The BC government’s 2026 budget forecasts a record deficit amid tough times in forestry. In response: the United Steelworkers point to several positives, COFI says falling harvest levels can be reversed; and the Tyee noted the absence of forest policy reforms. In other Business news: Kruger’s Corner Brook mill is partially operating again; JD Irving secures support for New Brunswick paper mill; Louisiana Pacific reports Q4 loss; and Woodland Pulp reports a 2nd worker died from gas exposure. Meanwhile: US single-family housing starts rose in December after full-year 2025 drop.
In Forestry news: Alberta is adding five water bombers to its firefighting fleet; a BC First nation is suing the province over Interfor’s timber licence extension; Oregon counties push for predictable logging levels; Wyoming’s first woodland firefighting teams gain momentum; and Montana seeks to avoid several wilderness designations.
Finally, Bayer has agreed to pay $7.25 billion to settle Roundup weedkiller lawsuits.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
Trump’s move to revoke the 
We are gauging interest in a conference for students and young professionals across B.C. in the forestry industry. The goal of this conference is to create a more unified forestry sector throughout the province by bringing together students and young professionals to discuss current and future challenges in forestry, explore innovative solutions, and build relationships that can support us throughout our careers. This is a youth-led initiative and so having your opinions and participation is crucial to determine the topics and speakers for the conference. We have created a short survey (see link) to help determine the topics and timing of this conference. This is a chance for young professionals and students like yourself to build a more connected, informed, and forward-thinking forestry community and empower them to help shape the future of forestry in B.C. 
Prime Minister Mark Carney has chosen former Privy Council clerk Janice Charette to head Canada’s trade negotiations as it prepares for a review of the North American trade pact. Charette’s title is chief trade negotiator to the United States, according to a Monday news release from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). She’ll be a senior adviser to Carney and Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc. “Charette brings extraordinary leadership, expertise and a deep commitment to advancing Canada’s interests,” Carney said in the release. “She will advance Canadian interests and a strengthened trade and investment relationship that benefits workers and industries in both Canada and the United States.” The announcement comes as the federal government prepares for a scheduled review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) this year. It also comes a day after Mark Wiseman, a global investment banker and pension fund manager, took the reins as Canada’s next ambassador to Washington.
FINLAND — Metsä Group’s demo plant for a new lignin product has started up in Äänekoski, Finland. The plant uses lignin extracted from the bioproduct mill’s production process as its raw material and it has a nameplate capacity of two tons of a new type of lignin product per day. The plant was built in cooperation with the equipment supplier ANDRITZ. Dow, a leading materials science company, is a key partner. Metsä Group’s new lignin products are called Metsä LigO™. According to Ismo Nousiainen, CEO of Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, the company aims to use the wood raw material, including side streams of pulp production, as efficiently as possible to generate the greatest possible added value. …”The purpose of the new demo plant is to ensure the functionality of the lignin product’s production process, as well as the product’s characteristics and suitability for the market.”
International Pulp Week (IPW) is the premier annual gathering for the global market pulp sector, organized by the Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC). Set for May 10–12, 2026 at the Sutton Place Hotel in Vancouver, BC, the three-day conference brings together producers, customers, logistics providers, analysts and other key stakeholders from around the world to share market intelligence, expert insights and strategic dialogue on trends shaping the future of pulp markets. Through keynote presentations, expert panels and extensive networking opportunities, IPW offers decision-makers high-value analysis, opportunities for business development, and collaboration across the pulp supply chain. The event has become a must-attend forum for those involved in international pulp production, trade and investment, with participants from more than 40 countries expected to attend.
Modern Methods of Construction Education (MMC Edu) is a national platform that connects education and industry to advance construction training in Canada. It is a key outcome of the Mass Timber Training Network: Advancing Trades for a Sustainable Future (MTAT) project, which brings together a national network to advance wood as a low-carbon building material by addressing major barriers to mass timber adoption across the country. Led by the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in partnership with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) through the Green Construction Through Wood Program (GC Wood), the MTAT project focuses on education and training as a key vehicle for reducing barriers and preparing the next generation of the workforce. MMC Edu serves as a shared platform where network members, industry partners, and educators can exchange knowledge and access resources that support innovation, sustainability, and workforce readiness across Canada.
