Canada is open to considering limits on softwood lumber exports to the US to ease trade friction, says BC Premier David Eby. In other Business news: Georgia-Pacific is upgrading its Englehart, Ontario OSB mill; Ontario fines AV Terrace Bay pulp mill for air emissions breach; and more on Northern Pulp’s decision to sell its Nova Scotia mill assets. Meanwhile: US inflation picks up as tariffs take hold; lumber futures rise past $650; and Canadian housing starts surprise with June jump.
In Forestry/Wildfire news: experts warn of another fish die-off in BC’s Cowichan River; a campfire ban is announced for coastal BC; Oregon invokes Conflagration Act to help with wildfires; and Trump’s bill may worsen US wildfire risks. Meanwhile: New Brunswick polluters fall short of emissions goals; Kaitlin Lovell will lead Oregon’s state lands agency; a New York collage invests in Northern Forest resilience; and Russia’s timber sector struggles under sanctions.
Finally, the industry-leading 2025 Global Buyers Mission is coming—and booth space is filling up fast!
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
NAPLES, Idaho — A fast-moving fire broke out Sunday, scorching 20 acres and causing millions of dollars in damage to two family-run logging businesses, according to one of the families affected. The Clover Fire was 75% contained by 2 p.m. Monday, roughly 24 hours after it began, according to Lizz Bloxsom, an incident command trainee with the Idaho Department of Lands. Full containment is expected by 8 p.m. this evening, ahead of a storm forecast to bring strong winds overnight. …Most of the damage occurred on the neighboring properties of the Sandelin family and the Tweet family. The Sandelins run the small logging business, UTR Land Management, and the Tweets run a family-owned business, SGA Cabin & Timber. A member of the Sandelin family, who requested to remain unnamed, said damage to the lumberyard — including a razed sawmill and barn, over 300 truckloads of lumber, and industrial machinery — will cost their family millions of dollars.
Timber and forestry investment is gaining ground in Europe, as private equity increasingly shifts towards climate-aligned strategies. A recent EY report highlights growing momentum behind timber and forestry funds, previously seen as niche, now positioned as core components of sustainability-focused portfolios. Despite global private equity fundraising falling to $680 billion in 2024, the lowest since 2015, investors are favouring fewer, larger deals. Europe is leading in sustainable asset allocation, with over half of all new fund launches in Article 8 and 9 categories under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, according to Morningstar. Timber and forestry funds attracted $8.4 billion in 2024, slightly down from 2023 but above the five-year average. These funds often deliver double-digit internal rates of return, with top-performing vintages exceeding 16 percent.
Hundreds of wildfires are burning across the Western states, Alaska and Canada as fire season perks up amid a sprawling heat wave and widespread dry conditions. …Fires are being fueled by widespread high temperatures and dry conditions. …The preparedness level is at 4 out of 5 for the U.S., and 5 out of 5 in Canada. Intense fire behavior was reported in 10 western US states over recent days in regions afflicted by heat and drought. …Alaska has seen major wildfire activity over the past week, with more than 300,000 of the 750,000 acres burned this year going up in flames, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection. …After a bit of a lull in firestorms in late June to early July, Canadian wildfires returned in a big way. More than 350 fires are burning out of control across the western two-thirds of the nation. Among the most concerning fires flaring, many are in Manitoba. [A Washington Post subscription is required for full access to this story]
Five students from across the country are bringing their unique voices to the forests this summer. Now in its twelfth year, Forest Products Association of Canada’s (FPAC) 2025 Green Dream Internship Program offers students an opportunity to explore the sector from the inside out, share their experiences, and receive a $1,000 scholarship to support their studies. Over six weeks, interns will document their time in the field through creative storytelling on social media and short videos capturing everyday moments in forest operations…. “The Green Dream Internship is a window into the next generation of talent in our sector”, said FPAC President and CEO, Derek Nighbor. 
2025 Green Dream Interns include: Marina Penner, Mercer International, Peace River, AB; Cynthia Laflamme, Domtar, Dolbeau-Mistassini, QC; Andy Chen, West Fraser, Slave Lake, AB; Elizabeth Phillips, Tolko Industries, Meadow Lake, SK; and Logan Englot, Weyerhaeuser, Hudson Bay, SK
The B.C. government, Fort Nelson First Nation and the B.C. Energy Regulator (BCER) are working collaboratively to implement new protection measures to support boreal caribou recovery in northeastern B.C. “Helping caribou populations recover is a complex challenge requiring multiple approaches to stabilize and reverse the decline of herds in B.C.,” said Randene Neill, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. “The Boreal Caribou Protection and Recovery Plan and the implementation of the new measures are crucial for caribou-recovery efforts in these four northeast ranges. The Fort Nelson First Nation community continues to be an integral partner in this important work.” …The Boreal Caribou Protection and Recovery Plan was co-developed by the B.C. government and Fort Nelson First Nation, with contributions from the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality. The plan is designed to meet federal and provincial targets for species-at-risk recovery, while supporting opportunities to strengthen the natural-resource economy in the region.
The Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry, at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver campus is recruiting an outstanding researcher in Natural Resources Governance. The successful candidate is expected to be eligible for a full-time appointment at UBC at the rank of Professor, or the rank of Associate Professor… The successful appointee will be nominated for a Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC). …The appointment presents a unique opportunity for leading research focused on developing, implementing, and maintaining a research program in natural resources governance capable of advancing multiple sustainable development priorities. …As a faculty member and CERC holder, the successful candidate will be expected to lead a strong, externally–funded research program, supervise postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, teach undergraduate and graduate courses, collaborate with other faculty members, and actively participate in service to the Department, University, and academic/scientific community.
