The long-awaited US Northwest Forest Plan update proposes more logging to increase forest resiliency. In related news: California braces for conflict but aligns with Trump on forest management; the US Forest Service commits $265 million for working forests; and Biden marks his climate legacy with a visit to an Amazon rainforest. In Climate news: Tom Pedersen says axing Canada’s carbon tax is a bad idea; Rachel Holt and Susan Simard say BC should ban wood pellet exports; and climate-action optimism dampens at COP29.
In other news: Trudeau and Biden will meet at the G20 summit; Maryland researchers study fire in mass timber buildings; Canada’s housing starts rose 8% in October; Fastmarkets expects 1.5 million US housing starts in 2025; and AF&PA announced US paper recycling rates for 2023.
Finally, rehabbing Mount St. Helens devastated volcanic lands with the help of gophers.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
It is with mixed emotions that the TLA Board of Directors announces Executive Director Bob Brash will be departing the TLA as of March 2025. On behalf of the board and TLA members, we would like to thank Bob for his 5 years of unwavering commitment to the TLA, its board of directors, great staff, and over 400 members. His tireless work advocating for the entire BC forest industry and contractor community has been truly inspiring. …Bob’s steady hand has been instrumental in uniting the forest industry and lobbying against the imposed changes on the industry. Bob fostered many positive relationships at all levels of government as well as other associations and leaders in the forest industry. Bob’s 45+ years of forestry knowledge and experience has been invaluable to the TLA. Please join us in thanking Bob for his passion and leadership to the TLA previously as a former board of directors member followed by 5 years as an excellent executive director, and for his many contributions to the forest industry. We are grateful for your service and hard work and wish you all the best in your future.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has gained the Senate, Electoral College, and popular votes. What does this mean for our forest industry? China is our largest purchaser of logs… In addition, exports of wood furniture from China have risen 24% in the first seven months of 2024 — great news; then along came the Don. The US accounts for 27% of the furniture exports out of China which totalled $20 billion in 2023. The current tariff for Chinese furniture into the US is 5.4%. Trump’s increased tariffs [between 32.8% and 54.3% on furniture] are predicted to result in a reduction in demand for Chinese manufactured product by between 73% and 87% respectively. If we assume the midpoint of 80%, this would result in a total demand reduction of around 350 million pieces of furniture… New Zealand radiata is a favoured product for the Chinese furniture industry… Therefore, any reduction in demand for Chinese furniture products is going to directly impact on us.
Explore the latest in sustainable construction at the Wood Solutions Conference 2024, Edmonton’s premier event for wood and construction innovation. The Wood Solutions Conference Edmonton 2024 is an event that brings together architects, engineers, and designers to discuss advancements and sustainability in construction. Focused on biophilic design principles and wood product innovations, this conference is a must-attend for professionals looking to enhance their expertise and certifications in sustainable building. You can expect insightful and educational seminars, networking opportunities and access to a comprehensive trade show featuring the latest innovation in wood design. The event takes place at the Westin Edmonton, on December 3, 2025. 
Registration is open and delegates from around the world are invited to Brisbane, Australia to attend the 2025 World Conference on Timber Engineering, June 22 – 26. WCTE is the world’s premier scientific dissemination forum for presenting and discussing the latest technical and architectural developments and innovations in timber engineering and construction. The scope covers research, education, and practice topics from all over the world. There is a rise in engineering and architectural firms, developers and investors, now emphasizing timber engineering as a preferred solution for many projects, providing further relevance and importance to the research carried out by the timber design and construction community. A number of exemplar buildings and structures are located within Brisbane, providing an ideal opportunity for site visits as part of WCTE 2025; whilst some stunning examples of modern timber buildings can also be seen in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
The Truck Loggers Association of BC celebrates 80 years in January at their annual convention. Early bird pricing ends tomorrow! This year’s event offers TLA members and non-members an all-inclusive registration pass, granting access to all sessions and events throughout the convention. Tickets to Suppliers Night and Lunch on the Trade Show Floor can be purchased on an individual basis.
Across the far reaches of northwestern Ontario and over the provincial border into southeastern Manitoba lies the enormous swath of forested, lake-speckled land that is Treaty 3 territory. At more than 142,000 square kilometres, it is larger than the entire country of Greece and home to 28 First Nations communities with a total population of about 25,000 – an indication of just how rich in natural resources this area is. These natural resources have long been a source of contention between the settlers looking to profit from them and the Indigenous Peoples caring for and protecting the land, but much has changed in the last 15 years. …Across Canada, the forestry industry is working to build more meaningful, equitable partnerships with Indigenous Peoples. Miitigoog Limited Partnership (LP), a joint venture between Weyerhaeuser, eight Treaty 3 First Nations and other industry stakeholders, offers a compelling blueprint.
The Government of Canada announced an additional $2.4 million in funding to the Bruce Trail Conservancy through the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund. This is part of the Government of Canada’s largest conservation campaign in the country to meet its emissions reduction targets and protect 30 percent of land and water in Canada by 2030. This funding is in addition to a $5 million investment through the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, awarded to the Bruce Trail Conservancy in 2022. The funding will be used to help advance conservation goals with urgent Niagara Escarpment land securement. This additional funding advances conservation of over 300 hectares of important habitat and contributes to capturing and storing greenhouse gas emissions by securing carbon-rich forest, wetland, and grassland ecosystems within the Niagara Escarpment. …It will also improve the connectivity of the iconic Bruce Trail and expand recreational opportunities across all seasons for activities such as nature appreciation, hiking, birdwatching, snowshoeing, and more.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service has committed over $265 million to conserve nearly 335,000 acres of important forestlands across 17 states. This investment, supported by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, is part of the Forest Legacy Program and aims to protect working forests that contribute to rural economies. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack emphasized that these forests provide clean water, habitats, recreation, and jobs, but face threats from development. “This investment is key to keeping the economic, social, and ecological benefits these forests provide,” Vilsack said. Since 2021, the USDA has invested $758 million in conserving more than 500,000 acres. Major projects include the Pee Dee Basin Initiative in South Carolina, the largest land conservation project in state history, and Washington’s Stimson Timberland Legacy Project, which conserves nearly 88,000 acres.
