Blog Archives

Froggy Foibles

‘Holy smokes’: Huge log believed to be 50 million years old unearthed at N.W.T. mine

By Liny Lamberink
CBC News
March 26, 2025
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: Canada, Canada West

A log of wood believed to be 50 million years old has been hauled up from below ground at Diavik diamond mine in the N.W.T. — a find that researchers say is remarkable but not uncommon… the mine described it as a 136-kilogram (300-pound) log from a redwood tree that it found 240 metres below ground. In an email, a Diavik spokesperson said it was discovered on Feb. 20 during regular mining at the A21 pit while miners were scooping kimberlite ore.  The spokesperson said pieces of wood are regularly recovered from Diavik’s kimberlite pipes but this one is notable because of its size. Scientists know that 50 million years ago the region would have been a humid temperate forest ecosystem with metasequoia, hazel, chestnut and oak-like trees.”It would almost have looked like Nashville, Tennessee in a way, climate-wise.”

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Business & Politics

Democrats push vote on tariffs targeting Canada as Trump calls for Republican support

By Kelly Geraldine Malone
Business in Vancouver
April 2, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Democrats in the U.S. Senate are moving forward on a resolution to block sweeping tariffs targeting Canada as President Donald Trump presses Republican lawmakers to continue backing his trade agenda. Sen. Tim Kaine plans to force a vote on Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, also called IEEPA, to declare an emergency over fentanyl trafficking to hit Canada with devastating duties. “The president has justified the imposition of these tariffs on, in my view, a made-up emergency,” Kaine said Tuesday. U.S. government data shows the volume of fentanyl seized at the northern border is tiny. The Annual Threat Assessment report, released last week, does not mention Canada in its section on illicit drugs and fentanyl. The vote will test whether Republican senators continue to back Trump’s tariffs on Canada — tariffs that, according to polling, are not supported by most Americans.

Related content:

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Policy to blame as B.C.’s forestry squeeze gets worse

By Jerome Gessaroli, senior fellow at ResourceWorks
Business in Vancouver
March 31, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Another wave of sawmill closures swept across British Columbia in 2024, from West Fraser’s Fraser Lake facility to Canfor’s operations in Polar, Vanderhoof, and Fort St. John. As the Northern View reported, Chief Robert Michelle of the Stellat’en warned that “the economic impact for our communities will be dire,” citing job losses not just in the Fraser Lake mill but also among log haulers, restaurant workers and gas station employees… It is clear that current conditions cannot sustain profitable operations, leaving businesses struggling and workers unemployed. The fundamental issue lies in how Victoria approaches forest policy. The government faces mounting pressure from multiple stakeholders. Environmental groups advocate for reduced harvesting levels, while Indigenous communities seek both greater access to timber supplies and a larger role in forest management. While environmental protection and Indigenous rights are important considerations in forest management, and rightly so, the government’s approach has failed to balance these priorities with economic sustainability.

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Finance & Economics

U.S. Chamber Comments on Section 232 Investigation of Imports of Timber and Lumber

US Chamber of Commerce
April 1, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Dear Deputy Assistant Secretary Longnecker: The U.S. Chamber strongly opposes the establishment of tariffs or quantitative restrictions on imports of timber, lumber, and their derivative products such as paper, cardboard, and pulp. Imports of these goods do not represent a national security risk, as addressed below. Imposing tariffs on these goods would raise costs for U.S. businesses and home construction, undermine the export success enjoyed by the U.S. paper industry, and reduce incomes in many U.S. communities… It is unreasonable to suggest that imports of these goods represent a national security risk, in part because the chief source of imports in this sector is Canada, a NATO ally and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) partner… It is not reasonable to claim that imports of these goods from a close ally somehow pose a threat to U.S. national security.

