Natural Resources Canada announced 10 new forest sector projects, including $2.3M for Alberta’s Western Archrib. In related news: Canadian Wood strengthens collaboration with Vietnam; the Municipality of North Cowichan calls for support for laid off workers; Canfor Pulp approves take-private deal by Canfor Corp; Doman reports Q4, 2025 net income; and Stora Enso announced leaders for new forest asset company. Meanwhile: the US Dept of Commerce is starting its annual duty reviews for Canadian and Chinese wood imports; US stocks tumble on Iran war concerns, and US construction employment declined again.
In Forestry/Climate news: Washington State joins California and Quebec carbon market agreement; a new study warns of climate’s impact on European forests; Oregon’s timber wars are revived under Trump’s call for more logging; Colorado reports-out on its Forest Action Plan; and Wisconsin has a new roadmap to protect its timber economy.
Finally, the City of Powell River endorsed BC Coalition’s Forestry is a Solution campaign.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
The Municipality of North Cowichan is calling for urgent support to help laid off workers. In an open letter to the minister of jobs and families from the municipality, United Steelworkers Union, and Western Forest Products said workers continue to be impacted by layoffs. “These workers aren’t facing a short-term layoff,” said the letter. “They’ve been formally advised that there will be no return to work this year. Yet many are now being told their Employment Insurance (EI) benefits will soon expire.” Last year, Western Forest Products announced the curtailment of 120 workers at the Chemainus sawmill due to what they call weak market conditions and limited access to economically viable fire. It’s estimated 80 workers will be affected if changes aren’t done to protect their benefits that are scheduled to end in March, and all parties are asking the minister to treat workers equally.
STURGEON COUNTY, AB — Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced a federal investment of over $4.4 million for ten projects that will strengthen the forest sector in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. These projects will advance manufacturing and processing, diversify Canada’s forest products and their export markets and support First Nation and Métis groups and forestry businesses. Among the projects funded, Western Archrib Enterprises Ltd. is receiving $2.3 million through the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program to commission a 160,000-square-foot mass timber plant in Sturgeon County, Alberta. The facility represents a total capital investment of over $80 million and will transform Western Archrib’s operations to a fully automated manufacturing line, increasing production capacity from 12 million to 30–35 million board feet annually. This investment will strengthen Alberta’s supply chain for advanced wood-based building material, such as mass timber panels, which directly support the construction industry and housing supply.
March 19, 2026 | 6:30-9 PM | UBC Robson Square Theatre — Experts from the Allard School of Law (Ljiljana Biuković), Vancouver School of Economics (Torsten Jaccard), Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship (Harry Nelson), and Political Science (Stewart Prest) will explore the evolving Canada–U.S. economic relationship and what it means for Canada’s future. As the 2026 joint review of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) approaches, Canada faces significant shifts in its most important trading relationship. From tariffs on steel to ongoing tensions in British Columbia’s forestry sector, long-standing trade dynamics are being tested and the era of predictable trade and stable multilateral rules may be coming to an end. Policymakers, industry leaders, and people interested in understanding the structural changes shaping Canada’s economic future are encouraged to attend. Panelists will examine emerging geopolitical realities and their implications for Canada, highlighting BC forestry as a case study on how international trade pressures are affecting local industries, workers, and communities.
The head of B.C.’s Declaration Act Secretariat has left government on the eve of Premier David Eby’s move to change the landmark law to address court rulings that threaten private property rights. Jessica Wood, the province’s first Indigenous deputy minister, announced late last week she was departing the secretariat. “The Declaration Act was the first legislation in Canada to require consideration and alignment of provincial law with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples,” Wood said in a post on 
The mayors of Squamish and 100 Mile House, B.C., want to see the railway linking their two communities preserved. CN Rail is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of a portion of B.C.’s rail network between Squamish and Exeter, just northwest of 100 Mile House. In July 2025, the national rail operator said it provided notice of its intent to discontinue those operations. 100 Mile House Mayor Maureen Pinkney says her town is working with several other municipalities to make a business case for the railway, and have hired a consultant to research the details. The rail line goes through an industrial park in 100 Mile House, explained Pinkney, connecting industries like forestry. The town’s oriented strand board plant shut down in 2019 and West Fraser closed its lumber mill at the end of last year, but Pinkney said there’s still fibre that can be utilized for other wood products.
