Blog Archives

Business & Politics

B.C. builders welcome New Democrat Party changes to development cost charges as housing starts falter

By Alec Lazenby
The Vancouver Sun
July 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The NDP government is making changes to development cost charges that builders say could help reduce the burden they face as material and labour costs continue to increase and the number of projects under construction drop. Starting in 2026, builders will only have to pay 25 per cent of their fees to municipalities up front and will be able to defer the remaining 75 per cent for four years or until people move into the building. The fees help cover the cost of infrastructure such as community centres, roads, sewers and parks. The changes will also allow developers to use bonds instead of irrevocable letters of credit as financial guarantees, allowing them to preserve access to capital throughout the project. Wendy McNeil, CEO of the Homebuilders Association Vancouver, said the changes will allow builders certainty when it comes to the cost of the project and the timeframe for making payments to municipalities.

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Donald Trump’s tariffs test a legacy Maine industry that global trade decimated

By Lori Valigra
Bangor Daily News
July 2, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Simon Varney pre-ordered extra hardwood from Canada in February when President Donald Trump threatened broad 25 percent import tariffs on goods from that country. The next month, the administration exempted that wood. That left Varney, co-owner of Wells Wood Turning & Finishing in Buckfield, spending more money ahead of time and holding onto extra inventory, eating into cash flow. Ironically, the pearlescent gold pigment the company purchased from its Vermont supplier to make its famous wooden eggs for the White House Easter Egg Roll — a color specifically requested by the president in both of his terms in office — had to be imported from Germany and falls under Trump’s tariffs. “The tariffs were a real concern because they basically would raise our wood costs by 25 percent, which is pretty significant,” Varney said. “The wood manufacturing business is not a high margin or high profitability business.”

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Researchers use tree bark wastes to reduce radar detection

EurekAlert!
June 25, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

Most researchers today explore high-tech materials like carbon nanotubes or graphene to develop a class of composite known as radar-absorbing material, i.e., a composite that can attenuate radar signals for stealth applications. Such high-tech materials are costly and energy-intensive to produce. Researchers from Brazil and Canada have explored sustainable carbon made of tree bark waste as an affordable alternative to those options. Their findings were recently published in the Journal of Renewable Materials, with insights on how engineering material and design can lead to performances as well as those expensive options. The research also supports the goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by promoting the use of renewable materials and reducing industrial waste. The team plans to scale up production and test the core material in other real-world situations.

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Scaling up mass timber: Closing gaps, fueling innovation

By Brian Brashaw
USDA US Forest Service
July 2, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Mass timber is transforming how America builds—but supply hasn’t kept pace with demand. A gap in domestic manufacturing has slowed widespread adoption, leaving many developers with few options beyond overseas suppliers or traditional steel and concrete. Through strategic support from the USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations Program, the Forest Service is helping close that gap—boosting U.S. capacity, strengthening rural economies and growing new markets for American wood. One partner answering the call is SmartLam North America. Mass timber products like cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber (glulam) offer a carbon-storing, renewable alternative to conventional building materials. But even as the benefits are clear—strength, fire resistance, design flexibility—developers have faced supply constraints. Limited domestic production has slowed construction timelines, raised costs and stifled innovation.

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Study shows engineered wood is more microbe-resistant than plastic

By University of Oregon
TechXplore
July 7, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

Picture a hospital and you might imagine concrete, stainless steel or plastic. But 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 it briefly gets wet. During their 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.” In a recent study published in Frontiers in Microbiomes, they shared their discoveries about the effects of moisture on surface microbes and volatile organic compound emissions from mass timber.

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How the pulp & paper industry is encouraging more women to join

By Zhen Wang
The Post Crescent
July 8, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Nationwide, women made up 26.4% of the roughly 775,000 people who worked in the paper manufacturing and printing industry in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. At pulp, paper, and paperboard mills, they made up 14% of positions. That’s what brought the Wisconsin Paper Council and Ahlstrom — a global Finnish company that produces specialty papers and packaging at five plants in Rhinelander, Mosinee, Kaukauna, De Pere and Stevens Point — gifted $20,000 to establish the program in 2023. In 2024, Ashman received $1,000 from the program after graduating from Appleton East High School. Now, at 19, Ashman works as an intern with Thilmany mill in Kaukauna, helping with environmental compliance and coordinating cleanup efforts along the Fox River. The scholarship was used to help pay for her college tuition. She said what was even more valuable was the internship opportunity she landed at the award-giving reception in 2024.