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New Forests, Oji set up US$300 million forestry fund

By Tom King
The Asset
March 26, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

In a move that merges sustainable finance with industrial-scale environmental stewardship, Sydney-based natural capital investment manager New Forests has partnered with Japan’s Oji Holdings Corporation, one of the world’s largest pulp and paper producers, to establish the Future Forest Innovations Fund. With an initial commitment of US$300 million ( US$297 million from Oji and US$3 million from New Forests ), the fund aims to acquire and manage 70,000 hectares of plantation forests across Southeast Asia, North and Latin America, and Africa… The partnership signals an alignment between traditional manufacturing and ecological impact investing. Oji Holdings, which already manages 635,000 hectares of plantation forests worldwide, is leveraging this initiative to meet its 2030 net sequestration goal of 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, integrating climate action into its global forest footprint.

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Bill restores wildland homeowners’ insurance

April 2, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics

The Arizona House of Representatives recently passed out of the House, a wildfire insurance risk modeling bill, designed to reduce homeowner insurance cancellations, and help residents in wildfire prone regions to obtain homeowners’ insurance. Sponsored by District 7 Representative Dave Marshal, the bill would reduce the insurance companies practice of “blanket” cancellations of homeowner insurance. The key element of the legislation would cause the insurance companies to apply a wildfire risk modeling assessment on “individual” properties rather than the “blanket” assessments practice of entire neighborhoods… Property owners who want a cozy home in a small canyon surrounded by dense brush and low-level trees are at great risk of losing insurance coverage and losing their home to fire.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Canadian Wood Council releases new Environmental Product Declarations for 5 Canadian manufactured wood products

Canadian Wood Council
April 2, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

The Canadian Wood Council (CWC) is pleased to announce the release of five new Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for Canadian softwood lumber, oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, trusses, and prefabricated wood I-joists. These EPDs provide comprehensive, transparent environmental data on the potential impacts associated with the cradle-to-gate life cycle stages of these essential wood products. Developed as regionalized, industry-wide business-to-business (B2B) Type III declarations, the EPDs comply with the highest international standards, including ISO 21930, ISO 14025, ISO 14040, ISO 14044, the governing product category rules, and ASTM General Program Instructions for Type III EPDs. This ensures credible, third-party verified environmental impact data, supporting designers, builders, and policymakers in making informed, sustainable material choices. The EPDs are available for download from the Canadian Wood Council’s digital resource hub.

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Oregon’s timber industry: Lumbering back?

By Michael Dunne
Oregon on the Record
March 31, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

Oregon State University

No industry in Oregon has suffered as much decline over the decades than timber. What was once THE key product in our state is not what it used to be. The fact that our new nicknames of Silicone Forest and Silicone Shire illustrate how tech is seen as our key industry now. Yet, technology may be a key factor in reviving our timber industry. On this edition of the show, you’ll hear from Iain Macdonald of the TallWood Design Institute and Tom DeLuca, Dean of the OSU College of Forestry about how technology in the form of Mass Timber is leading to a resurgence in the timber industry here in Oregon. Aimed to both collaborate and compete with steel and concrete, Mass Timber is a renewable resource that can build structures that are getting taller and more robust than once thought possible.

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Built by Nature Launches 2025 Prize to Celebrate Global Excellence in Responsible Timber Construction

Cision Newswire
March 26, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Built by Nature (BbN) is excited to announce the launch of its 2025 global Prize, recognising exemplary real-world applications of the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction in predominantly timber buildings. On April 7, the grant-funding network will open applications for completed and in-use projects, including new builds, renovations, and significant extensions. The Prize will highlight excellence in demonstration of the Principles, with winners announced at the annual Built by Nature Summit in October. Winning buildings will be showcased at high-profile events and a documentary film premiered at COP, included in an international study tour, and presented as examples of responsible timber construction on the Built by Nature Knowledge Hub.

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Self-densified super-strong wood: a sustainable alternative to traditional structural materials

EurekAlert!
March 21, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Wood, a traditional and sustainable structural material, has long been used in construction and furniture due to its availability and mechanical properties. However, natural wood’s strength is often insufficient for advanced engineering applications. Now, researchers from Nanjing University have developed a novel self-densification strategy to create super-strong wood that could replace metals and alloys. The team used a combination of partial delignification and a LiCl/DMAc swelling process to release and reorganize wood fibers. This method allows the fibers to move inward and fill the cell lumen, followed by air-drying to achieve self-densification. Unlike traditional compressed wood, which relies on unidirectional compression, this self-densified wood exhibits uniform shrinkage in the transverse area, maintaining its longitudinal dimension.