Portland based Hampton Lumber, one of the nation’s largest lumber manufacturers, confirmed on Thursday that it has parted ways with CEO Randy Schillinger. Steve Zika, vice chair of the Hampton board and its chief executive for 20 years before Schillinger was named to the position in June 2023 has served in an interim capacity since early December, the company said in an emailed statement. [A Portland Business Journal subscription is required to access this full story]
RHINELANDER, Wisconsin — Logging has been a major part of the Northwoods for centuries. In recent years, though, several economic factors may have the industry in jeopardy. Logging has a major economic impact in the Northwoods. But a trend is beginning to start with Wisconsin-based paper mills ceasing certain operations, meaning many logging companies are slowing lumber output. James Wilson, Master logger and owner of Wilson Forestry in Athens, has had his business for over 12 years, but after Ahlstrom announced it will close two paper machines and a pulp mill in Mosinee, options are running thin for where they can sell the wood to. Not only will it cost 200 mill workers their jobs, it will be a major blow to local loggers. Wilson was a supplier of the recently closed Mosinee pulp mill, and has his concerns about the future of the industry.
WASHINGTON — The widening conflict in the Middle East following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran is introducing fresh uncertainty into global markets, with potential downstream effects for furniture importers, who despite relying more heavily on Asia-based sourcing than directly in the region are still exposed to volatility across the global supply chain. Analysts told Reuters that a broader regional conflict could disrupt global trade routes, supply chains and commodity prices, all of which have implications downstream for furniture importers by heaping pressure on both costs and capacity. Three potential effects of the ongoing unrest in the Middle East that could spill over for furniture companies include higher fuel costs and landed container prices, container capacity pressures, and risks and longer-term supply chain strains. Over the longer term, the conflict underscores the need to reassess geographic concentration risk.
A large B.C.-based mass timber company is receiving $5.5 million in federal funding to expand its production capacity, the government’s latest support for prefabrication as a means to boost housing supply. Castlegar-based Kalesnikoff Mass Timber Inc. is receiving the funding from Pacific Economic Development Canada’s Regional Tariff Response Initiative. The initiative is investing more than $13 million in 10 projects across B.C.’s southern Interior, helping businesses impacted by tariffs, said a March 2 press release. Kalesnikoff is receiving a repayable investment of $5.5 million to help purchase new equipment to make prefabricated housing components used in multi-family housing, schools, daycares and commercial buildings, said the release. Kalesnikoff’s new mass timber facility in Castlegar, which went into operation last year, is ramping up production, said Andrew Stiffman, the company’s vice-president of construction services.
Logging and forest trucking industry added an estimated $1.3 billion to the Northeast region in 2024, with Maine contributing $534 million of that amount, according to a study released this week. Maine’s figure included $283 million in total labor earnings and an estimated $23 million in state tax revenues. The Pine Tree State numbers represented 2,744 direct logging and trucking jobs, along with an additional 1,715 indirect jobs, for a total of about 4,460 jobs statewide. The Augusta-based Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast released the results of its first-ever regional study on Wednesday, conducted by Wallace Economic Advisers LLC. It showed that in 2024, logging and forest trucking supported around 6,930 jobs in the region, generated $393 million in labor income, pumped an estimated $61 million into state and local tax coffers, and remained critical to a range of industries and communities.
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VANCOUVER — UBC’s newest building, Gateway Health, is opening as a hub for student health, interdisciplinary teaching and collaborative research. The 270,550-square-foot building gives a purpose-built home to the school of nursing, consolidates kinesiology programs from eight campus locations, and centralizes student health and wellbeing services for the first time. …
HCM CITY — Canadian Wood Vietnam, part of Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) – a provincial agency of the Government of British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, has recently reaffirmed its commitment to the Vietnamese wood industry by maintaining a consistent presence across key industry platforms. Canadian Wood Vietnam is dedicated to enhancing networking activities, sharing information, and fostering professional exchanges within Việt Nam’s wood and furniture industry. In addition to promoting trade, Canadian Wood Vietnam works closely with manufacturers in Việt Nam by offering technical support, training programmes, and facilitating market development initiatives that link businesses with reputable Canadian softwood suppliers and provide valuable insights into softwood species from British Columbia (B.C.), Canada. These ongoing efforts aim to assist Vietnamese manufacturers in strengthening their product development capabilities, refining design applications, and enhancing value creation. 
The Rainbow, Jordan and Frisby valleys in British Columbia’s rare inland temperate rainforest are home to endangered species and ancient trees. Two logging companies hold licences to log in the old-growth valleys, while the government agency BC Timber Sales has operating areas there. A 2019 proposal to permanently protect 10,500 hectares in the three valleys as a provincial park has gained renewed interest as Revelstoke city council announced in February that it supports increased conservation of the critically endangered inland temperate rainforest.
