica Neujahr, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Forestry. “Firefighters remain prepared to for initial attack as new fires start to pop up.” In the meantime, the numerous already-burning wildfires in central Oregon did get some help with rainfall, but it was spotty…
Oregon’s western state forests will see more conservation, less clear cutting under new plan
By Alex Baumhardt
News from the States
July 22, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West
Oregon forestry officials will need to manage hundreds of thousands of acres of western state forests to better support critical species, water and air quality and to decrease greenhouse gas emissions under a new management plan the Board of Forestry approved Wednesday. The seven-member board voted 5-2 to pass the 168-page Western Oregon State Forests Management Plan. The new plan, which will guide the Oregon Department of Forestry’s work in 640,000 acres of state forests in 14 counties and mostly in northwest Oregon over the next several decades, will take effect by July 1, 2027. It lays out the priorities, goals and strategies for the department in those forests, which include supporting economies dependent on timber, forest products, agriculture and mining, and a slate of ecological priorities as well: ensuring clean air and water, adapting to and fighting climate change, and protecting wildlife habitat and plant diversity.
Oregon tribes seek federal land transfers. Conservation groups see another option
By Gosia Wozniacka
The Oregonian
July 21, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West
As tribes across the West seek the return of federal lands through U.S. Congress, land trusts have advanced a complementary strategy: helping tribes buy back private lands from willing sellers — including timber companies — with public funding and conservation dollars. That approach is also gaining support in Oregon where five federally recognized tribes are pursuing federal legislation that would transfer public lands into tribal ownership. In a letter last week to the state’s congressional delegation … urged lawmakers to invest in tribal acquisitions of private lands while preserving environmental protections and public access on federal lands. …Historically, land trusts focused on buying and preserving environmentally valued land via conservation easements and other deed restrictions [that] limited people’s access to the land or prohibited most human activities. In recent years, the trusts have started to reexamine that approach, particularly when working with tribes who strongly believe that land should exist in relationship with people.
Governor Newsom highlights investments in fire prevention and cutting-edge firefighting technology
Office of Governor Gavin Newsom
July 21, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West
SACRAMENTO – At McClellan Air Park, Governor Gavin Newsom highlighted California’s major investments in state-of-the-art fire technology and wildfire prevention, from drones and satellites to advanced camera networks that identify and track wildfires. …Nearly 6 years ago, Newsom met with President Trump … at McClellan Air Park to discuss climate change and the largest wildfires California had ever faced. Trump promised in 2020 that “it’ll start getting cooler.” The facts and science tell the true story: the world has only gotten hotter, and climate impacts have only intensified. …“Technology is transforming how California prepares for wildfire, giving us the power to see threats sooner, position resources before fires start and move mutual aid faster when every second counts,” said California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Director Caroline Thomas Jacobs. “Governor Newsom’s investments are helping us turn real-time intelligence into action so firefighters and local communities [can] save lives and keep fires from becoming major disasters.”
California Is Making Progress on Preventing Severe Wildfires. Federal Retreat, Shaky Funding Put It at Risk
By Bradley Franklin and Kyle Greenspan
Public Policy Institute of California
July 20, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West
The Altadena and Palisades fires last year were the latest in an escalating series of wildfires in the state. Californians have lost homes, community, and—in some tragic cases—their lives. Wildfires are also raising insurance premiums and threatening the state’s giant sequoias and the headwater regions that provide most of California’s water supply. This year threatens to be another above-average fire season. …The good news is that the state is engaged in an unprecedented multi-agency effort to reduce severe wildfire hazard… In a new report, the Public Policy Institute of California analyzed data from the task force that’s coordinating and tracking these efforts. We found the progress toward the goal accelerated between 2021 through 2024, with an average of 591,000 acres undergoing work to reduce wildfire hazard each year. The task force’s recently released five-year action plan doubles down on the need to prioritize the most at-risk landscapes with a call to “treat the worst first.”
Ho Chi Minh City is building a transparent and traceable timber supply chain to meet new EU regulations.
By Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
Government of Vietnam
July 16, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: International
Ho Chi Minh City has just approved the Forest Product Management Program for the period 2026-2030, aiming to digitize the entire area of production forests, trace the origin of forest products along the supply chain, and strengthen control over wood processing and trading activities to meet the increasingly stringent regulations of the international market. The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has just issued a decision approving the Forest Product Management Program in the city for the period 2026-2030, aiming to improve the effectiveness of state management, strengthen control of the forest product supply chain, conserve biodiversity, and support businesses in adapting to new requirements of the export market. According to the program, Ho Chi Minh City currently has more than 1,000 wood processing enterprises operating in industrial parks, export processing zones, and industrial clusters. The wood processing industry has made a positive contribution to economic growth, created jobs, increased export turnover, and promoted many supporting industries.