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Forestry

There are ways to support the forestry industry though tariffs, duties

By Curtis Galbraith
EverythingGP
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The senior vice president of the Alberta Forest Products Association says there are a few things people in the Peace can do to support an industry dealing with tariffs and duties. Brock Mulligan says there is “a huge opportunity to build more with our wood.” “We see a growing demand for recreation centres. We think that a lot of them should look like the Philip J. Currie (Dinosaur) Museum out in the County of Grande Prairie. Amazing, beautiful wood building.” “We also see increasing urbanization and folks living in increasingly taller apartment buildings and those should be built with resources that are made here in Grande Prairie.” Mulligan says there are 2500 forestry jobs in or near Grande Prairie between the Canfor, International Paper, Weyerhaeuser and West Fraser mills.

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Caribou herds will be destroyed under Alberta government draft plan, say conservation groups

By Peter Shokeir
Rocky Mountain Outlook
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Conservation groups are warning that a proposed Alberta government plan for a sub-region in west-central Alberta would wipe out two caribou populations if implemented. The draft plan for the Upper Smoky sub-region would enable the U.S.-based timber company Weyerhaeuser to entirely clearcut the last winter range forests… A Caribou Task Force, made up of Indigenous groups, industry, municipalities, various user groups and interest groups, had been established to advise the Alberta government on Upper Smoky sub-regional planning. These multi-stakeholder conversations were held from 2019 to 2021; however, none of the task force’s recommendations related to caribou conservation and recovery were reflected in the report. Public engagement runs until June 25 and can be completed online.

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First Nation-led innovation in forestry uses cultural burns and thinning to bring back food and wildlife

Bulkley Valley Research Centre
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jordan Gabriel

The Silviculture Innovation Program (SIP) of the Bulkley Valley Research Centre (BVRC), recently launched its first episode of a new series titled ‘Out On A Limb’. The goal of the series is to uplift voices of trailblazers in B.C. communities who are leading innovative management practices for the betterment of the forests of tomorrow. “The series helps tell stories to inspire and motivate practitioners who are carrying out innovative forestry practices by celebrating creative solutions to complex problems” shared Gillian Chow-Fraser, Extension Specialist for the SIP, a program created following the government-led Old Growth Strategic Review (2020) focused on increasing the uses of alternative forestry practices in B.C. The inaugural episode, released on March 31, features Líl̓wat Forestry Ventures (LFV) and highlights their unique holistic approach to forest management.

[Watch the first episode of this series on YouTube here]

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Industrial update: Helping Cariboo forests regrow

By Andie Mollins
The Williams Lake Tribune
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

When it comes to reforesting areas made bare by natural causes, it’s the Ministry of Forests’ job to oversee the progress. “Wildfire…really is the biggest thing we’re focusing on,” said Shelley Barlow, the ministry’s regional silviculture specialist for the Cariboo. According to a February 2018 report by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, 80 per cent of the area affected by the 2017 wildfires in B.C. was in the Cariboo. About one million hectares of forests were burnt in the region, and 609,000 of those hectares were part of the Cariboo’s timber harvesting land base. Prior to 2017, the ministry was planting up to two million trees per year in the Williams Lake forestry district. Since then, Barlow said this number has at least tripled.

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Forest fire season begins today

By Jeff Turl
The Bay Today
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

There is still plenty of snow around, but today, April 1, marks the first day of the fire season. That means Ontario’s Outdoor Burning Regulations are now in effect for the Northeast Fire Region. There are currently no active wildland fires in the Northeast Region. If you live in Northwestern, Northeastern or North-Central Ontario, you must follow certain rules to have an outdoor fire. Also, check with your local municipality for any rules it may have. By law, you need a fire permit to burn wood, brush, leaves and grass outside during the fire season of April 1 – October 31.