The lack of significant snowfall in the mountains around Cowichan Lake could be a problem for water levels during the upcoming dry season, according to Brain Houle, the environment manager at the now closed Domtar pulp mill in Crofton. While Domtar shut the mill down earlier this year, the forest company agreed to continue operations at the weir until the end of 2026. Houle said that while there is still time to accumulate more snow before the winter ends, it is possible that the weather will not bring more snow to the mountains before warm weather begins the annual snow melt. “With the Crofton mill now shut down and water withdrawals from the river significantly reduced, it is even more important to avoid the need to use pumps this year,” …Houle said that a stakeholder meeting was recently held … to discuss water issues related to the Cowichan watershed in 2026, including weir operations.
More local governments, contractors and First Nations will take on wildfire-risk-mitigation roles in and around their communities thanks to a $30-million investment in training, equipment and FireSmart programs. “Through powerful partnerships with local communities, we’re doing the work to get ahead of wildfire season,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “We’re investing in local governments, contractors and First Nations to mitigate the risks of wildfire, protecting people and community. This is how we create jobs, support workers and build more resilient forests, restoring confidence in our sector.” The FireSmart Community Funding and Supports program is receiving an additional $15 million to continue prioritizing core FireSmart activities to protect the most vulnerable communities in B.C. The program is part of B.C.’s Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) program. Along with the Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction program, it reduces wildfire risk by funding planning, education, co-ordination and fuel-management activities on publicly owned and Crown land.
Prince George is once again surpassing expectations with the sale of two commercial thinning areas in the region, says BC’s forests minister. The sales were made to Freya Logging, a contractor based in Prince George. The total volume between the two sales is 14,005 cubic metres in the West Lake and Greg Creek area. Freya Logging will undertake commercial thinning, a forest management process that removes a portion of trees in a 35-year-old or older stand to create space and provide more light and nutrients for younger trees in the area, while older trees are cut down and sold. The process is also known to decrease the risk of forest fires by reducing fuel loads and increasing forest resilience against pests. BC Forest Minister Ravi Parmar has been a strong advocate for commercial thinning in the province and considers these two sales a milestone for forestry in BC.
The Alberta government has released a new wildfire mitigation strategy aimed at reducing wildfire risk and protecting communities, forests and critical infrastructure across the province. The Alberta Wildfire Mitigation Strategy outlines measures to improve preparedness and strengthen prevention efforts as wildfire seasons become more frequent and severe. Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said the strategy is intended to help communities better prepare for wildfire and reduce potential damage. …The strategy outlines six focus areas: improving knowledge of wildfire risks, strengthening community and Indigenous partnerships, reviewing legislation and policy, expanding the use of technology and innovation, integrating wildfire mitigation into landscape planning and prioritizing hazardous fuels management.
North Cowichan wants the province to expedite increases to water licences for the Cowichan and Chemainus aquifers. Council authorized Mayor Rob Douglas to write a letter to Randene Neill, B.C.’s Minister of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, asking the government to accelerate the licence process at its meeting on Feb. 18. The request came after a presentation by North Cowichan’s engineering director Clay Reitsma on key infrastructure constraints in the municipality. Reitsma said that increased growth and development demands, provincial housing targets, and the recent closure of the Crofton pulp mill have combined to create significant constraints and impacts on North Cowichan’s limited water and sewer servicing, and water-licensing limits. He pointed out that most of Crofton’s water currently comes from the now closed Domtar mill… Domtar has committed to keep the water flowing from the mill’s water systems to Crofton until the end of 2026, but no promises have been made beyond that.
Canada’s drinking water can remain at risk long after wildfires burn out, according to a 
The February 2026 FGC eNewsletter highlights several key developments in forest genetics across British Columbia and beyond. It introduces Dan Nadir, RPF, as the new Executive Secretariat for FGC, succeeding Brian Barber, and outlines his forestry background and experience. The newsletter promotes an upcoming BC Seed Orchard Association webinar on March 12, featuring presentations on seed extraction and orchard management from Quebec and New Brunswick. Recent events where forest genetics featured prominently are covered, including presentations on seed planning in a changing climate at the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association conference and FGC’s participation at the Forest Professionals BC conference. The update also highlights a new national report identifying challenges and solutions for improving Canada’s tree seed supply chain. Finally, it lists upcoming meetings and conferences in 2026, such as tree improvement workshops and international seed orchard conferences, encouraging engagement and continued professional development.