Reliable, Efficient Bioheat Can Reduce Electrical Grid Pressure
By Jonathan Levesque
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada
July 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada
Jonathan Levesque
Using low-carbon, locally sourced wood pellets and biomass to heat homes and commercial and industrial buildings offers a practical way to reduce strain on Canada’s energy grid, while lowering heating costs for consumers. …In May, I represented the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) at the Energizing Efficiency Conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick. While much of the conference focused on electrification and energy efficiency, WPAC highlighted the important role that biomass heating can play in reducing emissions while relieving pressure on electrical systems. I also delivered Canadian Biomass’ webinar Bioheat: Delivering Decarbonization, Affordability and Energy Resistance. …Unlike heat pumps, which require increased electrical input in cold weather, modern biomass systems maintain high efficiency and full heating capacity even in the coldest winter conditions. …Greater adoption of bioheat would reduce reliance on less-efficient, higher-emission electricity generation for heating, helping stabilize power rates both now and in the future.
Air Canada and Airbus launch joint initiative to scale domestic Canadian Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Air Canada
July 20, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada
MONTRÉAL — Air Canada, the country’s largest airline and flag carrier, and Airbus, a global leader in aerospace manufacturing with the largest commercial aircraft industrial footprint in Canada, are uniting their shared commitment to aviation decarbonisation. To lead the way in advancing these goals, the two aviation pioneers are proud to announce their intent to establish a jointly funded Sustainability Co-Investment Platform. This agreement states a shared objective to invest up to approximately C$13.7 million, through the platform to support a commercial-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry in Canada. Both companies are confident that, with a supportive public policy framework in place, this investment can serve as a catalyst for the broader Canadian SAF ecosystem. Key focus areas include accelerating a jointly agreed Canadian SAF project toward a Final Investment Decision.
Rep. Kiley Introduces Bill to Incentivize New Biomass Facilities
US Congressman Kevin Kiley
July 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States
Kevin Kiley
Washington, D.C. – This week, Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA) introduced H.R. 9746, the Biomass Facility Construction Act. This legislation would create a tax credit totaling 30% of the cost of construction for biomass facilities and allow them to concurrently receive the existing tax credit for energy produced via biomass. “Our forests are overgrown and in desperate need of cleanup,” said Rep. Kiley. “A large contributor to this heightened wildfire risk is the buildup of limbs, leaves, shrubs, bushes, and dead wood, otherwise known as biomass. When biomass accumulates in our forests, it creates more fuel for wildfire.” A large part of wildfire mitigation efforts is cleaning up this biomass, but contractors struggle with disposing of this material because there aren’t enough biomass facilities to bring it to. To help address the lack of facilities, this legislation provides a tax credit for biomass facility construction and energy production.
Climate change worsens wildfire conditions in Michigan
By Anna Barnes
Michigan Public NPR
July 22, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: US East
Jonathan Overpeck
President Trump and other republican legislators are blaming Canada’s wildfires on the country’s mismanagement of forests. …Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the school for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan and a climate researcher, said while forest management is useful in wildfire management, the real issue is climate change. “What we really need to do is work together as two countries, not just to manage forests better, fight fires better, but to fight climate change together,” he said. “That’s the big reason this is happening in Canada and the US and unless we do this together, climate change will get worse and the fires will get worse.” …Overpeck said there are many signs of climate change in Michigan. One is an increase in storm activity. As the storms move Northeast, that leaves the Southwest with worsening drought conditions. And as the climate warms, the aridification …also moves closer to the Midwest.
B.C. Employers must protect workers from heat-related illnesses
WorkSafeBC
July 21, 2026
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West
With Environment Canada issuing heat warnings for several regions of British Columbia and temperatures expected to climb into the mid-30s in some areas of the province this week, WorkSafeBC is reminding employers to take steps to protect workers from heat-related illness. “Elevated temperatures increase the risk of heat stress and heat stroke, which can be serious and even life-threatening,” says Todd McDonald, head of Prevention Services at WorkSafeBC. “These illnesses are preventable, and employers have a responsibility to take steps to protect workers, whether they are indoors or outdoors.” Between 2021 and 2025, WorkSafeBC accepted 335 heat-related injury claims, including 47 in 2025. …Outdoor workers in construction, agriculture, transportation, and public works are at higher risk. However, indoor workers — including those in kitchens, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities — may also be exposed to high heat, especially in spaces without air conditioning. To prevent heat stress, WorkSafeBC requires employers to conduct workplace-specific risk assessments and develop … safe work procedures.