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Acadia to lead groundbreaking research to save Nova Scotia’s hemlocks, mitigate impacts of climate change

Education News Canada
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Dr. Kirk Hillier

At first glance, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) – a tiny, aphid-like insect barely bigger than a millimetre – hardly seems threatening. Beaded among leaves like garland, the insect’s fluffy white bodies could be mistaken for the world’s smallest cotton balls. You might even say they look cute. But those who understand the invasive critter and the devastation it can cause know better than to coo over evidence of HWA among nearby trees. Nova Scotia’s old-growth hemlock forests, the meal of choice for this insect, are now under significant threat if nothing is done – and the effects of these forests being wiped out would be catastrophic… “It’s not just a change in the landscape that’s at risk – but cascading ecological and economic destruction when entire tree species are lost,” said Dr. Hillier.

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Logging company fined $16K for ‘Yellow Lake Fire’

By MI Jewkes
ABC4
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The U.S. Forest Service has imposed the maximum penalty of $16,000 on the logging company it holds responsible for starting last autumn’s Yellow Lake Fire. The penalty comes after a three-month-long investigation conducted by fire investigators with the U.S. Forest Service. At about 11 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2024, the only person on shift at the Duchesne Ridge Fuelwood Sale Site in the Uinta Mountains left for the day. Just over four hours later, dispatch received the first report of smoke in the area. According to the report, the fire was most likely started by friction from the logging company’s equipment. Despite having officials on the scene early, the fire grew to 150 acres overnight. The fire eventually became Utah’s largest wildfire in 2024, growing to over 33,000 acres.

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Wildfires in California are threatening the world’s oldest trees

By Jeanine Santucci
USA Today
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Firefighters in central California were working Tuesday to contain a wildfire near the Nevada border threatening a forest home to the oldest trees in the world, after making good progress on Monday, officials said. The Silver Fire broke out Sunday near Bishop, California, in Inyo County and has burned ‎1,589 acres. It was 50% contained as of Tuesday morning. “The fire still threatens structures, critical infrastructure, watersheds, endangered species, and cultural resources,” the Cal Fire San Bernardino Unit said in a post to social media on Tuesday. Less than 15 miles from the fire, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest contains trees that are more than 4,000 years old. The Patriarch Tree is the world’s largest bristlecone pine tree.

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Meet the Coloradans Working To Save the West’s Wildfire-Ravaged Forests

By Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan
5280 | The Denver Magazine
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

There are a number of ecological incentives for keeping the West forested. Trees stabilize soil, preventing flooding and landslides. They keep sediment out of rivers and streams, protecting aquatic habitats and drinking water. Forests help preserve mountain snowpack, replenishing groundwater reserves. They provide a home for wildlife, from bugs and birds to elk and black bears. And trees sequester carbon, a crucial tool in the fight against climate change. Beyond science, though, the desire to preserve forests feels deeply personal. “Forests are like Colorado’s DNA,” says Catherine Schloegel, watershed forest manager for the Colorado branch of the national nonprofit the Nature Conservancy. “We love to hike in them, bike in them, ski through the trees. They’re a huge reason why we live here. The legacy of Colorado is our forests.”

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Controversial logging bill makes it through Oregon committee

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Lawmakers have moved forward a controversial logging bill that could open the state up to lawsuits if Oregon doesn’t log enough timber in a given year. Representatives in the House Committee on Natural Resources unanimously advanced House Bill 3103 early Monday. The bill would allow counties and the timber industry to sue the state forester if Oregon logs less than the Department of Forestry forecasts in its once-a-decade estimates. There are exceptions if a large mass of trees are destroyed by wildfires, diseases or storms… Every decade, the Oregon Department of Forestry estimates how much timber it could log from state land for the next 10 years. Timber industry representatives and county officials say the department tends to over-promise and under deliver, making it difficult for them to plan ahead.

