Canfor announced that its 77%-owned subsidiary, Vida AB, will permanently close two sawmills in southern Sweden. In other major news: Maine’s lumber community rallies after deadly explosion and fire at Robins Lumber in Searsmont—one firefighter died and eight people were hospitalized, including Alden, Jim and Lily Robbins. In other news: International Paper expands its corrugated packaging business; the US House introduced updated housing legislation; US builder sentiment increased 3 points to 37; and lumber futures hit 5-week high.
In Forestry news: BC allowed logging in caribou habitat; a US court halts logging in Southern Oregon; and the USDA appoints Colton Buckley as Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Meanwhile: cooler, damper weather provides relief for Ontario and Minnesota firefighters; New Brunswick trains to fight fire in inter-urban areas; overwinter-fires break out in Northwest Territories; the US Northwest is at higher fire risk than thought; and a fatal plane crash caused an out-of-control fire in New Mexico.
Finally, despite trade tensions, US and Canada wildfire services continue to support each other.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
The May newsletter has these headlines and more:
Canada’s forests are managed responsibly, as expected by Canadians coast to coast to coast. Our forests support jobs and communities, are home to wildlife and biodiversity and must remain healthy for future generations. Forest management certification plays an important role in meeting those expectations by ensuring harvesting is carried out in a manner that respects and maintains the full range of environmental, social, and economic values across forest landscapes, while providing independent verification that forestry practices meet high standards. Forest management certification is a voluntary, third-party system …The three independent certification programs used in Canada – the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) Canada and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) – are applied voluntarily by different companies and groups, and information is often scattered across multiple sources. To make it more transparent and accessible, FPAC has brought this information together in one place through its 
Sooke residents are being urged to prepare for an elevated wildfire season as dry conditions, low snowpack and an early campfire ban raise concerns across Vancouver Island. A campfire ban was implemented May 7 across the Coastal Fire Centre region, prohibiting all open burning and campfires until Oct. 31 or conditions improve. Officials say human-caused fires remain the leading cause of wildfires in British Columbia. At the same time, forestry company Mosaic Forest Management says it is expanding wildfire detection and mitigation efforts across its Vancouver Island land base, including areas around Sooke. According to the company, Vancouver Island entered the 2026 wildfire season under “precarious conditions,” with snowpack levels at 44 per cent of normal and forecasts calling for warmer and drier weather through June. Mosaic also noted that there is a 62 per cent chance of a strong El Niño developing later this summer, increasing the likelihood of prolonged heat and drought.
Two cutblocks proposed for Revelstoke’s Mount MacPherson are prompting Wildsight Revelstoke to engage B.C.’s lumber licensee about minimizing logging in that forest. Following a commenting period last year, BC Timber Sales (BCTS) is putting the two cutblocks, No. 52065 and No. 52066, up for sale… Combined, they cover 19.4 hectares of old- and second-growth forest. BCTS is currently welcoming applications for timber sales licences to harvest forest in these lots, as well as applications for road permits… Wildsight Revelstoke will meet a local BCTS representative this month to discuss the two proposed cutblocks, part of a larger conversation about several logging operations pitched by industry for north of town. …Ahead of its meeting with BCTS, Wildsight has been visiting Cutblocks 52065 and 52066 to appraise the towering cedar-hemlock trees and moisture-rich riparian habitats there. Black Press Media visited one of them with Wildsight Revelstoke board members Arnoul Mateo and Fabien Stocco.
While Ontario has seen a much slower start to the wildfire season compared to last year, officials are warning people heading into the May long weekend that conditions can quickly change. There have been 22 wildfires confirmed in the province since the season began April 1, compared to 68 fires this time last year, said Alison Bezubiak, a fire information officer with Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services in the northwest region. “The 10-year average for this date is 56, so we are below last year and the 10-year average in terms of total number of fires confirmed,” she told CBC News Thursday morning. One small fire, measuring 0.1 hectares, is being held in the Kenora district near Grassy Narrows First Nation as of Thursday. However, forest fire danger ratings range throughout the region, with the Fort Frances area seeing extreme hazard levels, according to the province’s interactive forest fire map.