How to make a $60 air purifier, as Canada’s wildfires rage on
By Shannon Waters
The Narwhal
July 22, 2026
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West
As climate change makes summers hotter and drier, wildfire season becomes, on average, longer and more severe. More Canadians are experiencing the impacts with every breath they take… Once smoke rolls in, air purifiers — filtration machines capable of removing toxic chemicals and tiny particulates from the air — can be difficult to find in stores, even for those who can afford them. But at [a workshop], participants are learning to build simple, effective air purifiers at a workshop organized by Bill Darnell, a local resident who helped found Greenpeace in 1970. …He uses information compiled by the BC Lung Foundation and Simon Fraser University to help people build DIY air purifiers, using simple and accessible components like box fans, furnace filters and duct tape. …these air purifiers can perform as well as commercial air purifiers [that] often cost hundreds of dollars, while the materials for these DIY versions cost less than $60.
Fatal crash highlights key role — and risks — of helicopters in remote B.C. areas
By Julie Chadwick
Victoria Times Colonist
July 19, 2026
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West
This week’s fatal helicopter crash highlights the crucial role of helicopter pilots in remote areas of the B.C. coast, and the risks they face, say residents and industry representatives. The crash early Tuesday in the Loughborough Inlet area, between Knight Inlet and Bute Inlet, killed West Coast Helicopters pilot Riley Browne and one of the forestry engineers onboard. …Helicopter pilots play an essential role in making life possible in the remote community of Wuikinuxv First Nation, said Jennifer Walkus, a former tribal councillor and environmental researcher. …There are also some grey areas when it comes to who medevacs workers out if they get injured on the job in remote areas, such as logging camps or fishing villages, said Sean Smyth, general manager of West Coast Helicopters. …That’s one of the reasons Miles Randell started the Technical Evacuation Advanced Aero Medical Society, also known as TEAAM.
Dangerous and historic wildfire smoke pollution event engulfs the U.S. and Canada
By Jeff Masters
Yale Climate Connections
July 17, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, United States
As climate change bakes forests across North America, dense smoke from dozens of out-of-control wildfires burning in northern Minnesota and adjacent portions of Ontario is blanketing tens of millions of people with hazardous pollution. …As the climate warms, fire danger increases, mostly because the atmosphere gets “thirstier” – more water vapor can evaporate into warmer air. This results in more water vapor evaporating from plants, which dries them out and creates an increased risk of large and intense fires that can generate huge smoke plumes. Most of the fires grew out of control under extreme heat conditions made up to five times more likely by climate change (Fig. 1). According to Climate Central, the heat that helped fuel these fires would have been “highly unlikely” to have occurred in a world without climate change.
Explainer: Why is Canada’s wildfire smoke blanketing parts of North America?
By Nivedita Balu
Reuters
July 17, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada
TORONTO — …rising global temperatures contribute to massive forest fires … in northern Canada. Canada currently has more active wildfires than it did at the same stage in either of the past two years, while the area burned so far this year exceeds the 10-year average. …Mike Flannigan, a professor at Thompson Rivers University in BC, noted that warmer temperatures have prolonged the wildfire season and more lightning is also causing fires, he said. Climate scientist Andrew Dessler, a professor at Texas A&M College of Arts and Sciences, said the Canadian fires were burning in largely unmanaged forests where, for the last one hundred years, they had been allowed to burn until they died out. Like Flannigan, he said higher temperatures were fueling bigger, more intense blazes in Canada. “The reason this is having a big effect on the U.S. right now is because of climate change, that’s the thing that has changed,” he said.
Canada wildfires: A look at where they are burning from coast to coast
The Associated Press in CTV News
July 18, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada
More than 950 wildfires are scorching Canada from coast to coast, the national wildland fire summary says. Roughly 241 blazes are out of control. The fires have prompted Environment Canada to issue air quality warnings from B.C. to Quebec, as well as the Northwest Territories. Here’s a look at what is happening:
British Columbia: Nearly 115 wildfires are burning in British Columbia. BC Wildfire Service says a majority were sparked by lightning…
Manitoba: Multiple out-of-control wildfires are burning in Manitoba’s north…
Northwest Territories: Fires forced about 1,300 residents of Fort Simpson and 130 from Wrigley to leave their communities in late June…
Ontario: Nearly 200 wildfires are blazing across the province, already scorching more land than all of last year’s fires…
Nova Scotia: Crews in Nova Scotia are fighting an out-of-control wildfire northeast of Halifax…
A wildfire northwestern B.C. along Highway 16 just west of Cedarvale is continuing to grow. Highway 16 traffic is currently single lane for alternating traffic. On July 22 at approximately 8 p.m., BC Wildfire Crews responded alongside the Gitwangak Fire Department to a report of an RV fire on Hwy 16 that had spread into the brush. An initial attack crew remained onsite overnight and observed significant debris and rockfall onto Hwy 16, which prompted the existing lane closures. An operational response plan for today is being assessed and developed to find workable objectives for ground crews where it is safe to do so. Aviation resources on site today include two helicopters and air tanker support. Ground resources include water tenders and heavy equipment, which will be deployed where access and conditions allow. The current operational priority is maintaining the safety and integrity of the Highway 16 corridor.