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Wilderness permits for Oregon parks returns despite uncertainty over ranger staffing

By Zach Urness
The Register-Guard
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The sometimes controversial permit system meant to limit crowds in three of Oregon’s most popular wilderness areas will return this summer, despite questions about who will enforce the system following widespread layoffs and another round of anticipated cuts to the U.S. Forest Service… The agency stated: “For the Deschutes, we will still have a wilderness ranger presence this summer. We also have a dedicated cadre of trained volunteer wilderness backcountry rangers who focus on education and mitigating impacts as well as a robust volunteer group that staffs wilderness trailheads to ensure awareness of and to gain compliance with the permit system (including redirecting people who do not have permits to other opportunities within the 60 available self-issued permit wilderness trailheads).”

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Wood is key to building. Importing it is worse than responsible Washington logging – Opinion

By Amy Harding
The News Tribune
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Pacific Northwest is fortunate to have vast forests and ideal conditions for growing trees quickly. These forests have long been a cornerstone of our rural economies while also protecting streams, sequestering carbon and supporting wildlife. However, we face a troubling trend: a decline in local timber production and a growing reliance on imported lumber. We use science for active forest management with the toughest regulations in the world, we do forestry the best here. It’s time to prioritize local timber and rebuild a robust, sustainable industry right here in Washington… Prioritizing local wood production is a win-win for the Pacific Northwest. Wood is good, but local wood is best if we want to restore a vital, create economic stability and protect our environment.

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What will Trump’s order on logging mean for Montana’s timber industry?

By Ellis Juhlin
mtpr.org
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

It’s a cold day at Sun Mountain Lumber in Deer Lodge, Montana. Outreach Forester Sean Steinebach walks toward the mill’s massive kiln where freshly cut two-by-fours are dried. You can feel the heat radiating off the fresh boards. He stops and inhales. “It smells fresh and it smells bright and it smells wild,” he says. The mill’s lumber yard is filled with stacks of Douglas fir and lodgepole pine logs that will soon become lumber. Having a steady and reliable supply of logs is crucial to keeping the mill in business, says Steinebach. “We drive the economics of Powell County for sure, Anaconda, Deer Lodge County. We’ve got a lot of employees that live there. Granite County, we’ve got employees there. We’re a big impact in the whole state, I think. Forest products in general is a huge impact in the state of Montana.”

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Pests thrived in Colorado forests in 2024, report says

By Marilyn Moore
9News Colorado
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A warm and dry 2024 wasn’t great for Colorado’s forests, according to the Colorado State Forest Service.  The agency’s annual forest health report released Wednesday found that after a wet and cool year in 2023, near-record-breaking temperatures and below-average precipitation stressed trees trying to build a defense from forest pests. The insects can create fuel for wildfires by filling forests with dead and dying trees… The report details how wildfires in Colorado’s forests impact the state’s watersheds. Colorado’s mountain watersheds are vital to the nation’s freshwater supply. The report recommends protecting the state’s watersheds through “ongoing collaboration among landowners, contractors and partners at the local, state and federal level.” Lastly, the report explains the importance of wildfire mitigation saying, “Active management is critical to help keep wildfires at a low severity and protect the many benefits that forests provide.”

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Mississippi State University graduate student’s app fights illegal logging worldwide

By Vanessa Beeson
Mississippi State University
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Kyle Spessert

A Mississippi State graduate student is helping inspectors across the world identify timber species and combat illegal logging with a new smartphone application. Inspired by Asi Ebeheakey, a sustainable bioproducts doctoral student from Accra, Ghana, and developed as part of Kyatt Spessert’s master’s research in sustainable bioproducts, the innovative app WhatWood? provides a digital alternative to traditional wood-identification manuals used in Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Ghana by placing a dependable, field-ready resource in the palms of users’ hands. By correctly identifying wood quickly and effectively, Ebeheakey said inspectors can make an impact on illegal logging and the export of illegally prohibited or mislabeled wood. WhatWood? is free to download for iOS and Android devices at their respective app stores.

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New York’s forests are migrating. Here’s what the future might bring.

