Canada and the US are discussing an interim trade deal, with forest products among the sectors under discussion. In related news: Trump readies wildfire retaliation on Canada for smoke; and Kim Haakstad’s top 3 actions for BC’s struggling industry. In other Business news: Interfor swings back to profits in Q2; Metsä reports an operating loss; German sawmillers face headwinds; US share of Canada’s lumber exports slipped; and lumber futures extend their losing streak. Meanwhile: Gorman’s CEO Ashlee Cribb will present at FEA’s Forest Products Forum; and WoodTALKS at the GBM announced its keynotes.
In Forestry/Wildfire news: Canada’s public service union says job cuts reduce forestry expertise; an investigation into Alberta fish habitat damage was halted due to resource constraints; BC entities debate gate access to the Walbran Valley; Mississauga First Nation received funding to advance wildfire stewardship; the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry in Hilo may be closing; Alaska smokejumpers made their first aerial jump in 67 years; and Washington State says the Spokane fire arsonist had planned the act for weeks. Meanwhile: CWC’s WOOD Design and Building magazine is out; and the latest news on SFI’s Project Learning Tree.
Finally, a University Maine researcher is turning wood fibre into a bio-based cooler insulation.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hundreds of wildfires are burning across North America, putting communities, buildings, and firefighters at risk. With blazes in Washington state, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Utah, and in Canada, especially in British Columbia, Ontario, and the Northwest Territories, there have been plenty of headlines about the devastation. Last month, smoke from Canadian boreal forest fires poured into the United States, triggering air quality alerts for more than 120 million Americans. …Four Republican lawmakers accused Canada of failing to do enough to prevent wildfire smoke from hitting the United States, claiming that “continued inaction” was “unacceptable.” President Donald Trump also expressed frustration. …Forest management experts say Trump is oversimplifying a much more complicated problem. The U.S. and Canada have forests that are different in structure, but both now face many of the same fire pressures, says Lori Daniels, a professor of forest and conservation sciences at the University of British Columbia. [A subscription to the National Post is required for full story access]
OTTAWA — For the past six months, Luke Elias, the president at Muskoka Cabinet Company Inc., says his workers have been working only two or three days a week. The Eastern Ontario company, which has been making custom wood cabinetry for nearly four decades, is one of the thousands of companies in the kitchen cabinet industry that have been crippled by cheap imports coming from primarily southeast Asian countries. Elias said his company, like many others, has been working at less than half of its capacity, and he has had to lay off 30 out of 70 workers. …On Friday, Minister of Finance François-Philippe Champagne announced a 25 per cent surtax on imports of certain wood cabinets and vanities, effective immediately, to remain in place for a maximum of 200 days. …Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the surtax is a very important first step in helping address dumping.
A Prince George city councillor is challenging billionaire Jim Pattison to personally hand out final paycheques to workers losing their jobs at Canfor’s Northwood Pulp Mill. Pattison owns the Jim Pattison Group, the majority shareholder in Canfor. …Canfor has closed multiple mills around B.C., impacting hundreds of workers. The latest is 300 people at the Northwood Pulp Mill. At a July news conference, Coun. Brian Skakun — himself a former Canfor employee — said he wanted to see Pattison … personally hand out cheques as the workers leave the job site for the last time. “If Jimmy Pattison really wants to live by his decision, then I would encourage him to come out to these mills when they’re shut down and hand out the last cheques to each employee personally and say, ‘I am sorry for what is going on,'” Skakun said, accusing Canfor of being more concerned about shareholders than communities.
With one of the last buyers of hemlock pulpwood gone, good forest management could become too costly to sustain — putting habitat, climate resilience and rural jobs all at risk. News about the end of pulping operations at Finch Paper has focused on how it is bad for logging contractors and the forest products industry. As organizations focused on the future of Vermont forests, we agree — those impacts are significant. …This is bad news for everyone who cares about sustaining Vermont’s forests. [While commodity products are] often a goal of forest management, so are: improving wildlife habitat, biodiversity, climate resilience, recreational trails, carbon storage, protecting against pests and diseases… managing fire danger and improving the overall health and diversity of forests. Our organizations may prioritize the benefits on this list differently, but we agree on one thing: Without buyers for wood … forest management become economically difficult, or impossible, to carry out. 
