Trump’s trade wars have become a defining characteristic of US economic policy—shaping both the pulp & paper and solid wood industries. For more coverage on these stories, the most recent wildfire news, and Premier Eby’s GBM plans, please go directly to our website. Bookmark it and check in anytime.
Finally, a reminder that The Tree Frog News is taking a short summer break this week. While we’ll still bring you forestry news each morning, our coverage may be “lighter” — without the detailed Takeaway.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
Finally, a reminder that The Tree Frog News is taking a short summer break this week. While we’ll still bring you forestry news each day, our coverage may be “lighter” — without the detailed Takeaway. 
The Liberal government has released a proposal for its new housing entity, laying out suggested loan offerings and other details ahead of the planned fall launch. …The Liberals said the new entity would develop and manage affordable housing projects and partner with builders for the construction phase, providing $10 billion in low-cost financing and capital to affordable home builders. …The BCH would also provide $25 billion in debt financing and $1 billion in equity financing to prefabricated home builders, with the Liberals saying the housing type can reduce construction times by up to 50 per cent and lower costs by up to 20 per cent. The entity would issue bulk orders of units from manufacturers to create sustained demand.
British Columbia’s forestry leaders offer a mix of praise and caution following the announcement of federal aid for Canada’s lumber industry. While both welcomed the support, they emphasized the urgent need for fiber access and resolving the US trade dispute. B.C. Forestry Minister Ravi Parmar called the federal funding package “really good news” and a long-overdue show of federal support for a sector that has long felt sidelined in Ottawa. …Parmar emphasized that B.C., as the world’s second-largest exporter of softwood lumber, must receive a proportional share of the funding to modernize its mills and build new global partnerships. …B.C. Conservative forestry critic Ward Stamer, welcomed the funding as a positive sign of federal commitment but warned that the underlying problems plaguing B.C.’s forestry industry remain unaddressed. …“It shows the federal government understands how important the forest industry is not just to B.C., but to the whole country,” said Stamer.
WASHINGTON — More Republican lawmakers are calling out Canada because of wildfires sending smoke billowing across the international border into their states. Wisconsin state Rep. Calvin Callahan has joined other Republican state lawmakers from Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota in filing a formal complaint against Canada to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the International Joint Commission. In a news release issued today, Callahan says that “if Canada can’t get these wildfires under control, they need to face real consequences.” He joins a chorus of Republican politicians at other levels of government who have been voicing concerns about Canada’s wildfires. Michigan Rep. Jack Bergman sent a letter to Canadian Sen. Michael MacDonald on Monday calling for stronger forest management policies and more accountability from Canadian officials. Michigan Rep. John James sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney last week saying his constituents are choking on toxic wildfire smoke.
A Seattle proposal to add more housing above the historic Doyle Building near Pike Place Market is bringing out significant opposition, with nearby condominium owners seeking to utilize the only point of leverage they have: the city’s landmarks board. Clark/Barnes architects are working with the owners of the four-story building…. 
TORONTO — Canada’s 2025 wildfire season is now the second-worst on record. The latest figures posted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre suggest the fires have torn through 72,000 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of New Brunswick.That surpasses the next worst season in 1989 and is about half the area burned during the record-setting 2023 season, according to a federal database of wildfire seasons dating back to 1972. Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, has made Canada’s fire season longer and more intense, scientists say. The last three fire seasons are all in the 10 worst on record. “We really need to do a lot more to manage our forest, to reduce the impact of climate change and better prepare the communities that are at risk,” said Anabela Bonada, managing director of climate science at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo.
Growing up in the Greater Toronto Area, smog days were par for the course. …We’ve traded our smog days for smoke days. …Improving wildfire response should be an imperative of Prime Minister Mark Carney and his newly formed government. …Wildfires will burn no matter how many waterbombers Canada has, but there is no question there would be fewer homes destroyed, less First Nations forced to evacuate and fewer air quality alerts issued if Saskatchewan had 600 aircraft in action right now, rather than six. …Let’s turn this whole country into a waterbomber assembly line. The demand isn’t going anywhere — domestically or internationally. …In the meantime, the federal government needs to ramp up funding transfers to the provinces for wildfire fighter and pilot training programs and equipment purchases. …Getting forest fires under control is also an act of sovereignty. 
