Northern Pulp announced it will sell it assets after failing to secure new mill funding—Nova Scotia minister says province will continue to pursue a new mill. In other Business news: Amix Marine moves to Port Alberni, BC; two Idaho forestry businesses are devastated by wildfire; and Drax has a new VP of Corporate Affairs. Meanwhile: Trump strikes a trade deal with Indonesia; the EU threatens counter-tariffs; Earthsight exposes illegal Russian wood; and Canada’s inflation nudges up to 1.9%.
In Forestry/Wildfire news: air quality concerns linger as new wildfires are confirmed, and smoke blankets central Canada; Australian crews deploy to help fight Canadian fires; BC Forest Practices Board audits BCTS operations near Merritt; the Tłı̨chǫ Nation launches a reforestation plan; and Eastern Oregon’s old-growth trees are in decline. Meanwhile: leaders in BC’s North Cowichan, South Dakota’s Black Hills, and Oregon call for forest policy support.
Finally, and sadly, logger Ron Hollingsworth, died in a workplace accident on BC’s Sunshine Coast.
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.
University of Oregon researchers hope to make wood — often overlooked in health care facilities — more commonplace in those settings. Exposed wood, they’ve found, can resist microbial growth after a brief wetting. During the study, wood samples tested lower for levels of bacterial abundance than an empty plastic enclosure used as a control. “People generally think of wood as unhygienic in a medical setting,” said assistant professor Mark Fretz, co-director of the UO’s Institute for Health in the Built Environment and principal investigator for the study. “But wood actually transfers microbes at a lower rate than other less porous materials such as stainless steel.” Numerous studies support those properties of wood. A UO-led research team including scientists from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego and Portland State University wanted to explore what happens when wood gets wet and then dries. 
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 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.
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.
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.
Fire hazard assessments and hazard abatement are key activities in reducing the potential threat of wildfires arising from fuels left on the land base following industrial activities. Under the Wildfire Act a person carrying out an industrial activity or prescribed activity is required to assess and abate fire hazards as necessary. The BC Wildfire Service has developed 
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 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Northland congressmen are pushing for stronger forest management practices in Canada. Representatives Tom Tiffany of Northwest Wisconsin and Pete Stauber of Northeast Minnesota were included on the letter sent to Canada’s ambassador Kirsten Hillman urging better management of forests to help with wildfire risk. In the letter, the lawmakers wrote: “As I’m sure you know, this is not the first year Canadian wildfire smoke has been an issue. …While we know a key driver of this issue has been a lack of active forest management, we’ve also seen things like arson as another way multiple large wildfires have ignited in Canada. With all the technology that we have at our disposal, both in preventing and fighting wildfires, this worrisome trend can be reversed if proper action is taken.” …The letter asked the ambassador to address the issue with key Canadian agencies, such as the Canadian Forest Service.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse, along with other politicians, introduced the Joint Chiefs Reauthorization Act. This legislation would reauthorize the program to better support forest and grassland restoration projects on both public and private lands. “Our Western forests, grasslands, and watersheds are as important to our economy as the Lincoln Tunnel is to New York, but they are under threat from a changing climate and consistent federal underinvestment,” said Bennet. …Bennet mentioned that strengthening the program will ensure that restoring landscapes, protecting water supplies, and reducing wildfire risks can continue for future generations. “Western and Northern Colorado are all too familiar with the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires,” said Neguse.
Could President Donald Trump’s strategies help revive Washington’s diminished timber industry? For nearly a century, Washington’s timber industry produced everything from paper and two-by-fours to the massive wood beams that hold up the Tacoma Dome. Lumber mills were the backbone of logging towns throughout the Northwest. But the industry has been on a long decline since the 1990s. Now, Trump wants to reduce foreign competition and increase US logging to bring back those jobs. To find out whether it could work, KUOW visited a sawmill in Morton, a small town in the foothills of Mount Rainier. …Today, the state has about 100,000 timber-related jobs, including mills. That means Washington has lost about a quarter of its timber jobs in the last thirty years. The loss has been devastating to rural communities built around those sawmills, like Morton, Washington. …The Hampton Mill is still the economic heart of the community today. It’s survived the waves of closures over the years.