Wood is everywhere at Toronto’s Limberlost Place. From tall structural columns to ceilings, walls and stairs, nearly every surface in the airy, three-level central atrium is timber, complete with rustic knots and growth rings. It all feels welcoming and surprisingly intimate. “I’ve never seen anyone get so excited about structures in my entire career,” says architect Phil Silverstein, a partner at Moriyama Teshima Architects, the local firm that designed the new classroom hub for George Brown Polytechnic in collaboration with Vancouver’s Acton Ostry. “People walk through the halls of Limberlost touching the wood. They [even] want to hug a column! There’s something innate about it that excites people.” But all that wood isn’t just about feeling – or looking – good. Part of a wave of new mass timber development, Limberlost Place is a testing ground for a technological revolution that could fundamentally transform Canadian housing and infrastructure.
Retreat to the woods and waves of Vancouver Island this fall for the 29th Annual Woodlots BC Conference and AGM in Parksville from October 1-3. This year’s event will be held at the tranquil Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort, located on the traditional lands of the Qualicum and Snaw-Naw-As First Nations. Explore the theme “Woods & Waves: Navigating the Narrative” through coastal field tours followed by a full day of speakers and sessions. This is a fantastic opportunity to combine professional development with a relaxing resort experience. Enjoy the 22-acre forested oceanfront resort featuring 3 kms of sandy beach, the Grotto Spa, indoor pool and on-site restaurant. This year’s theme is Woods & Waves: Navigating the Narrative. Woodlots in BC face unique, shifting challenges—from intense weather events to changing regulations. This theme uses “navigation” as a metaphor, positioning open communication and collective wisdom as the ultimate compass for woodlot managers. Register by the Early Bird deadline on August 31, 2026, for a chance to win your Early Bird registration back. 
Prolonged drought conditions are forcing British Columbia’s fire tacticians to rethink how they battle blazes in the province’s dry and hot Interior. As huge, destructive blazes spread across the southern Interior, many are burning across land that has already experienced fire over the last decade. In years past, the BC Wildfire Service would expect previous burn scars to slow, or even stop, the progress of a new fire. But this fire season, a prolonged drought has upended that assumption. Firefighters’ experiences could have implications for what British Columbians can expect from fire seasons for years to come. …A burn scar “used to be something we could use as a control line,” Chapman said. Current conditions, though, make those scars untrustworthy. “The fire behaviour can be almost as extreme in some of those old burns, depending on their age and how severe the burn was.”
Two protesters from the Walbran Valley blockade were sentenced Tuesday, after pleading guilty to breaching an injunction order in November 2025. The order barred protesters from blocking access to the Tsawak-qin Forestry logging site. Twelve protesters were arrested in total. Kenni Apt was sentenced to 12 months’ probation, with 75 hours of community service or a fine of $2,250. They were arrested after attaching themselves to a large wooden cougar statue within the injunction area, intending to block logging activity. Apt says they feel good about their sentence, but they’re sad that they won’t be able to visit the valley any time soon. …Zoey Barak was sentenced to seven days’ jail time. She was arrested after being found in an elevated sling between two trees within the injunction area. The blockade in Walbran Valley was linked to the same organizers behind the Fairy Creek anti-logging blockade on southwest Vancouver Island, which saw thousands arrested in 2021. 
In the Okanagan, we have sadly become all too familiar with the smoke and devastation caused by wildfires. Most recently, several wildfires have impacted our region, most notably the Bradley Creek fire, which has threatened parts of the Okanagan Indian Band lands and resulted in the loss of more than 200 homes. It should also be noted that some residents reportedly evacuated before an official evacuation order was in effect, a reminder of how quickly conditions can change when wind and weather shift unexpectedly. …Earlier this year, I discussed many of these issues with retired forester Murray Wilson on my Finding Solutions podcast. Drawing on decades of experience, Mr. Wilson shared his perspective on forest management and how we can better understand and mitigate wildfire risk. …Forest management is undoubtedly important. However, it is also reasonable to expect that more progress can be made in reducing the number of human-caused fires.