Fire behaviour increased ‘rapidly’ as smoke cleared over Boston Bar area wildfires Wednesday evening
By Kristen Holliday
Castanet
July 22, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West
Evacuation orders in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon are spreading as the Brunswick Creek wildfire continues to burn out of control. The latest call for locals to get out comes in the Hells Gate area, just downstream of the community of Boston Bar, where the Fraser River’s flow tightens. Another covers an unspecified number of properties along Scuzzy Creek Forest Service Road, on the west side of the river. …Gordon Robinson, a fire information officer with the Brunswick complex, said the cause of the Anderson Creek wildfire is under investigation. …A third wildfire sparked south of Boston Bar Tuesday afternoon, rapidly growing to more than 4,300 hectares and creating strong winds that drove fire behaviour at another nearby blaze, according to the BC Wildfire Service. The Anderson Creek wildfire, located east of Hicks along Highway 1, is the newest of three large wildfires burning near Boston Bar. …Fire behaviour increased “rapidly” Wednesday evening when smoke cleared over three wildfires near Boston Bar, and the BC Wildfire Service said there is the potential for aggressive fire behaviour again tomorrow. …Highway 1 has been closed to traffic.
A wildfire in Washington State has crossed the border into B.C., the North Cascades National Park Service Complex says. Border 2 Fire, 2.4 kilometres east of Hozomeen just south of the Canada-U.S. border, crossed into B.C. and into the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest lands in the east, according to an update from the park service Wednesday (July 22). Border 1 and Border 2 wildfires combined and are now a total of 121 hectares. The fire is believed to be caused by lightning. The park service says the fire is burning in remote, steep, and densely forested and rocky terrain. Fire activity is expected to be elevated with upcoming hot, dry and windy conditions over the next few days until cooler weather conditions return to the area, the service added.
Evacuation orders in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon are spreading as the Brunswick Creek wildfire continues to burn out of control. The latest call for locals to get out comes in the Hells Gate area, just downstream of the community of Boston Bar, where the Fraser River’s flow tightens. Another covers an unspecified number of properties along Scuzzy Creek Forest Service Road, on the west side of the river. Earlier Tuesday evening, the Fraser Valley Regional District ordered any residents remaining in Boston Bar to evacuate the area immediately, saying a new wildfire had ignited south of the community and was spreading quickly due to strong winds. A new evacuation alert was issued for the area south of Hells Gate, stretching to the Alexandra Bridge, a historic suspension bridge built in 1926.
Wildfire activity in B.C. has increased significantly in recent days, with 600 properties under evacuation order and thousands more on alert, officials said in a briefing Tuesday. …The B.C. Wildfire Service says close to 34,000 lightning strikes were recorded during the final half of last week and have heightened fire activity across the province. As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 85 fires burning, 79 per cent of them believed to have been ignited by lightning. This has resulted in 600 properties being placed under evacuation order, mostly in the Fraser Canyon, and 5,700 more being put on alert, the majority in the Kimberley area, according to Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Kelly Greene. She said the province is supporting 430 evacuees, and encouraged anyone at risk of having to leave their homes to pre-register for emergency support services. …Two new evacuation orders were issued Monday for the Downing Park area southwest of Clinton due to the Pear Lake wildfire.
Fire crews work on containment lines between out-of-control blaze and Kimberley, B.C.
Canadian Press in Global News
July 21, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West
Firefighters in British Columbia are working to build containment lines between an out of-control wildfire and the city of Kimberley in the province’s southeast corner, where the entire community of more than 8,000 residents has been told to prepare for evacuation. The BC Wildfire Service says it will be using heavy equipment to build the lines and block the fire that’s about 10 kilometres west of Kimberley. The service says the blaze is in steep terrain making direct firefighting difficult and has grown to about six square kilometres since being detected on Saturday. It’s among about 35 fires burning out of control in B.C., where a total of about 100 blazes were active as of late Monday.
Recent days have seen B.C.’s wilderness struck by lightning almost 34,000 times, fire crews report, and the hot, dry conditions are expected to linger. The B.C. Wildfire Service notes almost 100 fires burning, as of Monday afternoon. At the same time, several parts of the province are under a heat warning until Thursday: the Okanagan Valley, the Fraser Canyon, South Thompson, Shuswap, West Kootenay, Kitimat Terrace and the Sunshine Coast. …Sunday saw people living in the East Kootenay city of Kimberley placed under an evacuation alert and the situation remains uncertain in eastern British Columbia. …In the Thompson Nicola Regional District, the Fiftynine Creek and French Bar Creek fires are over 130 and 100 square kilometres in size, respectively, according to the wildfire service. …Prof. Lori Daniels, Koerner Chair in Wildfire Coexistence at the University of British Columbia, noted Canada’s 2026 fire season is within the 30-year average but there are still two months to go.