In this newsletter you will find:
The president of a logging company says anti-logging activists are fuelling a “social crisis” in the Mauricie region by sabotaging his company’s legal and government-authorized forestry projects and he called on the Quebec government to take action to protect workers and restore order. Antoine Langlois, president and founder of Forex Langlois Inc., contacted The Gazette this week to denounce what he and police believe was an intentionally set fire in Lac-aux-Sables last month that destroyed two machines owned by his company. …Sgt. Valérie Beauchamp of the Sûreté du Québec said police believe the fire was set intentionally sometime during the previous night…. Anonymous activists did take responsibility for sabotaging a forest in the same region on Jan. 26. In a statement posted on the Instagram account of a collective called Soulèvements du fleuve, an “anonymous group” said they had inserted metal spikes in trees in the Mékinac forest north of Ste-Thècle.
The City of Ottawa says program cuts at Algonquin College could make it harder to recruit workers. An internal city analysis reviewed roughly 30 programs the college was thinking of suspending and ultimately did cancel after a unanimous board of governors vote on Monday. The city found that the elimination of nine programs would affect its ability to hire staff in the future. The programs flagged include: Nursery Operator – Forestry Services, Public Works and Nursery Worker – Forestry Services, Public Works. …The forestry services branch within the city’s public works department relies on graduates from Algonquin’s horticultural industries program to fill nursery operator and nursery worker roles. It also depends on design foundations program graduates for its traffic services branch, which hires sign designers, fabricators and supervisors.
The Bureau of Land Management sold 27.6 million board feet of timber across 1,255 public acres in Oregon, for a total of $8,327,275, and indicates a strong demand in American lumber manufacturing by exceeding total appraised values by over $3 million. This timber will feed local mills and support jobs in local communities. The Coos Bay District sold the Eckley Empanada timber tract (1.8 million board feet, 105 public acres) to Harveys’ Selective Logging, Inc., of Creswell, Ore., for $$142,228. The Medford District sold the Thom Bone timber tract (6 million board feet, 585 public acres) to Estremado Logging Inc. of Gold Hill, Ore., for $458,766. The Northwest Oregon District sold the Gopher Broke timber tract (7 million board feet, 223 public acres) to Boise Cascade Wood Products of Willamina, Ore., for $2,499,716; and the John Boy timber tract (8 million board feet, 167 public acres) to Rosboro Company, LLC, of Springfield, Ore., for $3,913,070.
In western Oregon, public forests that once fueled rural prosperity – and later came under strict habitat protections that sharply reduced logging and local revenues – are again at the center of a political and economic storm. The Trump administration is proposing to quadruple logging in Oregon, raising timber harvests to levels not seen since before spotted owl protections in the 1990s. The plan has stirred a mix of hope and dread across the state. In cash-hungry rural counties hollowed out by decades of dwindling timber receipts … the proposal looks like a long‑awaited lifeline that could stabilize county budgets and create new jobs. … But in forested watersheds and old growth reserves, a sweeping expansion of logging would undermine hard-won conservation protections and threaten the recovery of the northern spotted owls, marbled murrelets and coho salmon…
As retired Forest Service leaders who had the privilege of managing millions of acres of national forests across the West, we understand the importance of stewarding these lands for the benefit of local communities and the nation. Full repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule would undermine trust in agency managers, hinder collaborative agreements, adversely affect resources the public cares about and ultimately restrict efficient land management. Repealing the rule is favored by many of those who opposed it from the beginning or perceive that it undermines effective forest management. …after over two decades of implementation and learning, forest managers and partners know there could be thoughtful improvements to the Roadless Rule. …Rather than seeking to repeal the rule, the Forest Service should meaningfully engage stakeholders to update the rule and improve implementation based on what has been learned over the past 25 years. This will allow future land managers to benefit local communities and the nation.
OREGON — The Pacific Northwest isn’t known as maple syrup country, but a burgeoning syrup industry in Oregon and Washington is trying to change that perception, one gallon of sap at a time. The Northwest’s more temperate climate and more watery maple sap make it harder to make syrup at a commercial scale. Producers can invest in technology, much of it developed in Canada, to improve their harvests, but that means steeper initial investments for farmers, and it doesn’t solve the fact that making bigleaf maple syrup still requires long, grueling hours that producers say can be a barrier to entry. Because of that, the Northwest maple syrup industry has required more effort to get off the ground. But those passionate about local syrup say the delicious, boutique product is well worth the trouble.