SMITHERS – The Forest Practices Board has released the results of its investigation into a complaint about logging in the Lemieux and Gardner Creek watersheds, 30 kilometres southeast of Smithers. A resident alleged that over-harvesting had dried up creeks and wells, and that logging proceeded without proper public consultation. Board investigators examined recent harvesting, road construction and maintenance by three licence holders: BC Timber Sales (BCTS), Kyah Development Corporation (KDC) and the holder of woodlot licence W0104. Investigators assessed whether licensees met legal requirements for water management and public review. All three licensees complied with requirements for public review. BCTS and KDC exceeded requirements by voluntarily sharing operational-planning information with stakeholders. BCTS and KDC also met all water- management requirements.
One of Revelstoke’s most popular mountains for Nordic skiing and cycling has reappeared on the map for B.C.’s lumber licensee, raising questions of how recreationists’ favourite routes could be impacted. Within the last year, BC Timber Sales (BCTS) issued a Forestry Operations Map outlining plans for Mount MacPherson, home to the Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club (RNSC) and various Revelstoke Cycling Association trails. Currently, several dozen hectares in the Wetask-Mt. MacPherson area are licensed for cut blocks, while several hectares more are mapped for retention areas and roads. …Operations are indicated to run until 2027, and all six cut block licenses have a planned development date of last Jan. 15. In a statement the Ministry of Forests said one of its recent licences was auctioned last spring and will be harvested this fall or winter. Another licence currently sits in the development stage, slated for auction next summer.
In May, the White House Office of Budget and Management sent Congress President Trump’s proposed budget for discretionary spending for upcoming fiscal year 2026. Among the budget’s many cuts is a proposal to eliminate all funding for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, designed to make timber projects run more smoothly. The Collaborative is a decades-long experiment to get conservationists, the timber industry and U.S. Forest Service back to the proverbial table after the timber wars of years past. Collaboratives have been widely credited with incorporating conservationist’s environmental concerns in the design of timber harvests and, consequently, reducing environmental litigation known to slow down harvests. The CFLRP has been lauded by some for helping implement forest thinning and restoration projects meant to both reduce wildfire risk and increase timber production and jobs in rural communities.
FREMONT, Neb. — The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has opened a formal investigation into the July 29 explosion and fire at the Horizon Biofuels facility in Fremont that killed three people, officials announced Thursday. The blast fatally injured 32-year-old Dylan Danielson and his two young daughters who were inside the plant at the time. “This horrific incident should never have happened,” CSB Chairperson Steve Owens said in a statement. “We want to prevent a terrible tragedy like this from occurring again.” …The independent federal agency, whose members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, does not issue citations or fines but makes safety recommendations to companies, industry groups, labor organizations and agencies such as OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Rapidly growing wildfires in several provinces forced thousands of people from their homes and prompted air-quality warnings in cities thousands of kilometres away, while hot and dry conditions had other areas on high alert, including Nova Scotia, where the government banned most summertime activities in wooded areas. The deteriorating conditions have added up to a wildfire season that is on track to be one of Canada’s worst on record in terms of area burned, second only to 2023. As of Tuesday, at least 15,000 people were under evacuation orders in Manitoba, largely in the province’s north, while fires on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Avalon Peninsula had forced around 600 people from their homes. Across the country, more than 760 wildfires are burning, at least 205 of them deemed out of control. About 6.8 million hectares of land have burned so far this year.
France’s biggest wildfire this summer was spreading quickly Wednesday in a Mediterranean region near the Spanish border after leaving one person dead, authorities said. The fire had burned an area larger than Paris. About 2,000 firefighters and several water bomber aircraft battled the blaze that broke out Tuesday afternoon in the village of Ribaute in the Aude region, a rural, wooded area that is home to wineries. The fire, which has burned 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres), remained ‘’very active” on Wednesday, the local administration said in a statement. The weather was hot, dry and windy, making it difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze. One person died in their home, and at least 13 others were injured, including 11 firefighters, local authorities said. One person who was initially described as missing has been located and is safe.