BHUBANESWAR: India should explore inclusion of wood-based construction and buildings into the national building code to achieve optimal outcomes for climate change and the economy, opined experts at the 14th National Workshop of Japan International Cooperation Agency Assisted Forestry Projects. The three-day workshop is organised by the Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project focuses on strengthening sustainable wood supply systems, promoting forest certification and expanding agroforestry to meet both domestic and global demands. Odisha Forestry Sector Development Society officials said while the National Building Code of India advocates bamboo for use in construction … international experts at the workshop opined that production and use of wood-based and other natural construction materials can also be explored to reduce dependence on carbon-intensive materials further and encourage sustainable forestry.
PRINCE GEORGE – [Local forester and forestry advocate Michelle Connolly says what’s being suggested in a recent report, titled “From Conflict to Care: BC’s Forest Future,” is off the mark.] “One of the core beliefs is that people are better at managing nature, than nature is, even though forests have been self-organizing and self-managing for millennia,” says Connolly. “The lack of self-awareness right up front in that report is troubling, because it means that they’re not aware of their own biases and belief systems that are guiding the things they’re putting in this report.” Kiel Giddens, Conservative MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie, says the report overlooks a lot of industry concerns. …Giddens says, while the report misses the mark overall, he agrees with Objective Number 2 around regional decision making. …But Connolly says where the report truly hits the mark is over what is seen as a lack of transparency in the decision-making processes.
North Cowichan wants something done about the growing amount of fibreglass pollution in the Cowichan estuary. Council passed a motion at its meeting on Feb. 4 that the municipality write a letter to senior levels of government and the appropriate regulatory authorities asking that they raise awareness of the issue and take action to deal with the problem. Coun. Christopher Justice, who made the motion, said that the issue of derelict and deteriorating fibreglass boats is something that is becoming more acute in local harbours and waterways. …North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas said the municipality must signal its support for the continued operation of the Western Forest Products sawmill, which operates in that area. He said he spoke to officials at the mill before the council meeting. “They advised me that they are not aware of any fibreglass contamination coming from the mill site,” Douglas said.
A Williams Lake man was of three people to be recognized by Forest Professional British Columbia (FPBC). At the 78th annual forestry conference on February 5, John Walker was honored as a Distinguished Forest Professional. …“John is a respected collaborator and mentor across BC, particularly in the Cariboo region, where he builds strong connections between forestry practices, First Nations stewardship and research,” Forest Professionals BC Board Chair Dave Clarke said. “I’ve been in Williams Lake since 1996 starting in consulting making decisions on a block by block level. Now working with Williams Lake First Nation it’s more landscape level working towards different policies and then also being operational. A lot of the Fire Mitigation work around town we’ve been a part of and helped push for,” Walker said. He has also collaborated with the BC Wildfire Service to develop thinning methods for prescribed burns, reducing wildfire risk, restoring culturally important plants, and enhancing operational efficiency.
Whistler is fortunate to be surrounded by temperate rainforest, which is essential to the resort’s appeal as a tourist destination. Forests have also proven to be highly beneficial for human mental and physical health. …Old-growth forests, defined as undisturbed for at least 250 years, are vital to addressing the interconnected biodiversity and climate crises. …On the climate side, old-growth forests store vast amounts of carbon in living trees, dead wood, and undisturbed soil. …Since the early 1900s, Whistler’s forests have been logged extensively, and low-elevation old-growth forests that once covered the valley are now found only in limited areas. Commercial logging and thinning have continued by the Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF) since 2009, though old-growth logging was deferred in 2021. …Given that old-growth forests thrive on stability, attempting to manage them doesn’t make ecological sense, especially since they are already among the most climate-resilient ecosystems on Earth.
