BC’s Auditor General says the province’s forest carbon accounting isn’t consistent or transparent enough. In related news: a Montana study on the driving influences of forest carbon storage; Canada supports tree planting in Quebec; BC’s Forest Practices Board calls for protection of cultural sites; and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society releases its report card on provincial conservation efforts.
In Business news: the United Steelworkers ratify a 4-year collective agreement with Canadian Pacific Kansas City; BC seeks to strengthen its forestry sector; Montana sees pros and cons with Trump’s orders; Canadian housing isn’t immune to trade war; US consumers fear tariff impacts; North Cowichan braces for forest sector fallout; and the European Commission reviews its retaliatory options.
Finally, US uncertainty positions Canada for more mass timber construction.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
US homebuilder confidence
This year, Canadian forest companies and their employees continued to navigate a rapidly changing political, economic, and trade environment. Customers, investors, and local communities have a shared interest in good environmental outcomes and sustaining and growing family-supporting jobs. As a global leader in sustainable forest management and responsible sourcing, Canada’s forest sector and its people have met these challenges head-on. In 2024, FPAC and its members continued to make meaningful strides on climate action, biodiversity conservation, and expanded partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and inclusion of Indigenous knowledge into Sustainable Forest Management. Buyers of Canadian forest products can be confident that measures to improve environmental performance, strengthen relationships with Indigenous Peoples, and provide the highest quality of products are being implemented across our operations and throughout the country – ensuring that forestry practices in Canada contribute to maintaining and supporting the ecosystems, wildlife, and people that rely on them now and for generations to come.
VANCOUVER, BC — T
LOS ANGELES — 
Two-thirds of Canadians agree the next federal government should prioritize action on climate change and protecting nature, a new poll has found. The national poll was carried out by Leger on commission from the B.C.-based environmental group David Suzuki Foundation. A similar share of respondents supported Ottawa investing in renewable energy over fossil fuels. …The poll questioned a panel of 1,548 Canadian adults in an online survey. In a letter sent Tuesday to the leaders of all major federal political parties, the David Suzuki Foundation joined 13 environmental groups calling on the next government to provide tariff relief measures that don’t lead to the over-harvesting of Canadian forests. The letter also lobbies the next federal government to craft tariff relief measures that prioritize funding Canadian workers — not foreign-owned forestry corporations. …“Unsustainable logging practices in Canada put this key export market at risk,” the letter notes. “Canada must acknowledge and reform current industrial logging practices that degrade forest ecosystems.”
The Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry program is a national competition for young researchers who are passionate about a range of activities relevant to forest-based science, products using forest-based raw materials, process improvements, or other innovations throughout the forest sector value chain. The Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry are not just about rewarding research and development – they are also about showcasing the work of students and young researchers who are passionate about climate positive forestry and forest products, clean manufacturing, and the forest bioeconomy. Winners will be celebrated to coincide with The Twentieth Session of the United Nations’ Forum on Forests on May 5-9, 2025. Winners will receive a cash prize of CAD$2,500.00 along with local, regional, national, and social media promotion. Eligible applicants must be students or researchers who are 30 years old or younger as of March 1, 2025. Deadline to apply is April 4 by 11:59pm EDT.
As forestry practices evolve, the intersection of conservation, Indigenous consultation, third-party certification, and workforce development is central to the future of the industry. The “Breaking New Ground” panel at the 2025 COFI Convention will explore how innovative partnerships and collaborative approaches can balance ecological stewardship with economic opportunity. Panelists will share insights on advancing reconciliation through meaningful consultation, supporting the next generation of forestry professionals, and ensuring sustainable practices through conservation financing and certification. Panelists: Lennard Joe, CEO, BC First Nations Forestry Council; Michael Reid, BC Program Director, Nature United; Kathy Abusow, President & CEO, Sustainable Forestry Initiative; and Aspen Dudzic, Director of Communications, Alberta Forest Products Association & “Forestry Together” Initiative. Moderator: Jason Fisher, Executive Director, Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC). Join us for a forward-looking discussion that brings together diverse perspectives on how BC’s working forests can thrive while meeting environmental and social responsibilities.
Washington’s Department of Natural Resources says it’s coming up with backup plans to address the growing threat of serious wildfires in the state. The typically close working relationship with federal forest managers has frayed under the Trump Administration. It started in mid-February, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut thousands of probationary employees at the U.S. Forest Service. The USDA is in charge of stewarding places like the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest. Altogether, about 2,000 employees across the country were fired. The USDA emphasized that no “operational firefighters” had been let go, and argued the critical work of responding to wildfires would not be interrupted. …Grassroots Wildland Firefighters estimated that three-quarters of the employees laid off had secondary wildland firefighting duties, meaning firefighting wasn’t their primary job, but they were pulled in to fight fires as needed.
The Alaska Forest Association and two of its members have taken legal action against the US Forest Service. The lawsuit … seeks to compel the federal agency to comply with the Tongass Timber Reform Act’s mandate for timber sales, a move that could help revive the struggling timber industry in southeast Alaska. “Federal law requires the Forest Service to sell enough timber every year to meet market demand,” said Frank Garrison, attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents the plaintiffs that include Viking Lumber and Alcan Timber. “…the agency has violated federal law three times over.” The dispute stems from the US Forest Service’s 2016 Management Plan, which outlined a gradual transition from selling old-growth timber to younger trees over a ten-year period. … However, the plaintiffs argue that the agency abandoned the plan, ceasing old-growth timber sales immediately and failing to provide sufficient young-growth timber as promised.
It’s now clear that some moves President Trump has authorized his pal Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to make will thwart at least a few of Trump’s own often-repeated priorities. …Then there are two moves that figure to make the next fire season, coming up in late spring or early summer, as bad as or worse than recent ones. Trump legitimately repeats the conviction that cleaning forest floors can reduce the intensity and frequency of wildfires. He consistently and falsely blames California’s government for not doing this. …With Musk’s aid, though, he fired 3,400 Forest Service workers in mid-February who were still on probation in their first year of employment, many of whom had been hired to do the job Trump calls critical to stopping fires. …If he knew these firings completely contradict priorities he has trumpeted, why would he have approved them?
WASHINGTON — Three former Environmental Protection Agency leaders sounded an alarm Friday, saying 
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a lawsuit from Republican attorneys general in 19 states aimed at blocking climate change suits against the oil and gas industry from Democratic-led states. The justices acted on an unusual Republican effort to file suit in the Supreme Court over the Democratic states’ use of their own state courts to sue fossil fuel companies for deceiving the public about the risks of their products contributing to climate change. The Supreme Court typically hears only appeals, but the Constitution gives the court authority to hear original lawsuits states file against each other. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have allowed the lawsuit to proceed for now. The justices don’t have the discretion to reject the complaint at this stage, Thomas wrote in a dissent that did not deal with the merits of the claim.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An extreme fire danger continues to affect all counties across Kansas this week, and Missouri is also under a high fire danger this week. In Missouri, there were more than 40 wildfires burning across the state as of Monday morning. In Kansas, there were four — one burning across 1,500 acres east of Winfield and another spanning 1,200 acres west of Dover. “This week brings continued high fire danger across the state,” the Forest Service said. “Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of fire season.” In preparation for the fire danger this week, the Forest Service said it’s coordinated with the Great Plains Interstate Fire Compact to bring in reinforcements from out of state — including Wyoming and Utah.