…The mild temperatures through the winter and now into spring have resulted in the invasive emerald ash borer maturing faster and emerging weeks earlier than usual, the Oregon Department of Forestry says. Wyatt Williams, an invasive species specialist with the department, confirmed he found one in early May in King City in southeast Washington County, a news release states. …So far there’s no cure for a tree infested with the bugs – they’re a death sentence, the Extension Service says. It can take up to six years for an infested tree to die. …Ash borers normally start emerging from inside tree trunks in early June and into July, Oregon forestry officials say. But that’s changing along with the climate. This past winter was tied with 1934 as the warmest on record in western Oregon, followed by record-breaking or near record-breaking high temperatures this spring, the state said in a statement.
More than 400 mostly small communities throughout the Northwest, including Cave Junction, Glendale and La Pine in southern and central Oregon, are at greater risk of suffering from wildfires and their impacts than previously thought when socioeconomic conditions are factored into risk assessments, new research finds. Researchers from Oregon State University and The Nature Conservancy, with funding from the U.S. Forest Service, conducted a review of wildfire risks in more than 1,000 communities in the region, and applied a social vulnerability index to also account for factors such as household demographics, neighborhood structural density, housing types and local transportation. Nearly half the communities, 459, were shown to be at greater wildfire risk than previously thought. For 541 communities, risk levels declined when socioeconomic factors were considered, indicating public dollars might be better served assisting low-income communities with wildfire prevention than more affluent ones, the researchers suggested.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources released its annual Forest Health Highlights report on Monday following a 2025 survey season defined by a period of unprecedented structural and administrative challenges. The joint aerial detection survey (ADS) flown by DNR and USDA Forest Service (USFS) staff covered 16.5 million acres of forested land across Washington, accounting for roughly 75% of the 22 million forested acres in the state and the first time since 2021 that a full survey was not completed. …The 2025 ADS recorded some level of tree mortality, defoliation, crown damage, or foliar disease on approximately 391,000 acres – a decrease of more than 150,000 acres from 2024, but certain to be an undercount given limitations of the 2025 survey.
A new direction in the Tongass management plan gathered more than 300 comments from Southeast Alaskans, who asked the U.S. Forest Service to manage timber and mining, along with recreation, in the forest they call home. The Coeur Alaska Kensington Mine said the revised plan should recognize the Tongass National Forest as a mining district, not solely as a timber or conservation reserve. “The revised Forest Plan should affirm that responsible mineral exploration and development are fully compatible with ecological stewardship, subsistence values, and multiple use when properly planned and regulated,” wrote Steve Ball, general manager of the mine. He also wrote Forest Service’s Roadless Area Conservation Rule prohibitions should not be applied to mining operations. Others criticized the Trump administration and made a plea to protect old-growth forests and the wildlife that live there. Some criticized the Forest Service itself for a rushed process.
Brazil’s Atlantic forest, the country’s most threatened biome, last year recorded its lowest level of deforestation since monitoring began 40 years ago, a new report shows. The forest is Brazil’s most populous biome, and home to 80% of the population and major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In 2025 it recorded 8,658 hectares of deforestation, marking the first time it has fallen below 10,000 hectares since 1985. Environmentalists have welcomed the results, which they say could even lead to “zero deforestation” in the Atlantic forest within just a few years, but warned of potential risks that could reverse the downward trend of recent years. One is the recent approval of the so-called “devastation bill” in Brazil’s congress that drastically weakens environmental law. The other is the prospect of a far-right government, opposed to environmental protection policies, returning to power in the October presidential election…
MONTRÉAL – With global warming, rainfall is increasingly falling in short, intense, concentrated bursts separated by longer dry periods, and these changes could have a potentially devastating effect on the planet. These are the conclusions of a new study co‑authored by Corey Lesk, at the Université du Québec à Montréal, and Justin S. Mankin, at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. … They observed that regardless of the total amount of water received annually, this new rainfall regime alters how precipitation is absorbed by the soil and promotes greater aridity across the Earth’s surface. “Drought is often measured by what is lacking–the total amount of rainfall–but how precipitation falls is just as important,” explains Professor Corey Lesk. “This new type of rainfall regime leads to increased evaporation at the land surface, limiting the soil’s ability to retain moisture, and thus reducing the amount of water available on land for human populations and ecosystems.”