Smoke from U.S. wildfires affecting air quality in B.C.
By Lisa Steacy
CTV News
July 19, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West
Wildfires south of the border are responsible for “much” of the smoke that has prompted an air quality warning in one region of B.C., according to officials. The provincial wildfire service said an increase in local, lightning-caused fire starts was only partially responsible for poor air quality in parts of the southeast fire centre—including where parts of the Kootenays border the United States. “As wildfire activity increases, so has smoke across many areas of the region. Much of this smoke is originating from fires south of the Canada-U.S. border and will have varying impacts over the coming days,” an update Saturday evening said. …The issue of smoke travelling across the border caused a political firestorm in recent days, in part prompted by a social media post from U.S. President Donald Trump. …Just days before Trump’s post, 56-year-old Canadian pilot Nicholas Dale was killed while fighting a forest fire in Colorado.
The entire City of Kimberley has been placed under an evacuation alert as an out-of-control wildfire burns west of the East Kootenay community. The alert covers all properties within Kimberley’s municipal boundaries, affecting roughly 9,000 people. Residents are not being ordered to leave but are being told to prepare in case conditions worsen. The Matthew Creek wildfire was discovered Saturday and is estimated to be 5.67 square kilometres (567 hectares) as of Sunday evening. The B.C. Wildfire Service says the fire began at high elevation in steep, mountainous terrain that is unsafe for crews to access directly. It says strong winds, steep slopes and spruce-balsam forest helped drive rapid growth. The blaze was burning as a highly vigorous and fast-moving fire Saturday but crews say fire behaviour had eased by Sunday. …Heavy equipment has been mobilized with three helicopters responding to the wildfire.
Thunder Bay 36 largest wildfire in Ontario history — by far
By Mike Stimpson
Elliot Lake Today
July 26, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada East
THUNDER BAY — There’s no end in sight to Whitesand First Nation’s evacuation, Chief Lawrence Wanakamik said Thursday. “But we’ll see next week,” Wanakamik told Newswatch… The chief said he heard earlier this week from band members who are still on the reserve next to Armstrong, and they said all buildings there are still standing. Whitesand and Armstrong, about 220 kilometres north of the city, evacuated last week as a raging forest fire neared the communities. The blaze, which has merged with other wildfires and is now labelled Thunder Bay 36, remains out of control and spans over 315,000 hectares — making it not just the largest wildfire of the 2026 season, but the largest ever recorded in Ontario. The mega-blaze measured at 318,813 hectares Wednesday evening but was re-mapped for accuracy at 315,431 hectares the next day. That far exceeds the previous provincial record of 196,974 hectares set by last year’s Red Lake 12 wildland fire.
Here’s the latest on northwestern Ontario’s forest fires
By Nicky Shaw
CBC News
July 22, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada East
There are 145 active wildfires burning in northwestern Ontario, according to the latest update from Ontario Forest Fires, one fewer than were reported on Tuesday night. Of these, 49 are listed as not under control, six are being held, eight are under control and the rest are being observed. Evacuation orders or alerts remain in effect for areas near the following fires: Thunder Bay 36, 54 and 56 and Dryden 34 and 35; Fort Frances 14 (evacuation order); Fort Frances 14 (evacuation alert); and Fort Frances 15 and 38. The largest wildfire in the region, known as Thunder Bay 36, remains out of control and spans more than 318,000 hectares. “FireRanger crews, helicopters and heavy equipment operators are assigned to suppression efforts,” Ontario’s Aviation, Forest Fires and Emergency Services (AFFES) said in Tuesday evening’s update. “Recent precipitation over the last several days has helped to reduce fire behaviour, allowing for crews to make good progress on the fire line.”
How bad is the 2026 wildfire season? In Ontario, early estimates suggest it’s the worst yet — and not over
By Jordan Omstead
The Canadian Press in CTV News
July 21, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada East
Wildfires raging in northern Ontario have pushed the province to its worst wildfire season on record. …fires have burned through more than 7,250 square kilometres of Ontario’s forest, surpassing the previous record set in 2021. The preliminary estimate is likely to be revised, but it stands as a sign of how quickly the season has worsened. The vast majority of that fire has burned in the past 10 days, on the back of severe thunderstorms and a scorching heat wave around Thunder Bay where temperatures soared to around 15 degrees above seasonal. Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is making wildfire seasons longer and more intense across Canada. …Into August, the forecast suggests much of northern Ontario could remain hotter and drier than normal. While conditions may not be as intense as what the region just experienced, “a complete reprieve is not really in the forecast,” said Liam Buchart, with the Canadian Forest Service.