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Forest Biomaterials Researchers Developing Sustainable Alternative to Plastic Foam Packaging

By Andrew Moore
North Carolina State University
July 2, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Researchers in the Department of Forest Biomaterials are developing a proprietary material that could serve as a sustainable alternative to one of the world’s most significant sources of pollution: plastic foam.  “Our material eliminates polystyrene foam materials that are filling landfills and persisting as litter in the environment,” said Richard Venditti, the Elis-Signe Olsson Professor of Pulp and Paper Science and Engineering. Plastic foam, often known by the brand name Styrofoam, is used in many everyday products — from disposable food and beverage containers like cups and plates to shipping materials such as packing peanuts and protective packaging. While convenient, plastic foam presents a significant environmental challenge due to its lack of biodegradability and difficulty in recycling. Estimates indicate that plastic foam takes up to 30% of landfill space globally. 

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Forestry

Why Are There Stone Tree Trunks in the Arctic?

Nova by PBS
July 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Ellesmere Island, high in the Canadian Arctic, is only 800 miles from the North Pole. 50-million years ago, the treeless hillside would have been completely different.
[Watch on Youtube below or stream on PBS site – click Read More]

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What’s with the white stuff? Why the Northwest Territories has so much tree fluff this summer

By Natalie Pressman
CBC News
July 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Floating fluff? Summer snow? Cotton balls? If you’ve been noticing more of that white stuff floating around the N.W.T. this summer, you’re not alone. “One thing I noticed is a buildup of that stuff in my yard,” Yellowknifer Justin Grandjambe said. “When it’s windy it kind of gathers in corners and stuff … almost looks like a little bit of snow.” Turns out, that fluff is from trees dispelling their seeds. It’s a stress response from the poplars, aspen and willows reacting to the dry conditions from the past few years, according to the N.W.T.’s department of Environment and Climate Change (ECC). Within each fluff ball is a bunch of tiny seeds. The department’s experts couldn’t say how much more “fluff” there is this year compared to other years. That’s something that might also vary depending on where in the territory you’re looking.

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Wildfires scorched hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest, so what happens to those ecosystems after the flames die down?

By Stephanie Massicotte
CBC Radio
July 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Host Stephanie Massicotte speaks with an expert from the University of Saskatchewan about how long it takes forests to grow back, and whether people should step in to help. [Listen to the segment from Saskatoon Morning here]

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When normal forestry practices don’t cut it

By Bob Covey
Jasper Local
July 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

It’s a widely-accepted mystery: whether or not a tree that falls in the forest makes a sound. But what about the riddle that Jasper National Park officials were faced with last year: If hundreds of thousands of burned trees are down in high visitor use areas, who clears them away? Since the Jasper Wildfire Complex razed 33,000 ha of Jasper’s forests last July, Lethbridge’s Adam Ross and his team of arborists, foresters, danger tree specialists and wildlife tree assessors, have been cutting, pruning, clearing, mulching, sawing, chipping and generally making passable the area’s roads, right-of-ways and trails. “Bush surgeons, that’s who we are,” says Ross, who owns and operates Rossco’s Tree Service.  Ross’ company has been contracted to clear all of Jasper’s campgrounds, day-use areas and roadways impacted by the fire. The enormity of the crews’ task is difficult to put into perspective, and not just because of the sheer volume of trees to be cleared.

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Without more trees, B.C.’s next heat dome could be even deadlier

Dr. Bethany Ricker, David Quigg and Dr. Melissa Lem
Victoria Times Colonist
July 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Four years ago, British ­Columbia endured the ­deadliest weather event in recorded ­Canadian history. The 2021 heat dome claimed the lives of more than 600 ­people, many of whom died alone in overheated homes. As we mark the fourth anniversary of this devastating mass casualty event with record-breaking heat elsewhere in the country, we must confront a troubling truth: B.C. remains dangerously unprepared for the next one. Despite some advancements, including updated building codes, rebates for heat pumps and a now-depleted $30-million fund to provide vulnerable households with air conditioning units, one of the most critical aspects of climate readiness has seen little to no progress. In fact, it’s getting worse. Our communities are rapidly losing tree canopy, green space and permeable surfaces — the very elements that keep cities cooler during extreme heat.