By Roger Hannigan Gilson
The Times Union
March 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

At Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve in rural Albany County, the white spruce trees are struggling. Planted in the 1920s at what was then the southern part of the trees’ range, the plot now has no white spruce saplings, and “the adults are not doing well either,” said Andrei Lapenas, a professor at the University at Albany’s Transformational & Ecosystem-based Climate Adaptation. Lapenas, said higher temperatures from climate change have slowed older trees’ growth, while younger trees are being out-competed by the mature ones. Meanwhile, a different species, red spruce, has established itself in the preserve… He speculated that in the next 20 to 40 years, the preserve “will be overtaken by other tree species, and red spruce is a good candidate for this.”

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Missoula County Backs Acquisition of Blackfoot Timberlands

By Martin Kidston
Missoula Current
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Nearly 18,000 acres in the lower Blackfoot River watershed prized for its habitat and wood products could become publicly owned if the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) follows through with its planned acquisition. Missoula County last week signed a letter of support backing the BLM’s proposed acquisition of the former private industrial timberland in the Gold and Twin Creek drainages northeast of Missoula. Chet Crowser, chief lands and communities officer with the county, said that acquiring the parcels would permanently protect public ownership and provide benefits for decades to come… More than 60% of Missoula County is covered with public lands – lands the county claims sustain local economies through restoration and active management.

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Governor reveals Oklahoma’s Chief Forester is out of job after wildfires sweep across state

By Robby Korth
Kosu.org
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Mark Goeller

Just weeks after devastating fires ravaged Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt revealed the man in charge of the state’s forest management is out of a job. Mark Goeller has roughly 40 years of forestry experience and has worked as Oklahoma’s State Forester since 2018. Stitt panned the agency’s response to the wildfires that raged across the state in mid-March, burning more than 170,000 acres, killing four, injuring hundreds and destroying more than 400 homes, including one owned by the governor near Luther. At a Wednesday press conference, the governor was asked why Goeller would no longer work in his role. “He’s the head of the forestry department, and we had a horrible, horrible wildfire in the State of Oklahoma, and I didn’t think they did a really good job,” Stitt said in response. It’s unclear what part of the wildfire response Stitt did not like.

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War ignited record-breaking wildfires in Ukraine last year, scientists say

By Kate Abnett
Reuters
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Last year was Ukraine’s worst year for wildfires in more than three decades of record-keeping, as shelling along front lines in the war with Russia triggered an unprecedented number of blazes, scientists said. Forest fires in Ukraine in 2024 burnt more than twice the area destroyed by fire in the entire 27-country European Union in 2024. Satellite data showed nearly 9,000 fires torched a total of 965,000 hectares in Ukraine in 2024. Ukraine has around 10 million hectares, or 100,000 sq km (38,610 sq miles), of forest. Around a third of the area burned last year was farmland… Maksym Matsala, a forest researcher at Sweden’s University of Agricultural Sciences, said the main cause was artillery and falling shells igniting fires. He said the jump in fires last year was partly because of a large build-up of dead and damaged trees since Russia’s invasion in 2022, which had created plentiful fuel for fires during extremely dry weather in 2024.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Tree rings from Gaspésie mountains reveal effects of global warming dating back almost a century

By Patrick Lejtenyi
Concordia University
April 1, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Alexandre Pace & Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques

A study of tree rings in the Gaspésie’s Sainte-Anne River area reveals that snowpacks have been declining noticeably in the region’s mountains for nearly nine decades. The researchers say the phenomenon is directly linked to global warming. They add that the decline in snowpack in the Parc national de la Gaspésie’s mountains, which form the northern end of the Appalachian Mountain Range, has significant implications for water management and regional wildlife. The researchers created a tree ring record from samples gathered in the mountains, providing data dating back to 1822. This extends the historical knowledge well past the records established from instrumental readings, which only captured data from the mid-20th century… This comprehensive study makes the Sainte-Anne River only the fifth river basin on the entire North American Atlantic seaboard to have its streamflow historically reconstructed based on tree rings.