2nd First Nations community in Ontario ravaged by wildfire in less than a week
By Sarah Law
CBC News
July 20, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada East
Less than a week after Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, north of Thunder Bay, Ont., burned down, another First Nations community in the region has also been ravaged by wildfire. Whitewater Lake First Nation is about 70 kilometres north of Armstrong and 250 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. The Anishinaabe community is considered a non-status First Nation, but it belongs to the Windigo First Nations Council. The community largely consists of seasonal camps and is only accessible six months a year by floatplane. There are no full-time residents living there. Chief Pauline Drake said much of the community’s homes, personal belongings and vital infrastructure have been lost, as nearly 200 wildfires continue to rage across the province. …”These wildfires have not only impacted our First Nation communities but also the tourist outfitters, all the camp owners, the private ones, all our friends and allies all across Ontario and Canada,” she said.
Wildfires in Northern Ontario have prompted evacuations, blocked rail traffic and halted forestry operations, as smoke blanketed much of the province and parts of the United States this week. There are 177 active wildland blazes in Ontario, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources, prompting evacuation orders in several communities, such as Armstrong, Lac La Croix First Nation and Whitesand First Nation. While firefighters battle the blazes, conditions are being monitored and some services and businesses have been suspended. Canadian National Railway’s freight network continues to be disrupted. The mainline north of Lake Superior has been closed since Monday and transcontinental freight trains are being rerouted. …Via Rail, which operates mainly on CN tracks, has cancelled service between Toronto and Winnipeg until July 19. …Domtar, one of the country’s largest lumber companies, suspended all harvesting and road building in northwestern Ontario because of the wildfires. [A Globe and Mail subscription is required for full access to this story]
The lightning-caused Brewer fire was estimated at 29,878 acres and 5% contained Wednesday morning. In an update posted about 2 p.m. Wednesday, fire officials said the fire remained more than 8 miles from the north edge of Prineville and posed no immediate threat to the community. The nearby Box Springs fire is a separate lightning-caused fire, but it is being managed with the Brewer fire under the same unified command. It was estimated at 15,203 acres with no containment Wednesday morning. Fire officials warned that conditions could change quickly. A red flag warning that began at 11 a.m. Wednesday remains in effect until 11 p.m.. Thunderstorms could bring lightning and erratic wind gusts of 35-45 mph. Lightning could start new fires, while the gusty winds and temperatures in the 80s and 90s could increase fire activity, officials said.
Coyote, Henry, Pilot, Connant & Crooked Fires in Central Oregon
Central Oregon Fire Info
July 22, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for abundant lightning and potential for gusty outflow winds. With critical fire conditions across Central Oregon, any new fire starts have the potential to spread quickly. Large air tankers provided retardant drops yesterday on the south end of the Coyote Fire, within the 2020 Frog Fire burn scar, while helicopters supported Hotshot crews with bucket drops on the western portion of the fire. Aircraft were up as soon as the smoke lifted and worked to slow the fire’s progression, allowing resources to fight the fire as directly as possible. Helicopters also supported efforts to fight the fire directly along the southeast portion of the Coyote Fire where crews and equipment worked all day, making steady progress. The northern perimeter of the Coyote Fire is holding within its current containment lines, and the 2024 Wiley Flat Fire continues to help with containment efforts to the east.
French President Emmanuel Macron will a hold a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday as wildfires close in on the south-western city of Bordeaux. Another heatwave is set to complicate efforts to tackle the expanding blaze, which is about 15km (9 miles) from Bordeaux, mayor Thomas Cazenave said. Earlier he said there were no plans to evacuate the population of about 850,000. Wildfires have raged across Europe over the past week, primarily in France and Spain, where more than 330,000 people have been evacuated across both countries. Macron said on Saturday that France would “rebuild” and his government would “be there for as long as is needed”. Tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated from Bordeaux’s surrounding region, with France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez saying the situation remained “very unfavourable” and the fire was “moving erratically” towards the city. Weather forecasts for the country warned that temperatures could spike to 40C in some areas from Tuesday.
France evacuates thousands of tourists as fire rages in pine forest
Associated Free Press in France 24
July 23, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International
France has been battered by three heatwaves since May as part of increasingly common extreme weather episodes linked to climate change … and fuelling wildfires. The blaze in Le Porge, just south of Medoc wine country, had ripped through 2,400 hectares … since Wednesday, firefighters said. No casualties had been reported or homes destroyed so far. Skies in the coastal village of Le Porge, near the city of Bordeaux, were orange early on Thursday morning. Helicopters made repeated runs over houses with shuttered windows, as fire trucks rushed up and down the road. 12,000 people — tourists, as well as hundreds of residents living on the edge of the forest — had to evacuate. …Some 700 firefighters have been battling the flames on land, while several firefighting planes have been dumping water from the sky since the blaze erupted around midday on Wednesday. It then roared through the dense woodland, with flames soaring to 10 metres in some areas.