As wildfires burn across Canada and smoke again reaches communities far from the fire line, a harder question is emerging behind the daily evacuation updates and air quality warnings: Is British Columbia doing enough to manage its forests before the next crisis? The question has taken on added political weight as criticism of Canadian wildfire smoke has surfaced south of the border and as politicians debate whether severe fire seasons are primarily a climate problem, a forest management problem or both. Murray Wilson says that framing misses the point if it becomes an excuse for inaction. Wilson, a former forester, discussed wildfire risk, smoke, forest management and the shrinking capacity of the forest sector in an interview with 
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In 2004, Dr. Geoff Scudder of UBC completed one of B.C.’s most important biodiversity analyses. By mapping species rarity and richness, he identified where the province’s most threatened species occur and where biodiversity is most concentrated. These biodiversity hotspots are the places where conservation matters most. These hotspots occur mostly in the South Okanagan, the Lower Mainland, and Southeastern Vancouver Island along with the Gulf Islands. Despite their global significance, these hotspots remain largely outside B.C.’s protected area network. As Canada advances its 30×30 plan to protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030, the gap between what is protected and what needs protection is poised to widen. Canada has committed to 10 new national parks, and B.C. has proposed three new conservation areas. Yet none of these proposals capture Scudder’s hotspots. Once again, B.C. is protecting more of what is already safe and less of what is truly at risk.
PORT RENFREW, British Columbia — The five-car caravan crept down a gravel logging road as the day’s last beams of golden light filtered through the trees. About 20 forest defenders were making a stand in southwest Vancouver Island, at a spot where a logging company was expected to cut 
Critical ecosystems throughout B.C. will be safer and better protected, thanks to provincial funding for a new partnership led by the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF). B.C. is providing $1 million to HCTF to identify and assess water-control infrastructure on conservation lands and other areas that support ecological values throughout the province, helping guide investments that improve habitat, reduce risks and support local communities. …As part of the work, a shared database will be created to identify infrastructure such as small dams, dikes and water-control structures. It will track infrastructure condition and safety risks, while taking into account ecological, cultural and community needs associated with each site. …The initiative is expected to provide, for the first time, a co-ordinated inventory and assessment of water-control structures allowing government and conservation partners to better understand infrastructure needs and prioritize future upgrades. 
Timberwolf Wilderness Society is asking for a judicial review in federal court after a permit was provided for a logging operation in Kananaskis Country in an area with threatened bull trout. Timberwolf launched legal action after 
Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests, has issued the following statement in response to the arrival of wildfire personnel from Mexico: Supporting our neighbours and communities, showing hospitality to our partners and taking care of each other. These are the values that make me proud to be a British Columbian. In our time of need, I am honoured to welcome more than 100 wildfire personnel from Mexico on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, with more than 200 arriving later in the week. They’ve travelled from their homes to help us protect ours amidst a challenging wildfire season. As British Columbians, let’s welcome them warmly as they prepare to work alongside our BC Wildfire Service crews. Wildfire response is built on teamwork. Whether support comes from within B.C., across Canada or around the world, every person who joins the effort strengthens our response capacity and helps ensure resources are available when and where they are needed most.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Canada is failing to properly manage its forests, and that the cost of wildfire smoke drifting south should be added to tariffs on Canadian goods, has prompted renewed questions about whether more could be done to prevent the massive blazes that have blanketed parts of North America with smoke. But wildfire experts say the answer is far more complicated. “The short answer is there’s nothing that Canada can do about these major wildfires that are causing wildfire smoke to travel thousands of kilometres,” said Anabela Bonada, managing director of climate science at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo. …“The No. 1 thing is all of us reducing our emissions, and that goes for the U.S. as well,” Bonada said. “But we are looking at smoky summers ahead, so we need to do everything possible to protect ourselves and people that live in our home.”