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.” 
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.
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.”
MULLAN, Idaho — The Bureau of Land Management is offering the Gentle Annie Timber Sale, totaling approximately 493,000 board feet, for commercial thinning on 100 acres near Mullan, east of Kellogg in Shoshone County. The harvested timber will supply critical materials for construction and other industries, supporting jobs across Idaho’s Panhandle. This thinning project will remove dead and downed wood caused by insects and disease, leaving an average of 55 trees per acre. The result: a healthier, more fire-resilient forest. “We’re excited to continue our work in the Mullan Urban Interface and hope this timber sale will help reduce the town’s risk of catastrophic wildland fire,” said BLM District Manager Kurt Pindel. “We’ll also be limiting the spread of insects and disease within the timber stand, as well as harvesting some merchantable timber for the local economy.” 
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) completed its review of a proposal to permanently protect 53,000 acres of private timberland in Flathead and Lincoln counties, recommending the state purchase a conservation easement that would keep the working forest in timber production while guaranteeing year-round public access and preserving wildlife habitat. The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Aug. 21 in Helena. …In total, the project would encompass 85,752 acres of private timberland owned by Green Diamond Resource Company. The first phase of the project… received final approval in December. The new easement would encompass forestlands in the Cabinet Mountains between Kalispell and Libby. …If approved, Green Diamond would maintain ownership of the land under an easement owned by FWP [allowing them to] sustainably harvest wood, preclude development, protect important wildlife habitat and associated key landscape connectivity, and provide permanent free public access to the easement lands.
In the face of a backlash, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee has revamped his public land sell-off measure to target only Bureau of Land Management holdings while also declaring, “we’re just getting started.” A reconciliation budget proposal revised by Lee’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee targets BLM land within five miles of undefined “population centers.” It puts checkerboard BLM holdings back on a priority list for his “mandatory disposal” measure and takes lands under permit for grazing off the auction block. The revision would shift 15% of revenue to local governments and conservation. The bill would appropriate $5 million to carry out the mandatory sales, which are designed to be offered within 60 days of passage and regularly thereafter. …But opposition to Lee’s measure comes from “all walks of life,” said Land Tawney, former president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. That includes “Democrats, Independents, Republicans, hunters, anglers, bird watchers, kayakers, ranchers [and] loggers,” he said.
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.
A new study in The Journal of Cleaner Production confirms that Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification contributes to maintaining and increasing forest cover, especially in lower-middle income countries. These findings reinforce the conclusions of previous research and provide insights on adapting regional certification strategies to increase sustainable forest management. The study investigated the critical role of FSC certification in promoting sustainable forest management and mitigating deforestation across diverse economic and climatic contexts. Using dynamic panel data model and Generalized Method of Moments estimations on 70 countries from 2000 – 2021, the researchers examined forest cover as a measure for impact of FSC certification. Results indicate that FSC certification contributes to maintaining and increasing forest cover across diverse economic and climatic contexts. This positive impact is most strongly observed in lower-middle income countries. Scaling up certification and integrating it into national policies could benefit countries of this economic category. 
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has unveiled a broad package of measures aimed to boosting forest growth and pollution-absorbing carbon sinks. The moves will help Finland reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2035, as required by law and stipulated in the government programme, ministry officials said on Friday. The agency is led by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah, chair of the Christian Democrats. The government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) approved the financing of forest-related climate measures during its mid-term policy review session last spring and in its second supplementary budget of 2025. The measures include moves to step up fertilisation of forests and expansion of the forest cover in an effort to increase carbon sequestration, in other words woodlands’ capacity to absorb and store carbon from emissions that would otherwise contribute to global warming.
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada will host the largest gathering of the Canadian wood pellet industry. Biomass and wood pellets play a key role in ensuring Canada has renewable and responsible energy. Join us in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 23-24, 2025.