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Resilient growth in US forest carbon markets

By Gabriel Reis and Stuart Evans
Fastmarkets
April 1, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Over the last five years the forest carbon market in North America has experienced a period of rapid expansion, with a surge in dealmaking and heightened interest from institutional investors. In recent months, major corporations have signed high-profile offtake agreements for forest carbon credits, with the latest focus being on high quality-sequestration projects. At the same time, the uptake of Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects has grown, with over 1 million acres of IFM projects added in 2023 and 2024, reflecting the growing recognition of sustainable forestry as a viable tool for emissions removal and reduction. The rise in corporate demand for nature-based solutions, coupled with compliance frameworks including California’s cap-and-trade and emerging cap-and-invest systems, are reshaping the market landscape. Investors, timberland managers, and carbon project developers are competing in an increasingly competitive and innovative space.

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Meta Signs Ten-Year Forestry Management Carbon Removal Deal

By Mark Segal
ESG Today
March 31, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Forest investment and management firm EFM announced today a new long-term agreement with Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp owner Meta for the delivery of 676,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits through 2035, generated through the transition of U.S. forestland to “climate-smart management.” Launched in 2004, Portland, Oregon-based EFM is a real estate asset manager focused on investing in natural climate solutions across the Americas, including using climate-smart management approaches to its investments in forests, farms, and ecosystems to create carbon sinks, protect water and biodiversity, improve recreational access, and support rural livelihoods, and diversifying revenue streams from forests to include carbon credits and conservation easements alongside revenue from traditional forest products. The firm has acquired more than 200,000 acres of forestland and has approximately $490 million of assets under management and advisement.

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The Crucial Role of Forests

By Charlie King
Sustainability Magazine
April 1, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Forests play a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth, covering 31% of the planet’s land and supporting 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. They provide essential raw materials for everyday products and protect soil, water and climate systems. However, these vital ecosystems face severe threats from the global climate and biodiversity crises. Sustainable forest stewardship offers a beacon of hope in addressing these challenges. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is leading the charge in sustainable forestry, offering a credible solution trusted by NGOs, consumers and businesses worldwide. With more than 150 million hectares of certified forests, FSC is at the forefront of promoting healthy and resilient forests for all. The nonprofit organization provides a framework for responsible forest management, balancing environmental, social and economic perspectives. FSC’s standards and certification process help forest managers, smallholders and governments ensure thriving forest ecosystems while safeguarding the livelihoods of forest communities.

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Butterfly populations are declining. Meet the people moving a forest to save them

CBC Radio
March 28, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

A new study is bringing hard data to understand how butterfly numbers have declined steeply in recent years, due to the combination of habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide exposure. A group of scientists is hoping to fix at least one of these problems for one species, by moving an entire forest in Mexico. The sacred fir trees, where monarch butterflies spend their winters, are struggling under climate change. Recently a team of researchers planted a thousand sacred fir trees at a new location at higher elevations to kickstart a new, future-proof forest for the butterflies to overwinter. Quirks producer Amanda Buckiewicz spoke to Cuauhtémoc Saénz Romero, a forest geneticist at the University of Michoacán in Mexico, and Greg O’Neill, a climate change adaptation scientist with the BC Provincial Government in the Ministry of Forests.

[This is an episode segment of Quirks and Quarks, on CBC Listen]

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The genetic diversity of our plants and forests is at risk, new FAO reports warn

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
March 26, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The Second Report on the State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources, published on Wednesday, reveal concerning trends in global plant and forest diversity. For example, more than 40 percent of all taxa surveyed are no longer present in at least one of the areas where they were previously cultivated or occurred naturally, while about one-third of tree species are threatened… Globally, deforestation, forest degradation, climate change, fires, pests, diseases, and invasive species are threatening many trees and other woody plant species and eroding their genetic diversity. The report found that common and widely distributed tree species retain much of their genetic diversity, while rare and threatened species have lost significant amounts. More than two-thirds of countries have national tree-seed programs, but many are experiencing shortages of seed and other reproductive materials. This poses challenges for establishing new forests and achieving the target of a three-percent increase in the global forest area by 2030.