Montreal — An activist group calling itself Les Robins des ruelles has followed its recent Robin Hood-style grocery store heists in Montreal with a claim to have sabotaged planned logging operations in a forest in the Mauricie region. …Translated as the Robins of the Alleyways, the group’s name is intended to evoke the legendary English folk hero who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. The group says on social media that although it delivered the booty to community kitchens and low-cost housing complexes, the grocery heists were political statements against the current economic order. …The latest such move by the group seems to be an action intended to discourage logging in some old-growth forests of Mékinac, in the Mauricie region. In a statement … the Robins say they have “armed the forest by driving steel bars through the trees on the site.” …The president of Forex Langlois Inc., said he is taking the sabotage claims “very seriously” 
WASHINGTON — Billions of American chestnut trees once covered the eastern United States. …But by the 1950s, this venerable tree went functionally extinct, culled by a deadly airborne fungal blight and lethal root rot. A new study provides hope for its revitalization, finding that the genetic testing of individual trees can reveal which are most likely to resist disease and grow tall, thus shortening how long it takes to plant the next, more robust, generation. …The American chestnut … had little defense against foreign-introduced blight and root rot. Another type of chestnut, however, had evolved alongside those diseases. The Chinese chestnut had been introduced for its valuable nuts and it could resist diseases. …So, the authors want a tree with the characteristics of the American chestnut and the disease resistance of the Chinese chestnut. …Breed for disease resistance alone and the trees get shorter, less competitive.
Oregon entities funded by timber sales want to ensure revenue. For the third consecutive legislative session, a group of Oregon county governments hope to pass a bill requiring more predictable timber harvests in state forests. Similarly to past proposals, House Bill 4105 would require the Oregon Department of Forestry to annually log enough trees to comply with a 10-year “sustainable harvest level” adopted by the agency. If fewer trees are logged than required by the sustainable harvest level, that amount of timber would be added to the next 10-year plan, unless the reduction was due to wildfire, disease or storm damage. …Environmental groups are opposed to HB 4105, similarly to previous versions of the proposal that failed to pass in 2025 and 2024, because they say the ODF already does a good job of estimating logging levels.
Senator Steve Daines received federal agency backing on Thursday for his bill to downgrade three remote Montana landscapes from potential wilderness to regular public forest. Officials from the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management told the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining they supported Daines’ S.3527, the Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act. Chris French, associate chief for the Forest Service, told the subcommittee the Trump administration didn’t support creating new wildernesses or wilderness study designations. BLM state official John Raby added that his agency was intent on fulfilling the president’s agenda supporting “fire management, recreation, access … and domestic mineral production to the maximum practical extent.” Wilderness status is the highest level of protection for public lands. …Outside the hearing, several environmental organizations criticized Daines’ bill. Barb Cestero, The Wilderness Society’s Montana state director, called it “deeply flawed.”
CHEYENNE—A $5.1 million investment that would create the first two ground-based professional wildland firefighting teams in Wyoming history is gaining momentum in the statehouse. On Monday, the Wyoming House of Representatives passed House Bill 36, “Forestry division wildland fire modules.” The bill included an earmark of $2.7 million for one team of firefighters going into the day, but Buffalo Republican Rep. Marilyn Connolly brought an amendment that doubled the funding, providing enough to finance two crews — one each in the eastern and western sides of the state. The former Johnson County emergency management coordinator spoke about her experience being on the ground while wildfires were spreading and resources were lacking. “We need some strike teams, we need engines — and they’re not available,” Connolly said on the House floor. 
Strategically planting trees along the northern edge of Canada’s boreal forest could remove multiple gigatonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the end of the century, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Waterloo. The research, published in 
When the time is right, a good love song can make all the difference. A study from the University of California, Davis, found that temperature affects the sound and quality of male frogs’ mating calls. In the colder, early weeks of spring, their songs start off sluggishly. In warmer weather, their songs pick up the pace, and female frogs take note. Better songs make the males more attractive mates and suggest to females that conditions are suitable for reproduction. …The results carry implications for conservation amid climate change. …Understanding when frogs breed, how that may shift as the climate warms, and what is driving those shifts is critical to their conservation. …females do not necessarily come to the pond just because the males are calling. The time has to be right for her eggs to survive. That clue lies in the quality of the male’s song, which is more attractive once it’s warmer. 
Warm, dry and windy weather in Oklahoma has fueled multiple wildfires and prompted authorities to urge nearly one-third of the residents of the small city of Woodward to flee. Matt Lehenbauer, director of emergency management for Woodward and its nearly 12,000 inhabitants, said the evacuation recommendation covers roughly 4,000 people. It is voluntary, he said, because Oklahoma prohibits mandatory evacuations. The wildfire in Woodward, about 140 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, is approaching a “worst-case scenario,” Lehenbauer said, but it hasn’t moved into the most populated area of the city. A blaze in Beaver County at the base of the Oklahoma Panhandle, about 217 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, has consumed an estimated 15,000 acres alone, Oklahoma Forestry Services said.