In 2023, the Canada wildfires that incinerated more than 17 million hectares of boreal forest were so hot they … smoldered underground all winter. That heat created vast columns of rising air, carrying dust, volatile organic compounds, and huge quantities of a simple particle with the potential to exacerbate climate change: black carbon. Commonly known as soot, black carbon is a type of pollution formed by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels or biomass such as trees. It’s a risk to human health, having been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. It’s also a potent short-term warming agent. Black carbon absorbs copious heat from the sun and, when it coats a layer of ice or snow, reduces its ability to reflect solar energy back into space. …The research on black carbon needs to be updated as more becomes known about the aerosol, and that makes tracking wildfire smoke even more important. 
EGANVILLE, Ontario — The Government of Ontario is protecting workers and jobs in the forest sector by investing over $9.1 million in five research, innovation and modernization projects in Eastern Ontario. The investments from the Forest Biomass Program will help boost Ontario’s forest sector’s competitive advantage by creating new jobs, increasing productivity and opening up opportunities for revenue streams in new markets. …The government’s investment is supporting projects related to underused wood and mill by-products, known as forest biomass. …These projects will help create good-paying local jobs while supporting the delivery of high-quality, made-in-Ontario products to market at a lower cost. In addition, they will strengthen Eastern Ontario’s economy by creating added demand for the harvesting, hauling and trucking industries, and develop new opportunities for Indigenous communities to participate in the growing forestry industry.
Many forests are losing their winter snowpack as global temperatures rise, and that could substantially slow their growth – and reduce the amount of carbon they remove from the atmosphere. Current projections “are not incorporating that complexity of winter climate change, so they are likely overestimating what the future carbon storage will be”, says 
Young forests regrowing from land where mature woodlands have been cut down have a key role to play in removing billions of tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and combating climate change, a new study reveals. …Forest regeneration offers a cost-effective method for carbon removal, but rates vary by location and forest age. Researchers have discovered that young secondary forests, particularly those aged between 20 and 40 years, exhibit the highest rates of carbon removal—locking away up to eight times more carbon per hectare than newly regenerating forests. …Their study reveals that if 800 million hectares of restorable forest begin regenerating in 2025, up to 20.3 billion metric tons of carbon could be removed by 2050, but delays sharply reduce this potential.
Overlapping work activities are one of forestry’s most complex safety challenges; without proper controls, phase congestion can pose serious hazards to workers. However, with proper management, forestry operations can achieve safe, efficient phase integration. “Preventing injuries and fatalities takes ongoing commitment to coordinated planning, qualified supervision, worker training, and clear communication, says Tom Pawloski, manager of prevention programs and services at WorkSafeBC. Phase congestion occurs when multiple harvesting phases overlap in the same or nearby area, often due to insufficient time or distance between phases. It often builds gradually and can go unnoticed until a serious incident occurs. …When phases aren’t properly coordinated, workers face greater risks of being struck by or caught between equipment or missing other hazards. …Safe phase integration begins before work starts. …”Phase congestion doesn’t always show up right away … staying proactive, adjusting plans as conditions change, and maintaining clear communication is essential to keeping workers safe,” Pawlowski says.
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. 
Firefighters across Europe continue to battle forest fires amid blistering heatwaves, as blazes broke out in Germany, Greece and Turkey on Saturday. Hundreds of German firefighters have been battling blazes for days in the forested regions of Thuringia and Saxony, including the Gohrischheide nature reserve near the Brandenburg border. …Firefighters in Greece made progress in containing a wildfire that broke out on Friday afternoon in eastern Attica. …Strong winds and dry conditions have raised the risk of wildfires across Greece, prompting heightened vigilance by emergency services. In Turkey, firefighters have reportedly brought several large wildfires under control in the western Izmir province. …Ground crews, supported by planes and helicopters, worked around the clock for three days to contain the fires, according to the Turkish forestry directorate. …Turkey also reportedly sent two aircraft and 11 fire engines along with support vehicles to Syria on Saturday to help in the firefighting efforts there.