BC’s Deputy Forests Minister Mackenzie Leine and TLA’s Peter Lister say the province’s forest sector needs greater certainty and reform. In related news: last week’s COFI Conference speaker/panel summaries are out; Alberta rejects the new federal nature strategy, FPAC announces The Future of Wildfire webinar (for April 23); a Manitoba study on firefighters and wildfire smoke; and a Peachland, BC group’s petition to halt old-growth logging.
In Business/Safety news: the UN says the forest sector employs 42 million worldwide; WorkSafeBC is investigating a worker injury at Domtar’s Port Alberni mill; and the Iran war strains paper mills in the Gulf region. Meanwhile: Forsite Consultants launches unified brand across North America; the Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau offers online grader training; and the UK construction sector promotes homegrown timber.
Finally, knock on wood! Three guesses for why do we say that.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
SALMON ARM, British Columbia — Forsite Consultants Ltd. today announced the launch of 
The Canadian District Supervisor position is a unique and highly sought after opportunity for those intimately involved in the quality control of lumber or manufactured wood products. PLIB’s District Supervisors are responsible for evaluating the quality of lumber, glulam, and wood packaging products. Our inspectors influence a wide range of important issues that impact the wood products industry through participation in the development of quality standards and educating mill personnel. PLIB’s Canadian Division serves a variety of producers across Western Canada. This position requires fully reimbursed travel. Interested candidates that meet the qualification criteria are encouraged to visit the PLIB website for a complete job description and application process.
Abbotsford, BC — Mirax Group, a privately held, family-owned British Columbia company with deep roots in forestry, lumber manufacturing, value-added wood products, and diversified industrial operations, has acquired the former Errington Cedar Sawmill in Errington, BC. This strategic acquisition reinforces Mirax Group’s commitment to investing in the sustainable growth of British Columbia’s forestry sector, preserving local jobs, and enhancing supply chain resilience for cedar and softwood products destined for global markets. The Errington Cedar Sawmill, long recognized for its legacy in processing premium cedar products for domestic and international customers — faced closure in recent years following industry challenges. With the transaction now complete, Mirax Group will operate the facility as the Vancoast Sawmill division, and position the site as a cornerstone in its expanding coastal operations. …The company also plans to evaluate investments in modernized milling technology and value-added processing to enhance product diversity and competitiveness.
B.C. saw a significant increase in energy and mineral exports in February compared with a year earlier, while wood exports continued to decline. The province exported more than $4.8 billion worth of products in February, a 16.3 per cent monthly increase and a 2.8 per cent year-to-date increase compared with the same period last year. …However, exports in the wood sector continued to decline. About $479 million worth of products were exported in February, an 18.1 per cent decline from January. Lumber saw the sharpest drop, down 27.7 per cent, followed by other panel products (-23.4 per cent) and plywood and veneer (-19.1 per cent). As a result, year-to-date wood exports fell by more than 30 per cent compared with the same period in 2025. Machinery and equipment exports also declined, down 17.9 per cent month-over-month and 27.6 per cent year-to-date.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Canada, together with the FSC Canada Indigenous Chamber, the FSC Indigenous Foundation, and Indigenous communities across the country, is proud to announce the launch of the Indigenous Knowledge Networks, a new Indigenous led initiative designed to strengthen community-driven forest stewardship, knowledge sharing, and rights-based governance. The Indigenous Knowledge Networks will serve as a collaborative platform where Indigenous communities can connect, share wise practices, and advance their own stewardship priorities in ways that reflect local governance systems, cultural protocols, and community-defined goals. As part of the launch, Wahkohtowin Development GP has been named the first regional Network, supporting sister Nations across the Northeast Superior Region. Wahkohtowin will lead in-person gatherings, virtual learning opportunities, and community-driven activities that strengthen relationships and build capacity across the region. …The first phase of the Indigenous Knowledge Network will include a visioning process…
Peachland residents are once again fighting against logging in their watershed. Following the proposal of three new BC Timber Services (BCTS) cutblocks overlapping with Old Growth Deferral zones in the Peachland Community Watershed, the Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance (PWPA) have started a petition to halt old growth logging entirely. The petition, created in late March, calls to stop commercial and partial clear-cut logging in the Peachland watershed’s old growth and primary growth forests. …Taryn Skalbania, one of the founders of the PWPA, has ran the organization for over a decade to fight against logging in her community. She said this isn’t the first time the PWPA has opposed logging in their community, but that this is the “line in the sand.” …ecologist and former member of the old growth TAP Rachel Holt said there is only two per cent of old forest the IDFdk2 forestry zone – which covers the Okanagan area – remaining.
Local residents are invited to share their input on the development of the Cariboo-Chilcotin forest landscape plan (FLP) to guide long-term forest management decisions in the area. People can share their thoughts through a survey, which will run from Monday, April 13 to May 30, 2026. The Ministry of Forests will also hold two open houses (April 29 and May 2) so the community can learn more about forest landscape planning and ask questions. …FLPs are developed in partnership with First Nations to ensure meaningful participation in forestry planning and long-term decision-making. …Engagement with forest licensees, subject-matter experts and the public is a key part of every FLP. …Through early collaboration with First Nations partners and initial engagement with forest licence holders, key themes have emerged that will be integrated into the survey for public feedback to reflect community priorities. Developing FLPs is a new approach to forest stewardship that establishes clear direction for the management of forest-related values…
A B.C. logging company has sued the owners of a major oil pipeline for allegedly destroying a key access road and stranding $4 million worth of timber near the Coquihalla Highway. The dispute dates back to 2022, when Western Canadian Timber Products Ltd. and Trans Mountain Pipeline Limited Partnership entered into an agreement around a patch of forest northeast of Hope, B.C. A lawsuit, filed April 2 in B.C. Supreme Court, claims the agreement granted Trans Mountain access to a proposed cutblock in the Portia and Boston Bar Creek area so it could complete construction of a second oil pipeline from Edmonton, Alta., to B.C.’s Lower Mainland. Originally built to transport crude and refined oil from Alberta to the B.C. coast, the Trans Mountain pipeline was recently expanded through a massive “twinning” project that nearly tripled its capacity.