This fog-shrouded patch of coastal forest in the heart of Yurok Country was tended by the tribe for millennia. But in the Gold Rush era it was taken away and, later, used by the logging industry, reshaping the landscape. Now, as the land heals from the scars of a long-running lumber mill, it has been returned to its original stewards, who will operate it as a public gateway to Redwood National and State Parks about 50 miles south of the Oregon border. Save the Redwoods League in June conveyed the 125-acre property to the Yurok Tribe following a yearslong project to restore the degraded industrial site to a diverse riparian habitat. It opens to the public Saturday as ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway, which features interpretive exhibits and trails leading to old-growth redwood groves.
Global wildfires are intensifying, prompting “wildfire diplomacy” where nations share emergency resources like firefighters and aircraft. This cooperation, exemplified by US-Canada efforts and the EU mechanism, builds trust and facilitates immediate response. However, this assistance largely neglects crucial long-term recovery phases, including contamination testing, housing reconstruction, and public health. The article argues that effective wildfire diplomacy must extend beyond emergency aid to encompass prevention, shared resilience, and comprehensive post-fire recovery standards. This includes joint investment in forecasting, cross-border smoke protocols, and integrating Indigenous knowledge, ensuring communities can rebuild safely and sustainably.
VERNON — The devastation stretches for more than a kilometre along the northwest shore of British Columbia’s Okanagan Lake, house after house reduced to scorched and twisted metal and grey dust. The apocalyptic scenes — burned-out cars, still-smouldering ground and homes levelled to their foundations — stand in contrast to the postcard views previously enjoyed by this once-pretty waterfront community on the Okanagan Indian Band’s reserve. But the aftermath of the Bradley Creek wildfire, that was fanned by howling winds as it tore through the area on Saturday, extends far beyond the shoreline, and smoke still billows from behind the community, on a steep, forest-covered ridge. The depths of the destruction go deep into the reserve, where Chief Dan Wilson said on Tuesday that about 230 homes had been destroyed in one of the worst wildfire losses in recent Canadian history. Wilson said 30 homes of band members and 200 non-band homes had burned.
B.C. Hydro says it will have to replace hundreds of power poles due to wildfires raging in the southern part of the province, but that its major transmission lines have escaped major damage. “There is quite a long list of items that are going to be replaced,” B.C. Hydro spokesperson Bob Gammer told CBC’s Daybreak North. The Pear Lake wildfire, burning near Clinton, has torched more than 230 power poles and knocked out power to about 1,100 customers. In the Boston Bar area, the fires of the Brunswick fire complex have left about 100 customers without power and burned 34 transmission poles. Significant quantities of power line and transformers will also need to be replaced, Gammer said. However, the fires have not knocked out any of B.C. Hydro’s major 500 kV transformer systems, and all of its primary transmission corridors — which supply power to millions of British Columbia — remain in service, the Crown corporation told CBC News.
A man charged with starting one of the wildfires in Spokane, Washington, that have destroyed hundreds of buildings planned the crime for weeks and researched when the weather would be best for igniting it, police said. In an interview after his arrest, Aaron Farinacci said “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth,” Spokane County Detective Michael Drapeau wrote in a court filing Wednesday. Farinacci, 37, is charged with starting the Old Trails fire, one of three blazes in the Spokane area that have burned more than 850 buildings, destroying whole neighborhoods and streets. …Farinacci served about a decade in prison after killing his father in Mesa, Arizona, in 2010. He also shot himself. He was charged with murder but pleaded guilty in 2012 to manslaughter and aggravated assault. Farinacci’s lawyer repeatedly raised concerns about his mental health during the case.
BORDEAUX, France — Firefighters in southwestern France said Friday they were working on four active hotspots as they tried to put out fires that ripped through 100,000 acres of forest, villages and farmland over the past week. Lt. Col. Eric Pitault, the spokesman for firefighters in the Gironde region, said that while the situation had “stabilized,” there are still several zones that are difficult for responders to access. He said authorities were hoping to have full control by the weekend. Tens of thousands of people near Bordeaux who were evacuated due to fire risk were allowed to return to their homes on Thursday night, as the rest of Europe continued to tackle a historic heatwave. “It’s the first somewhat optimistic day,” said Sophie Brocas, prefect of Bordeaux’s Gironde region, as she allowed the 84,000 evacuees to return home. Some 60,000 had been allowed to return to their homes on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.