Firefighters battle one of Spain’s biggest-ever wildfires during heat wave across the Mediterranean
By Joseph Wilson
Associated Press
July 22, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International
BARCELONA, Spain — Firefighters in central Spain battled a wildfire on Wednesday that has burned over 32,000 hectares (79,000 acres) in one of the country’s largest blazes on record. The fire in rural Guadalajara comes less than two weeks after a deadly blaze devastated a small expat community in southern Spain. That small but extremely virulent fire killed 13 people, including several foreigners, in one of the southern European country’s deadliest wildfires. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday visited the fire-ravaged area in Guadalajara, and called for a pact between political parties to fight climate change. “Year after year we clearly see how climate change kills and destroys wealth in our communities,” Sánchez said in the village of Tamajón, located less than two hours by car northeast of Madrid. “This isn’t politics. It is science, it’s about facts.”
Spain: Firefighters battle major wildfire north of Madrid
By Karl Sexton
Deutsche Welle
July 21, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International
Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers were battling a massive wildfire northeast of Madrid on Tuesday that has been raging since last week. Authorities say the blaze, which broke out on Thursday in Guadalajara province about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Spain’s capital, is one of the most difficult they have faced and is considered the most significant wildfire to affect the country this year. “It is the most complex of those that have been tackled in recent years in Spain,” Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano Garcia-Page said. Garcia-Page added that more than 600 firefighters and nearly 50 aircraft and helicopters had “practically stopped” the blaze from spreading toward the provincial capital of Soria, but that it was not yet under control. The blaze has forced some 1,200 people to evacuate from their homes across the region of Castilla-La Mancha, while at least 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of land have been burnt, officials said.
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When construction and trades professionals are asked which single trade the skills shortage will hit hardest, they don’t name electricians or plumbers first. They name the carpenters and woodworkers, and the consequence they point to most isn’t a blown budget or a slipped schedule. It’s a decline in the quality of the work itself. 
Federal Way, Washington – Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau (PLIB) has expanded its 
…Now Canada’s forest industry, a pillar of our economy since colonial times, must also look itself in the mirror. …So does that mean the Americans are right? Republican John James, a U.S. Congressman from Michigan, blamed Canada for abdicating its “responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country’s airspace.” The short answer is no. …but the responsibility lies not with Canada, per se; the main culprit is human-caused climate change. …The current U.S. administration has recklessly and suicidally turned its back on a transition to a low-carbon economy. …Meanwhile, our own federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney has pulled away from Justin Trudeau’s bold moves to curb fossil-fuel use, and has instead championed pipelines. …The key, big-picture, is to transition to a low-carbon future. In the meantime, we can do a better job with forest management, informed by Indigenous knowledge, to avert or mitigate wildfire disaster. [Access to this story requires a Globe and Mail subscription]
Nk’Mip Forestry, with support from Siya Forestry, has planted more than 900,000 trees and native plants across Osoyoos Indian Band territory this year as part of the federal “2 Billion Trees Program.” The restoration project focuses on areas damaged by wildfire and other disturbances, including land severely burned during the 2021 Nk’Mip Creek wildfire where natural regeneration has been limited. “These sites were severely burned by the 2021 Nk’Mip Creek wildfire and were not regenerating on their own,” said Peter Flett, head of operations for Nk’Mip Forestry, in a press release issued Tuesday. “By planting now, we can help establish mixed-species forests that are better suited to future environmental conditions.” …In addition to restoring forests and wildlife habitat, the initiative is creating employment opportunities for local crews through seed collection, nursery work, planting and monitoring. The project is funded through the Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees Program
It was more than a decade ago that the Ontario government started to worry about its wildland firefighting program. In 2016, a report warned that fire rangers were quitting at an alarming rate, were less experienced than in previous years and were comparatively underpaid. Those issues have persisted ever since. Versions of the report repeated the warnings in 2018 and 2019, while an internal memo from 2022 warned of “an increase in the number of people leaving our organization for employment opportunities elsewhere.” …The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has pushed for major pay increases, to reclassify wildland firefighters as firefighters, not resource technicians, and more year-round jobs. …The government has vehemently denied claims it has failed to prepare for the fire season or that it is underfunding the fight to control the blazes.
Hiring young workers can be an effective way to address labor needs, but forestry employers should understand that federal and state laws place significant restrictions on the work employees under age 18 may perform. Before hiring a minor, employers should familiarize themselves with those requirements to ensure they remain compliant while making informed staffing decisions. The federal government generally defines the youth labor force as individuals between the ages of 16 and 24. Under federal employment law, however, workers under age 18 are subject to additional protections that do not apply to older members of that group. Many forestry occupations are considered particularly hazardous under regulations administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. States may also impose their own requirements governing the employment of minors, so employers should review both federal and applicable state laws before hiring a worker under age 18.
