The BC NDP is defending proposed changes to forest tenure compensation amid revelations of its plan to transfer Crown lands to First Nations. In related news: David Elstone gives the NDP a “D” on its 2024 forestry promises; reduced US softwood lumber duties offer little relief for BC producers; and the US released its final antidumping determinations. Meanwhile: Canada invests in Ontario wood-fibre insulation facility; International Paper wants to sell its packaging business; US building material inflation surges, Portland leads on building material reuse; and AFPA announces Jason Krips’ departure.
In Health & Safety news: a Safety Board report on the 2022 BC logging camp floatplane accident; BC Howe Sound pulp workers are fighting for compensation; former Dryden mill workers are undergoing health assessments in Ontario; Washington cites Port Townsend Paper for wastewater violations; and a Maine water utility sued Huhtamaki and Sappi over PFAS contamination. In Forestry news: Canada recaps its 2026 wildfire season; Tolko transfers timber rights to Westbank First Nation; an FPI update on autonomous logging truck trials; and Scotland is urged to expand conifer planting.
Finally, Minnesota highlights its managed forests during National Forest Products Week.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
The community of Smithers has been relatively untouched by wildfires… However, drought has significantly impacted the area and the threat of wildfire has become ever present… Our local community wildfire suppression group, the Woodmere Emergency Services Society … visited a recent BC Timber Sales block that was harvested and sold to Hampton Lumber in Burns Lake. …In the spring of 2026 we had a field visit with Hampton to look at the slash/fuel left behind on this block. While Hampton had no legal obligation to do any further clean up, we were impressed that the company recognized the issue and agreed to clean up the block. …at the end of September 2026, we saw that Hampton has gone above and beyond our expectations and has done an exceptional job at their own expense. …Companies like Hampton are what give forestry a good name in British Columbia.
The Lac Simon Anishnabe Nation has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing its failure to protect the caribou from the impacts of mining and forestry threatens their members’ constitutional rights. Since 2020, the last seven caribou of the Val-d’Or herd have lived in a 14-hectare forested enclosure in northwest Quebec. …The Val-d’Or caribou herd faces imminent extinction in Quebec as its habitat is fragmented by industry, with only one-third of its habitat intact. Though the caribou are listed under the federal Species At Risk Act, the nation says the government has focused on consultation rather than action, leaving the caribou vulnerable to the threat of ongoing environmental degradation. The Anishnabe Nation of Lac Simon argues its constitutional right to hunt relies on the continued existence of the caribou herd. If successful, the case could set a precedent at a crucial time when endangered species face escalating risks from major projects across Canada.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it has acquired 814 square kilometres of boreal forest and peatlands south of Kapuskasing, previously owned by a company selling carbon offset credits. The non-profit says where the landscape is healthy and free of vulnerable species, some day-use recreational activities such as hiking and paddling may continue, in line with provincial laws. The federal government says it’s contributing $13 million to the project as part of a total $64-million investment from both public and private donors. The announcement comes ahead of next week’s annual United Nations biodiversity summit, where the talks are expected to focus on global progress toward conservation goals. Ottawa unveiled a new $3.8-billion nature protection strategy earlier this year intended to put Canada’s goals within reach, months after the federal environmental watchdog found it to be more than one-million square kilometres short of its 2025 goal to protect 25 per cent of its lands and inland water.
FREDERICTON, NB — …The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced an investment of up to $50 million for the establishment of the New Brunswick Strategic Innovation Centre in Digital Forestry, an initiative led by the Northern Hardwoods Research Institute in collaboration with ResearchNB. …The new Centre will establish a pilot for digitalizing the forest sector, helping the industry and its stakeholders better identify, track and use fibre resources across the supply chain. By increasing certainty of fibre supply and matching that fibre supply to facilities’ specific manufacturing requirements, the initiative would modernize the forest products sector in New Brunswick and create a model for other regions — attracting investment, reducing costs and improving operational efficiency for businesses. The digital infrastructure will place New Brunswick at the forefront of innovation and support the long-term resilience of Canada’s forest industry. Minister Hodgson confirmed that Budget 2026 will contain further details related to the federal forest sector strategy. 
Alterations made to Australia’s forests during British colonial rule have amplified the effects of climate change and rendered the country more prone to bushfires, a new study suggests. The research provides evidence for the value of cultural burning by Indigenous communities, scientists from the University of Melbourne say. “Climate records show seasons of comparably dangerous fire weather such as those seen during Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday reoccurred in the region repeatedly before colonisation, yet the open landscape maintained by cultural burning protected the land from catastrophic fire,” Michael-Shawn Fletcher, an author of the new study, said. “When colonisation ended that care, the forest expanded and thickened across the region, loading with fuel.” The study, published in the journal Nature, reconstructed the last 1,000 years of vegetation, fire and erosion in the Croajingolong National Park, East Gippsland, one of the most fire-prone forests in the southeast.
ARC Bio has successfully demonstrated a pathway to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Canadian forest residues through refinery co-processing. The project connects Canada’s forest sector with existing refining infrastructure, demonstrating how residual woody biomass can be converted into a refinery-ready biocrude and processed alongside conventional feedstocks to produce transportation fuels, including SAF. “Canada has the biomass feedstock, forest sector expertise, industrial capability and refining infrastructure to build an important new clean fuel value chain,” said Serge Mercier, President of Bioénergie AECN. “This work creates a direct connection between Canada’s forest economy and the growing need for low-carbon fuels in aviation and marine transportation markets.” The demonstration began with fast pyrolysis oil produced from Canadian forest residues by Bioénergie AECN in Port-Cartier, Quebec. The bio-oil was upgraded into barrel-scale quantities of Alder Renewable Crude (ARC), a transportable biocrude designed for integration with existing refinery infrastructure.