The U.S. Forest Service has released its long-awaited proposal to update the landmark Northwest Forest Plan, but many groups said they were unsure of its future with a new administration coming to power in 2025. The document, years in the making, lays out four alternatives for future management of national forests in Washington, Oregon and California by updating a 1994 law crafted by the Clinton administration. The 630,000-acre Siuslaw National Forest along the central Oregon coast would be heavily affected by any decisions laid out in a final plan. A 120-day public comment period begins now, which the agency says will help shape a final plan. “Much has changed in society and science since the Northwest Forest Plan was created nearly 30 years ago,” said Jacque Buchanan, regional forester for the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region. “We’re amending the plan to address today’s challenges [honoring the] original goals, while enhancing wildfire resilience.”
Forests are being cut and degraded at an alarming rate, especially in the tropics, with the expansion of agricultural land causing almost 90% of forest reduction, according to a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. A first-of-its-kind law called the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), was designed to take steps to counter this. …The legislation was heralded by proponents as a breakthrough in the global battle against forest loss, it came into force in June 2023 and was due to be implemented at the end of this year. But since it was passed, several agriculture ministries — including those of Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden — have called for implementation to be postponed. …in 2023, the world lost some 37,000 square kilometers of tropical forest… A 12-month delay would mean additional global forest loss of about 2,300 square kilometers, according to EU studies.
A new partnership could see seven public buildings heated with wood chips. The Chapleau District Heating Project brings together the Township of Chapleau with Commercial BioEnergy Inc., a northern Ontario biomass energy company dedicated to assisting communities in reducing their dependence on fossil fuels. The project will determine the feasibility of constructing a centralized biomass fuelled heating plant to deliver heating to seven public buildings within the community. This will involve converting existing heating sources from propane or electricity to biomass generated heat using locally sourced wood chips. It will be the first such project in North America of this scale, according to the project partners. …A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of up to 90 per cent for all targeted buildings combined is anticipated.
In just over five years, the world will arrive at its first major checkpoint on climate action: a 2030 deadline to meet a series of green targets aimed at avoiding the most devastating impacts of global warming. These goals … are intended to put the global economy on a path to reducing the amount of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere. Yet … carbon dioxide emissions hit a new record last year. That means the world faces a steeper, far costlier and more disruptive journey to reach net zero by 2050. And that was before the re-election of Donald Trump. With a second term in the White House, Trump is unlikely to steer the world’s second-biggest polluter to decarbonize faster than the current pace. In fact, Trump has vowed to undo many of the nation’s expansive climate policies and withdraw from global cooperation. The consequences will extend far beyond the US.
Japan’s Enshu Forest Energy started commercial operations at its 7.1MW biomass-fired power plant in Fukuroi city of Shizuoka prefecture on 16 November. The Enshu plant will burn 90,000t/yr of wood chips made from unused forest materials and gathered mainly from Shizuoka prefecture. It can generate around 53GWh/yr of electricity, which will be sold under the country’s feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme for 20 years. The plant was initially scheduled to come on line in December, but started two weeks earlier as Enshu Forest Energy, the operating company, completed its safety check and test runs earlier than expected.
Is it possible to heat the planet to dangerous levels and then cool it down later? Economic models charting the world’s path to net zero emissions say yes. However, this bet on future large-scale carbon removal risks becoming a “get out of jail free” clause that allows high emissions to continue inflaming the climate crisis. A new study by leading scientists has criticised the overconfidence of policymakers and climate modellers – even the authors of the 2015 Paris agreement – for making this gamble. Their research highlights the pitfalls of assuming temperature thresholds can be safely exceeded and then reinstated. They’re right – and the problem runs even deeper. The challenge of implementing carbon removal at the scale required isn’t simply a matter of the technology being available and cost effective to deploy. Large-scale CO₂ removal depends on there being vast amounts of land to store carbon in trees and soil.
POMPTON LAKES, N.J. — Fire crews on both coasts of the United States continued battling wildfires on Sunday, including a blaze in New York and New Jersey that killed a parks employee and another in Southern California that destroyed more than 130 structures and damaged dozens more. Firefighters continued making progress against a wildfire northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County that broke out Wednesday and quickly exploded in size due to dry, warm and gusty Santa Ana winds. The Mountain Fire prompted thousands of residents to flee their homes and was 26% contained as of Sunday, up from 21% the previous day. The fire’s size remains around 32 square miles. …Meanwhile, New York State Police said they were investigating the death of 18 year-old Dariel Vasquez, who died when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon as he battled a major brush fire in New York state’s Greenwood Lake near the New Jersey line.
The Shoe Fire that burned more than 5,000 acres north of Lake Shasta was caused by a landowner who lost control of an unpermitted burn that he was doing on his own property, the U.S. Forest Service said. The fire started on Oct. 9 before it was finally contained on Nov. 9. An investigation determined the fire started within a meadow on private land before it spread to adjacent properties and National Forest lands, the Forest Service posted on its Facebook page. Forest Service spokesman Tom Stokesberry said the man has been cited for violations of federal law. He did not know the specific charges. The Forest Service also did not release the name of the landowner. …Cost to suppress the fire reached is an estimated $42.5 million, according to the National Interagency Fire Center’s situation report.