Related content:

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If you want a fast-growing forest to suck up more carbon, pick slow-growing trees

By Warren Cornwall
Anthropocene Magazine
March 26, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Maybe there should be a companion to Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare. This one could be about the spruce and the poplar. Fast-growing trees like poplars might seem likely to win the race to soak up carbon the fastest, making them ideal candidates for tree-planting campaigns aimed at helping to address climate change. But it turns out that slower sprouting trees, like the spruce, are frequently the growth champions. Outside of tropical rainforests or cozy, moist greenhouses favored by labs studying plants, trees that have long been considered “fast” aren’t so speedy after all, according to research published last week in Nature. The findings suggest that tree planters shouldn’t be seduced by the promises of certain trees that might not be best suited for harsh conditions. And it sheds light on a disconnect that has puzzled scientists for years.

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Forest Fires

Insider’s view a unique perspective to ‘Wildfire’ documentary

The Kelowna Daily Courier
April 1, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

A new documentary series on the most destructive wildfire season in B.C. history premieres on the Knowledge Network on April 29. More than 2.8 million hectares of forest was burned in 2023 with the affected areas including West Kelowna and unincorporated areas along Westside Road. ‘Wildfire’ takes viewers behind the scenes of the containment efforts, providing an in-depth and educational exploration of the tactics used by firefighters… Wildfire was created by Optic Nerve Films’ Kevin Eastwood and CK9 Studios’ Simon Shave and Clayton Mitchell, both former woodland firefighters. Although the BC Wildfire Service rarely grants filming access, an exception was made in this case given their firefighting experience.

[Watch a preview of the series on The Knowledge Network here]

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Ecosystem could take century to recover from devastation of wildfires

By Lee Si-jin
The Korea Herald
March 31, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

The deadly wildfires in southeastern South Korea have been brought under control, but it could take 100 years for the ecosystem in the area affected by the wildfires to recover, according to forestry researchers. Multiple reports on large wildfires — including a March 2025 report by the National Institute of Forest Science — emphasize that it requires over 30 years for structural recovery and up to 100 years for full ecological stabilization. While the recovery varies by the type of living organisms — ranging from fish, marine invertebrates to insects, trees require decades to regrow and forest animals depend on sufficient habitat recovery. Soil restoration takes longer due to complex ecological processes… Meanwhile, the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency conducted its first on-site joint investigation in a wooded area in Goesan-ri, Anpyeong-myeon, Uiseong-gun.

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Forest History & Archives

Beloved historic landmarks navigate an uncertain future after the Los Angeles fires

By Chloe Veltman
WBHM (Public Radio Alabama)
March 31, 2025
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US West

The former home of one of the world’s most famous western novelists, Zane Grey, was a Mediterranean Revival house designed with high, wood-beamed ceilings and airy balconies. “It had almost a cathedral vibe when you walked in,” said Nathaniel Grouille on a recent visit to the site.  Grouille is now facing a big question: How to rebuild the site in a way that preserves Grey’s legacy while protecting it from the inevitable future fires and other disasters resulting from the impacts of human-caused climate change? Returning the property to what it was in Zane Grey’s day isn’t on the agenda. “This structure was incredibly unique, using really high quality old-growth wood and products that just don’t exist today,” Grouille said… Conservation experts are familiar with this tension. “How can we ensure that we can adapt the historic materials without losing the power these places have?” said Seri Worden, senior director with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

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Mud, water and wood: The system that kept a 1604-year-old city afloat

By Anna Bressanin
BBC News
March 26, 2025
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: International

As any local knows, Venice is an upside-down forest. The city, which turned 1604 years old on March 25, is built on the foundations of millions of short wooden piles, pounded in the ground with their tip facing downwards. These trees – larch, oak, alder, pine, spruce and elm of a length ranging between 3.5m (11.5ft) to less than 1m (3ft)  – have been holding up stone palazzos and tall belltowers for centuries, in a true marvel of engineering leveraging the forces of physics and nature… The Venetian piles technique is fascinating for its geometry, its centuries-old resilience, and for its sheer scale. No-one is exactly sure how many millions of piles there are under the city, but there are 14,000 tightly packed wooden poles in the foundations of the Rialto bridge alone, and 10,000 oak trees under the San Marco Basilica, which was built in 832AD.

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