West Fraser’s Q1 loss narrows as improved pricing lifts core businesses back into positive territory. In related news: Legacy Paper re-opens in Port Huron, Wisconsin; Suzano reports record pulp sales; FPAC says red tape is driving away investment; AF&PA says a Renewable Fuel proposal threatens pulp mills; Canada held interest rates steady, and the US Fed changes leadership but Powell stays on board. Meanwhile: Premier Ford’s strategy for Ontario’s forest sector; and the US Endowment’s 2025 Annual Report.
In Forestry news: BC lowers penalty for exporting unprocessed logs; Mosaic launches pilot for major forest cleanup; Manitoba lacks weather radar to fight northern fires; and ENGOs file lawsuit to stop logging in Montana. Meanwhile: the US Endowment announced $500k RFP for forest health projects; the USDA issued a wildfire readiness memorandum; and Georgia is using prescribed burns to address its wildfire emergency.
Finally, political columnist Vaughn Palmer sides with BC First Nations Chief that DRIPA means co-government.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
The Canadian forest sector is weathering a perfect storm, facing three years of soft markets, protracted geopolitical conflicts and instability in global markets, and combined tariffs and duties averaging 45% on Canadian softwood lumber products entering the US. “While we welcome the measures to improve the speed at which we can build homes, through code and regulatory improvements for modern methods of construction, we still need a clear signal that Canada intends to be a more competitive place for forest sector investment — more responsive regulation, improved transportation supply chain performance, and tax and investment tools that accelerate the use of Canadian wood products here at home while helping companies modernize facilities and keep people working,” said Derek Nighbor, FPAC President and CEO. “We look forward to Minister Hodgson’s release of the Forest Sector Transformation Task Force report, which should provide a much-needed blueprint for enhancing competitiveness and ensuring long-term growth and stability.”
CALGARY, Alberta — Alberta’s government is investing $6 million over three years to support the next generation of skilled trades workers with the launch of the Alberta Trades Discovery Centre. The industry-led initiative will offer junior high and high school students hands-on exposure to careers in the skilled trades before they graduate. Set to open this fall, the Alberta Trades Discovery Centre will provide a dedicated, professional space where students can explore construction trades, learn directly from experienced tradespeople and discover what they are good at and what they enjoy, helping them make informed choices about high school courses, post-secondary pathways and future careers.
A group of Chemainus sawmill workers facing the prospect of being out of work for at least the rest of this year is calling on the federal government to make good on a promise to provide an extra 20 weeks of employment insurance support. About two dozen employees of the Western Forest Products mill, which the company has said will be shuttered until at least 2027, say they have been excluded by Service Canada from a promised 20 extra weeks of EI. “All I’m asking for is for these 20 to 24 people just to be paid the 20 weeks that was promised to them,” said Brian Bull, who has worked at the Chemainus mill for 34 years. The last day of work at the mill was technically July 15, but the majority of the mill was shut down June 18, putting 120 people out of work, he said.
Northern Pulp’s closure plan for its mill site in Abercrombie Point, N.S., is still not complete, but a B.C. court heard Tuesday that the plan could soon begin coming into focus as the company’s creditor protection process continues to play out. …Because the plan is not final, the monitor notes in its report that it’s subject to change. The report says the company will explore options for the mill site and remaining property, which could include trying to market it to sell. Failing that, however, demolition is expected to begin in November. The court also heard Tuesday that the sale of the company’s timberlands to a company owned by billionaire blueberry mogul John Bragg is expected to be complete in the coming days. That sale, worth $235 million, will generate money for the closure plan, the mill’s creditors and to wind up the company pension.
TORONTO— The Ontario government has launched the 
Mother Nature is the expert on growing forests, but sometimes she needs a helping hand. This hand is especially helpful when something disrupts her well-honed process in the first place. Such is the case with the forestry plantations in qax mot and the effort to restore these areas by the Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT). Located at the Morrison Creek headwaters up Lake Trail Rd., the qax mot Conservation Area consists of 22 hectares of riparian forests and forestry plantations. …About 9 per cent of qax mot consists of forestry plantations. While it might seem like planting trees is always a good idea, the way the Douglas fir plantations were installed prohibit the natural regenerative cycle essential to a healthy forest. The trees were planted too closely, making it nearly impossible for light to break through the canopy, leaving the forest floor virtually barren of the undergrowth species we associate with a thriving West Coast forest.
A motion to contact the province and urge it to review and strengthen its forestry policies, including those governing raw-log exports, failed in a 4-3 vote at North Cowichan’s council meeting on April 15. The motion by Coun. Christopher Justice, if it passed, was intended to help improve fibre availability for domestic processing, support value-added wood manufacturing, and sustain forestry employment on Vancouver Island. A number of delegations spoke to council on the issue at the meeting. Arnold Bercov, a former president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada, spoke in favour of council supporting Justice’s motion. …Brian Bull, a long-time worker at the WFP’s curtailed Chemainus sawmill, said if the motion passes, it would create a conversation about the issue at a time when many forest companies and the province don’t want to have that conversation. …Mosaic Forest Management’s Karen Brandt and Nick Broekhuizen also spoke on the issue.
Two men were arrested Friday after a protest blocked access to a Forest Service road near Nelway, preventing a contractor from reaching a worksite. Salmo RCMP responded on April 24 to a demonstration where a small group of people had obstructed the road in opposition to logging activity in the area. The protest is connected to ongoing efforts by the Rosebud Community Watershed Protection Group, which has been advocating for stronger protections in the Rosebud and Lomond Creek watersheds. …Police said officers attempted to negotiate with the group, but the demonstrators refused to leave. Two men were arrested as a result. During the arrest, an officer was allegedly struck in the face by one of the men. A 75-year-old Nelway man was subsequently arrested for assaulting a police officer with a weapon and obstruction, while a 37-year-old man, also from Nelway, was arrested for mischief and obstruction.