New life is sprouting in Rose Valley Regional Park, where crews and volunteers have begun restoring areas damaged by the devastating McDougall Creek wildfire back in 2023. At a community tree planting event held Saturday, hundreds of new trees were planted to help the park recover. The effort is part of a larger plan led by the Regional District of Central Okanagan to bring the forest back to life. Wayne Darlington, RDCO’s manager of parks capital planning, said the work marks an important turning point. “After 2023 McDougall Creek wildfires, we’re now at a point now where we’re actually putting some more trees back and plants back in the ground,” Darlington said. Volunteers spent the day planting hundreds of trees in some of the hardest-hit areas.
If reviews could save old growth, British Columbia would have the healthiest forests on Earth. Instead, the province has produced a stack of reports as tall as an ancient Douglas fir. Their wording may differ, but their conclusion does not: BC’s forestry system is broken. Fixing it will not be easy or quick, but instead of acting, the government continues to produce new reports to delay tough decisions — especially when those decisions mean standing up to large logging companies that profit most from the status quo. Rather than using the reports to inspire action, the BC government is hiding behind them. …Nearly six years into BC’s OGSR commitment, we now have a sixth report by the Provincial Forest Advisory Council called From Conflict to Care. It again concluded that systemic reform is needed in the province’s forestry regime. Each report acknowledges the same truth: what we’re doing isn’t working.
Placerville, Calif., bears all the markers of a community at risk of a wildfire. The city’s rolling hillsides are dense with brush, which dries out during the hot summers. Older homes made of wood, which are more prone to igniting, are dotted throughout. …Local officials are trying to do something about it. The community is one of a handful 
With extreme drought gripping most of Utah and spring heat melting reserves of mountain snow to an all-time low, the state is staring down a tinder dry wildfire season that could come with big changes to its federal funding. Maps of the national wildfire forecast show Utah covered in red by July — and with southern Utah getting there by June. “It has the potential to be a real season,” said State Forester Jamie Barnes, “but we’re going to make it through it, and we’re going to make sure that we do all we can to keep Utah safe.” The Division of Fire, Forestry and State Lands have more money for prevention efforts thanks to a state law passed last year. But they’re also keeping an eye on Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump is proposing budget cuts to forestry programs, along with research and development…
The U.S. Forest Service is shutting down research stations around the country, including centers in Portland, Seattle, and Wenatchee, Washington. Though much of the stations’ research is long-term, some fire experts say the cuts could hamper firefighting efforts as soon as this summer. …The agency is shutting down 50 of its 70 research stations. More than 200 people work in the Northwest research stations that are closing. …“There is a position for every permanent employee willing to accept reassignment,” Forest Service Chief Thomas Schultz Jr. said in a memo to research branch staff. Schultz Jr., a Trump appointee, was previously a lobbyist for Idaho Forest Group, one of the nation’s largest lumber producers, based in Coeur d’Alene. …Nick Smith, a spokesperson for the American Forest Resource Council, a Western states timber industry group, said he welcomes the Forest Service restructuring.
A company building two of Canada’s largest wood pellet mills says it will rely on a steady diet of trees logged in forests recently burned by wildfires. Roughly five million trees will have to come down each year to feed the two northern Alberta mills, which Powerwood Canada Corp. plans to build near the communities of La Crête and High Level. The company claims that wildfires create nightmarish landscapes and that logging such forests as fast as possible is key to restoring their health. But scientists counter that burned forests are important for biodiversity and that aggressively logging them spells disaster for plants and animals that rely on burned landscapes to flourish. Powerwood CEO David Peters said that in addition to northern Alberta the company is eyeing other “brownfield” logging opportunities in British Columbia and in Eastern Canada due to the significant number of wildfires in recent years.
HAYWARD, Wis. – A new refinery planned for Hayward will convert wood into sustainable aviation fuel, using waste wood, such as scrap wood or invasive species. Hayward companies FutureWood and Johnson Timber Corporation will source and process the wood, while Synthec Fuels will handle the fuel refining process. President of FutureWood DJ Aderman says the facility will harness products not currently utilized in the forestry industry. “What’s really cool about this is we’re gonna use a lot of mill residuals. We’re gonna use a lot of products that we’re not currently using right now, unmerchable tops, species that have no or little value,” said Aderman. Last week, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed the Forestry Revitalization Act, which approved up to $120 million in tax credits for the $1.7 billion project. The legislation aims to bolster the forestry industry, which has seen major downturns due to mill closures in recent years.
…Hawaii Mars is one of two remaining Martin JRM-3 Mars water bombers. It flew cargo between Hawaii and the Pacific Islands during the Second World War and supported the Korean War with medical transport between Hawaii and California before transitioning to cargo operations. They were sold to a consortium of B.C. timber companies in 1958 and converted into the world’s largest water bombers to fight forest fires, carrying 27,000 litres per drop. Coulson Aviation bought them in 2007, marking the start of its fixed-wing air tanker operations for aerial wildfire support. Coulson retired its Mars water bombers in 2015.