Flow at the Cowichan River will be reduced again with the lake at 48 per cent full. Brian Houle, environmental manager at Domtar’s Crofton pulp mill, says a meeting with regulators of the watershed on July 7 led to an agreement to reduce flow from seven cubic metres per second (cms) to 5.5. “Given the summer 2025 drought conditions in Cowichan Lake, careful watershed management decisions need to be made,” reads a news release from Houle. “Today’s water levels are not dissimilar to 2023, when several factors resulted in a fish kill event in the upper Cowichan River and pumping of lake to river was needed for extended period of 36 days in the fall.” In May, the flow was reduced to seven cms and Houle said the plan was to hold that rate through July and August. In 2023, the river flow was reduced to 4.5 cms in May. Houle says keeping it at seven this year was intended to reduce impacts on fish.
Members of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee differed along party lines at a Thursday hearing about how the U.S. Forest Service should partner with states and how the federal wildfire response should be organized. Senators of both parties emphasized the importance of working with state forest managers. But while Republicans praised the efforts of Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz … to reach out to state governments, Democrats noted that President Trump’s 
New federal laws could “lock up” timber land for decades at a time, raising concerns big companies could elbow out smaller competitors and that timber revenue for counties could be delayed for years. President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and spending bill, which he signed into law earlier this month, increases the length of federal logging contracts to a minimum of 20 years. The contracts, which determine how long a logging company has to harvest on the land under contract, have typically averaged three to four years, and the longest contracts extended up to 10 years. The concern raised by a coalition of timber companies and local governments is that companies could sign long-term contracts, then wait years to harvest trees. “If the timber volume is tied up in these 20 year contracts,” Doug Robertson, executive director of the Association of O&C counties, said, “that volume then is no longer available to generate revenue for the counties and the state.”
The Trump administration announced plans to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, changing the political landscape in the Tongass National Forest for the third time in five years. …The U.S. Forest Service owns approximately 78% of the available land, meaning timber operators are dependent on the federal agency for a majority of their supply. Kirk Dahlstrom, co-owner of Viking Lumber Company in Klawock, said the agency is nine years behind on timber supply for the entire Southeast Alaska industry. He said his business will not survive if land management remains under Forest Service control. …Viking is the last remaining sawmill in the world that can produce the high-quality Sitka spruce needed for soundboards for grand pianos… Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit on March 6 against the U.S. Department of Agriculture on behalf of Alaska Forest Association. Viking Lumber Company and Alcan Timber of Ketchikan joined.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced last month that the administration was taking steps to rescind a decades-old policy to restrict road building and timber harvests on 58.5 million acres of national forest lands… U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., called it “another huge win for Montana and forest management.” …The impetus for the Roadless Rule tracks back to 1998, when former U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck saw the agency’s vast and poorly maintained road system as a major environmental and fiscal problem… “The Roadless Rule was issued to make government more efficient by not building roads in sensitive areas when we already have far more roads than we can afford to maintain,” Keith Hammer, executive director of the Swan View Coalition said. “Rescinding the rule will result in government waste and environmental harm, all at taxpayer expense.” 
BRUSSELS – Wildfires have scorched hotspots in several Mediterranean countries this month, with blazes forcing thousands of people into lockdown in Catalonia in Spain, and encroaching on France’s second-biggest city of Marseille. …European wildfires have burnt 227,000 hectares of land since the beginning of the year – more than double the average for this time of year over the past two decades, according to the EU’s European Forest Fire Information System. …It’s not yet clear if 2025 will be a record year, as that will depend on how the fire season evolves in the coming months. The number of fires in Europe has also surged this year so far, with 1,118 blazes detected as of July 8, versus 716 in the same period last year, EFFIS said. …Scientists say the Mediterranean region’s hotter, drier summers put it at high risk of wildfires. …Climate change exacerbates this risk , by creating hotter and drier background conditions.
The current glorious weather provides an opportunity for all to recreate and enjoy. However, such weather patterns give rise to extreme fire risk. Teagasc Forestry advisors tell us more on the nature of such risks and offer practical advice on mitigating forest fire danger threats. On July 10, 2025, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine issued a 
Last year, more than 112 thousand hectares of dry forests were listed in the Estonian Natura 2000 habitats. These are forests with minimal anthropogenic load, and in Estonia they are overgrown dunes, old natural forests and spruce forests with rich ground cover. The Estonian Environmental Service, the University of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences are jointly developing a plan for the maintenance of dry forests. Taavi Tattar, Head of the Nature Conservation Planning Department of the Environmental Service, pointed out that dry forests are in poor condition both in Estonia and throughout Europe. “They’re either too uniform in age or have impoverished structure. Certain species need forests with diverse structures for their life and activities, coarse woody debris, dead trees, and so on. On a broader scale, diverse forests are also more resistant to disease and better able to adapt to climate change,” Tattar said.
DRYDEN — Ten new forest fires in Northwestern Ontario over the weekend brought the total number of active fires in the region to 52. The Ministry of Natural Resources reports that one of the new outbreaks is an extension of a wildfire burning in Manitoba. That province’s EA061 fire has burned 278,000 hectares there, and 228 hectares in Ontario, as of Sunday evening. It’s located about 10 kilometres west of Bulging Lake in Woodland Caribou Provincial Park. Among other new fires of note in the Northwest, a 394-hectare blaze is burning four kilometres northwest of Grist Lake in the MNR’s Red Lake sector. The ministry reports the wildland fire hazard is low to moderate in most of the region, except for along the Ontario-Manitoba border from the Rainy River area to Opasquia Provincial Park, 250 kilometres north of Red Lake, where the hazard is mainly high. 