The Island has some of B.C.’s most well-known karst features — such as caves, sinkholes and underground rivers — but they’re threatened by logging. Around five years ago, Mark Worthing — heard a company was planning to log a huge drainage of old-growth forest and watershed 350 kilometres north of Victoria, with the only access point being a single road believed to have a karst cave underneath. Worthing, an old-growth forest campaigner [intended to] prove the cave stretched beneath the road, the destructive heavy logging machinery would not be allowed to pass through, and the old growth and watershed would be saved. …While researcher Jenica Ng-Cornish says B.C. has a comprehensively better karst plan than other jurisdictions, it falls short when put into practice. The forestry guidelines are based on aging documents: the 2002 Forest and Range Practices Act and 2003 Karst Management Handbook. There are also six Government Actions Regulation orders on karst protections.
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities announced a new Request for Proposals (RFP) to accelerate the deployment of innovative technology solutions that improve forest health, strengthen forest management capacity and support the long-term strength of working forests, wood markets and forest-reliant communities. Across the country, forests are facing growing pressure from wildfire, pests and disease, fragmentation, limited active management and shifting market conditions. At the same time, new technology is creating practical opportunities to help landowners, forest managers and partners better monitor forests, make informed decisions and carry out work more effectively at the landscape scale. …The Endowment will provide up to $500,000 through this RFP to support one or more projects. …Proposals are due on June 4, 2026, at 5 p.m. EDT.
The Gallatin Wildlife Association, Alliance for The Wild Rockies, Native Ecosystems Council, and Council on Wildlife and Fish claim in a new federal lawsuit the United States Forest Service could be logging and using prescribed burns in Montana’s best-known recreational areas without presenting required research that would demonstrate the project isn’t negatively impacting threatened or endangered species. Their attorneys say logging and burning on more than 5,600 acres between Hyalite and South Cottonwood canyons, south of Bozeman in the Gallatin Mountains would mean cutting through old-growth forests, building new roads and negatively impact threatened species ranging from Canada lynx to Northern goshawks to whitebark pine trees. It claims U.S. Forest Service officials have overlooked or ignored a handful of federal laws to fast-track the project which the groups say will be highly visible to recreational enthusiasts. U.S. Forest Service staff have a policy of not commenting on any pending litigation. 
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) is laying the preliminary groundwork on a proposal to purchase a conservation easement in Lincoln, Mineral and Sanders counties that would protect 20,854 noncontiguous acres of timberland owned by Stimson Lumber Company. The proposed conservation easement, which last year was awarded a $10.2 million grant through the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program, is part of a broader 230,000-acre effort to conserve Stimson’s entire inland timber base in Washington, Idaho and Montana. If approved, the easements would ensure the land remains in timber production, guaranteeing public access while restricting development rights. “This multi-state effort will ensure that these lands continue to be managed for sustainable forestry and support the viability of regional mills through the 1.5 million board feet of merchantable Sustainable Forestry Initiative-certified timber it produces per year and generates $2.1 million,” according to the project description.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is planting nearly 2 million tree seedlings on DNR-managed forest land across the state this spring. Each year, DNR foresters coordinate tree plantings in state forests, wildlife management areas, state parks, and other DNR-managed lands. This spring, 14 species will be planted on more than 3,000 acres throughout the state, including several varieties of pine, spruce and oak, as well as yellow birch, sugar maple, black walnut and tamarack. These reforestation efforts are led by the DNR’s Silviculture Program. Silviculture is the art and science of growing and tending forests to serve a variety of goals, including clean air and water, recreation opportunities, healthy wildlife habitat, biodiversity and timber productivity. Foresters consider current characteristics, climate resilience and future goals for each site to create a plan for planting and ongoing care.
Wekweètì’s senior administrative officer is hoping to get a few million dollars from both the territorial and federal governments to support a biomass district heating project in the community. Fred Behrens said he recently found opportunities to apply for money from the territorial government’s GHG Grant Program and the federal government’s Build Communities Strong Fund for the project. It involves setting up a heat plant across from the community government office in Wekweètì, which is 200 kilometres north of Yellowknife and home to about 100 people. The space will store wood chips and contain three 300-kilowatt biomass boilers that’ll pump heat to 44 homes and 11 institutional buildings through a network of underground pipes. Behrens said the system would be fueled using material gathered from forest thinning and wildfire prevention work around the community. The boilers would also be connected to the community’s diesel generators, using their exhaust as a source of heat too. 
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NAHUNTA, Ga. — Heavy rain slowed the progress of two sprawling southern Georgia wildfires over the weekend, allowing crews to make some progress in containing the blazes that have destroyed more than 100 homes. Although the rain helped the firefighting efforts, it wasn’t “nearly enough to put the fires out” and crews responded to 10 new blazes throughout the drought-stricken state Sunday, the Georgia Forestry Commission said Monday. …Georgia’s biggest blaze, the Pineland Road Fire, has scorched more than 50 square miles and at least 35 homes… about 35 miles north of Florida, which is also dealing with wildfires. The area has been full of highly combustible dead trees and other vegetation since Hurricane Helene carved a destructive path northward in September of 2024. About 60 miles to the northeast, the Highway 82 Fire has been burning since April 20. It has destroyed at least 87 homes and torched more than 35 square miles. It is only 6% contained.