Three years ago, two big new wood-pellet manufacturing plants were proposed along the Washington coast — the first of their kind in the Pacific Northwest. The British utility Drax planned a facility in Longview next to the Columbia River. Another company, Pacific Northwest Renewable Energy Project (PNWRE), proposed a similar plant in Hoquiam, Grays Harbor County. These plans are now unraveling. Last year, Drax suspended work on its Longview plant, citing weak demand for wood pellets it planned to export to overseas power plants. The year before, Enviva, Drax’s biggest competitor declared bankruptcy… What we’re learning is the wood pellet industry can’t compete without extensive subsidies. …These adverse economic headwinds should serve as a warning sign… Most likely, the project will fail economically, saddling Grays Harbor with a costly cleanup project instead of providing the promise of new jobs or local revenue. It would be better to cut our losses now — before this doomed project is built. [A Seattle Times subscription is required for full access]
The Occupational Health and Safety Regulation provides that, except as otherwise determined by WorkSafeBC, an employer must ensure no worker is exposed to a substance exceeding the Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) prescribed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Twice a year, the ACGIH publishes a list of substances for which they have set new or revised TLVs. When WorkSafeBC adopts the new or revised ACGIH TLVs as regulatory exposure limits for chemical substances, these exposure limits are referred to as B.C. Exposure Limits (ELs). An EL is the maximum allowed airborne concentration for a chemical substance for which it is believed that nearly all workers may be exposed over a working lifetime and experience no adverse health effects. ELs may be set out as an 8-hour time-weighted average concentration, a 15-minute short-term exposure limit, or a ceiling limit.
Residents and long-weekend travellers are encouraged to plan, be prepared and stay safe this Victoria Day long weekend as fire prohibitions take effect in parts of B.C. Most new wildfires at this time of year are preventable. People are asked to take precautions with any fire use, stay up to date on current wildfire activity, check for road closures, evacuation alerts and orders, and pay attention to weather conditions. Know the campfire restrictions wherever you are: Category 2 and 3 open fire prohibitions are in place throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre, Coastal Fire Centre, Kamloops Fire Centre and parts of the Prince George Fire Centre and Northwest Fire Centre. Effective Friday, May 15, 2026, noon, the Category 1 campfire prohibition will be rescinded throughout the Coastal Fire Centre. 
The government says it is fighting three fires in the Northwest Territories, and it says humans caused two of the fires. It says one human-caused wildfire in the South Slave region is under control. It says the fire measuring about 0.0001 square kilometres, or roughly the size of a large house, began on Monday. The Environment and Climate Change website describes the blaze as a “camp fire escaped.” The government says it is also fighting an out-of-control overwintering fire, scorching about 0.05 square kilometres in the South Slave region that began on May 9. An overwinter fire is one that remains dormant or undetected for a considerable amount of time after it starts. The government says the overwinter fire was found using infrared scanning along the perimeter of the Fort Providence wildfire last year. It says firefighters will attack hotspots found by scanning and get rid of the “remaining heat” using heavy equipment.
Cooler temperatures and recent rainfall are helping wildfire crews contain fires across northwestern Ontario after a stretch of hot, windy conditions sparked multiple new blazes late last week. As of late Monday afternoon, there were five active fires in the northwest region, according to Ontario’s fire map. One fire near Dryden is not under control, at about 150 hectares. Five fires are being held, and three are under control. “Recent wet weather is really helping to moderate conditions following multiple new fire starts that happened late last week in the northwest region amid some high winds and some warm temperatures,” said fire information officer Chris Marchand. Marchand said overnight rainfall has already helped crews make progress, particularly in the Fort Frances fire management area.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A fast-growing wildfire sparked by the fatal crash of a small medical plane outside Ruidoso, New Mexico, has triggered evacuations for a rural area north of the Capitan Mountains and closures in the Lincoln National Forest, officials said Monday. The plane was en route from Roswell Air Center to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport when it crashed before dawn Thursday, killing the four people aboard. They were identified as pilots Keelan Clark and Ali Kawsara with the company Generation Jets and flight nurses Jamie Novick and Sarah Clark with Trans Aero MedEvac. …The wildfire grew rapidly over the weekend amid dry and windy conditions, nearly doubling in size between Sunday and Monday morning to more than 19 square miles (50 square kilometers). It was burning out of control in a sparsely populated area despite the efforts of more than 600 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and several interagency Hotshot crews.