Oregon forestry officials will need to manage hundreds of thousands of acres of western state forests to better support critical species, water and air quality and to decrease greenhouse gas emissions under a new management plan the Board of Forestry approved Wednesday. The seven-member board voted 5-2 to pass the 168-page 
As tribes across the West seek the return of federal lands through U.S. Congress, land trusts have advanced a complementary strategy: helping tribes buy back private lands from willing sellers — including timber companies — with public funding and conservation dollars. That approach is also gaining support in Oregon where five federally recognized tribes are pursuing federal legislation that would transfer public lands into tribal ownership. In a letter last week to the state’s congressional delegation … urged lawmakers to invest in tribal acquisitions of private lands while preserving environmental protections and public access on federal lands. …Historically, land trusts focused on buying and preserving environmentally valued land via conservation easements and other deed restrictions [that] limited people’s access to the land or prohibited most human activities. In recent years, the trusts have started to reexamine that approach, particularly when working with tribes who strongly believe that land should exist in relationship with people.
With Environment Canada issuing heat warnings for several regions of British Columbia and temperatures expected to climb into the mid-30s in some areas of the province this week, WorkSafeBC is reminding employers to take steps to protect workers from heat-related illness. “Elevated temperatures increase the risk of heat stress and heat stroke, which can be serious and even life-threatening,” says Todd McDonald, head of Prevention Services at WorkSafeBC. “These illnesses are preventable, and employers have a responsibility to take steps to protect workers, whether they are indoors or outdoors.” Between 2021 and 2025, WorkSafeBC accepted 335 heat-related injury claims, including 47 in 2025. …Outdoor workers in construction, agriculture, transportation, and public works are at higher risk. However, indoor workers — including those in kitchens, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities — may also be exposed to high heat, especially in spaces without air conditioning. To prevent heat stress, WorkSafeBC requires employers to conduct workplace-specific risk assessments and develop … safe work procedures. 
A wildfire in Washington State has crossed the border into B.C., the North Cascades National Park Service Complex says. Border 2 Fire, 2.4 kilometres east of Hozomeen just south of the Canada-U.S. border, crossed into B.C. and into the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest lands in the east, according to an update from the park service Wednesday (July 22). Border 1 and Border 2 wildfires combined and are now a total of 121 hectares. The fire is believed to be caused by lightning. The park service says the fire is burning in remote, steep, and densely forested and rocky terrain. Fire activity is expected to be elevated with upcoming hot, dry and windy conditions over the next few days until cooler weather conditions return to the area, the service added.
France has been battered by three heatwaves since May as part of increasingly common extreme weather episodes linked to climate change … and fuelling wildfires. The blaze in Le Porge, just south of Medoc wine country, had ripped through 2,400 hectares … since Wednesday, firefighters said. No casualties had been reported or homes destroyed so far. Skies in the coastal village of Le Porge, near the city of Bordeaux, were orange early on Thursday morning. Helicopters made repeated runs over houses with shuttered windows, as fire trucks rushed up and down the road. 12,000 people — tourists, as well as hundreds of residents living on the edge of the forest — had to evacuate. …Some 700 firefighters have been battling the flames on land, while several firefighting planes have been dumping water from the sky since the blaze erupted around midday on Wednesday. It then roared through the dense woodland, with flames soaring to 10 metres in some areas.
BARCELONA, Spain — Firefighters in central Spain battled a wildfire on Wednesday that has burned over 32,000 hectares (79,000 acres) in one of the country’s largest blazes on record. The fire in rural Guadalajara comes less than two weeks after a deadly blaze devastated a small expat community in southern Spain. That small but extremely virulent fire killed 13 people, including several foreigners, in one of the southern European country’s deadliest wildfires. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday visited the fire-ravaged area in Guadalajara, and called for a pact between political parties to fight climate change. “Year after year we clearly see how climate change kills and destroys wealth in our communities,” Sánchez said in the village of Tamajón, located less than two hours by car northeast of Madrid. “This isn’t politics. It is science, it’s about facts.”
Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers were battling a massive wildfire northeast of Madrid on Tuesday that has been raging since last week. Authorities say the blaze, which broke out on Thursday in Guadalajara province about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Spain’s capital, is one of the most difficult they have faced and is considered the most significant wildfire to affect the country this year. “It is the most complex of those that have been tackled in recent years in Spain,” Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano Garcia-Page said. Garcia-Page added that more than 600 firefighters and nearly 50 aircraft and helicopters had “practically stopped” the blaze from spreading toward the provincial capital of Soria, but that it was not yet under control. The blaze has forced some 1,200 people to evacuate from their homes across the region of Castilla-La Mancha, while at least 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of land have been burnt, officials said.