The Trump administration is turning to rarely used laws to circumvent environmental restrictions and expand logging in certain Pacific Northwest forests, legal analysts and advocates say. In plans announced in February to expand logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest and on federal land in western Oregon … administration is using the 1990 Tongass Timber Reform Act to prioritize logging in the largest national forest in the US, and BLM is citing a 1937 law, the Oregon and California Revested Railroad Lands Act, to do so on its land in western Oregon. Both apply only to specific forests and envision logging as a primary use of those lands. The agencies are using federal laws that “privilege timber harvesting and will use that argument to short circuit environmental protections,” especially at the expense of endangered species, said Andrew Mergen, a Harvard Law School professor who was previously a lawyer at the Justice Department’s Environment & Natural Resources Division.
Across the Front Range, century-old, iconic ponderosa pines span thousands of acres …But over the past three years, that landscape has noticeably shifted. More hillsides are now marked by … signs of a growing pine beetle outbreak, according to the state’s Forest Service lead entomologist, Dan West. “The ability for these small, little insects to work in concert to all attack one tree all at the same time and to overcome the tree’s defenses that have been there for a century is truly staggering,” West said. It only took a few years for these tiny insects, no bigger than a grain of rice, to explode across the Front Range and impact more than 7,000 acres of forested land. Now, Gov. Jared Polis has launched an aggressive response. …Whether the state’s new task force can slow the outbreak remains to be seen. 
Wildfires in the northern boreal forests of Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia may be more damaging to the climate than previously thought, a new UC Berkeley-led study suggests. That’s because these fires don’t just burn through trees; they can also penetrate deep into the carbon-rich layers of soil underneath many boreal forests, releasing carbon that has been accumulating for hundreds or even thousands of years. These carbon-rich soils, also known as peat, are primarily found in the far north, where the cold, wet climate prevents vegetation from fully decomposing and leads to a buildup of partially decayed organic matter over time. The study found that major models of wildfire carbon emissions — which are largely based on data from fires at lower latitudes, and use satellite images of visible flames to guide their estimates — are not properly accounting for the impact of fire on these underground carbon stores. 
RHNELANDER, Wisconsin — Wisconsin’s Forest Industry Roadmap and Strategies for Tomorrow, or Wisconsin Forests FIRST is a statewide initiative made for developing a plan and roadmap to ensure Wisconsin’s forests remain healthy and productive, while strengthening the timber industry. Wisconsin’s timber industry is one of the leading economic factors in the state, especially in the Northwoods. The new roadmap being developed by Wisconsin Forests FIRST Initiative aims to identify challenges within the industry to ensure long-term success. Wisconsin Council on Forestry chair, Tom Hittle, explains what the roadmap will consist of. …The research for the roadmap will last two years and seek out data-driven insights to support forest health in collaboration with local and statewide experts. The Great Lakes Timber Professionals and the Paper Council received a $1 million grant from the state to pursue the project with the Wisconsin Council on Forestry.
In November 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a 
The US Forest Service is proposing a massive project in a national forest in Michigan that would log land roughly the size of Detroit, expand gravel mining and build roads. The Silver Branch Vegetation Management Project would span about 40 miles from north to south on the eastern edge of the Ottawa National Forest. The area includes habitat for the endangered northern long-eared bat, one of several reasons environmental groups have raised alarms. The proposal includes a wild rice seeding project, improvements to campgrounds and lake access and attempts to bolster habitat for the protected Kirtland’s warbler. The whole thing is projected to last around 30 years, with periodic reviews. …national forests serve multiple purposes [including] recreation, wildlife habitat and timber. Ottawa National Forest officials say the Silver Branch project is not primarily about logging, it’s about getting the right tree mix for forest maintenance and health. However, the project has drawn concerns from a wide range of groups.
Welcome to the Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s Spring 2026 newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading it, and we welcome your feedback.
Transport truck drivers have the most injury claims for work-related crashes of any occupation in BC over the last 10 years. And driver fatigue is a contributing factor in many crashes. Developing a strategy for reducing driver fatigue is smart business. It can help save lives and reduce the risk of injuries. It can also help you meet your legal responsibilities. Use Road Safety at Work’s no-cost resources to create or enhance your fatigue management strategy. Transport truck drivers account for nearly one-quarter of all injury claims from work-related vehicle crashes in our province, according to WorkSafeBC. …A successful fatigue management strategy depends on an effective safety culture and employee engagement. Encourage drivers to report fatigue and to pull over for a short rest when they feel it. Discuss it at safety meetings. Make fatigue part of your fit for duty assessments. Emphasize the importance of adequate sleep.