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Firefighters urge hikers to stay out of trails near Squamish, B.C., wildfire

By Akshay Kulkarni
CBC News
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Firefighters are urging hikers and mountain bikers not to enter trails closed due to a wildfire just north of Squamish, B.C., ahead of the Canada Day long weekend. The Dryden Creek wildfire, which was discovered on June 9, is considered under control by the B.C. Wildfire Service, but a local state of emergency remains in Squamish and a campfire ban remains in effect for the district. Fire suppression work is ongoing in the area, and evacuation orders and alerts remain due to the danger of trees falling and rocks rolling loose. Despite that, firefighters say they’re seeing people disobey trail closures, which could prove to be a risky decision. “Especially last weekend, numerous hikers and mountain bikers accessed trails that were closed,” said B.C. Wildfire fire information officer Jennifer Lohmeyer on Tuesday. “Some people even moved barriers that had been put in place to indicate that the trail was closed,” she added.

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Delta undertaking a tree inventory

By Sandor Gyarmati
The Delta Optimist
June 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The City of Delta is undertaking an inventory of its trees. Crews started last week in Ladner, collecting data on street and park trees as part of Delta’s Urban Forest Strategy. In its request for proposals this spring for a qualified arboricultural consultant to conduct the urban forest subsection inventory of individual city-owned urban trees, the city noted it wanted to focus on street and park specimen trees. The project does not include trees on private property, nor is it the intent to include larger stands of trees in the city’s natural areas. The purpose of the project is to expand a tree inventory that was started in-house in 2023, improve asset management, as well as gain an accurate cost of a city-wide tree inventory for areas with low, medium and high canopy coverage.

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Hydro-Québec using AI to reduce power outages caused by trees

By Charlotte Lepage
CBC News
July 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Montreal’s tree-lined streets are one of the city’s greatest assets — they clean the air, add bursts of green to the scenery and help push the concrete background. But when storms hit, those trees clash with the urban landscape and are a major cause of power outages. That’s why Hydro-Québec is now using new technologies to find a way for trees to coexist with its power lines. “We’re trying to make a digital twin of the network to see if there are interactions between the tree and the network,” said Étienne Langdeau, director of vegetation management for Hydro-Québec. Artificial intelligence then measures the trees before and after a weather event, like a windstorm, to see which branches broke. The algorithm uses this information to get better at predicting which branches are most likely to snap. In turn, technicians can preemptively cut these branches before they become a problem.

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With classroom temperatures soaring, schoolyards need more trees

By Peter Kutenbrouwer
The Globe and Mail
July 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The other day, in the midst of a heat wave that suffocated central Canada, this newspaper brought us the story of a five-year-old at a public school in Ottawa, sent to hospital for heat exhaustion. The accompanying photo shows the child and his mother seated on a picnic table in the schoolyard, surrounded by grass and pavement – and one tree. As a forester, I volunteer with a program of Forests Canada called Forestry in the Classroom, whose goal is to connect ”the next generation of forest stewards with forestry and environmental professionals.” This spring I visited a school in north Toronto to take a class of Grade 5 students to a nearby forested ravine, to help them identify trees and to evaluate tree health. On my arrival at the school, I was shocked to find the playground a barren wasteland. 

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Province-wide Fire Ban Lifted; Caution Urged when Lighting Outdoor Fires

Fisheries, Forestry, and Agriculture Press Release
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The province-wide outdoor fire ban that prohibited the setting of fires on forest land or within 300 metres of forest land in Newfoundland and Labrador has been lifted. The ban was authorized under the authority of section 99 of the Forestry Act. A Permit to Burn is required to burn brush and other materials during Forest Fire Season, which is in effect in the province until September 30. Permits are free and available at provincial Forest Management District Offices. A Permit to Burn is not required for backyard fires, recreational campfires, or boil-ups located on or within 300 metres of forest land if the fire is prepared in accordance with Provincial Forest Fire Regulations. Anyone planning a fire should check Public Reminders for Forest Fire Season and the current Fire Hazard Rating for guidance.

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Ontario offers $3 per hour pay increase, new title for forest firefighters

Global News TV
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

For years, forest firefighters in Ontario have been calling on the provincial government to reclassify their jobs to recognize them as an emergency service in a bid to stem recruitment and retention issues. It’s a change the Ford government promised it would take on after sustained pressure from front-line staff and union officials. The province now says work to reclassify forest firefighters — officially called resource technicians — has been “completed,” and is blaming the Ontario Public Service Employees Union for a delay in announcing the move. Whether the terms the government has put forward address the substantive changes called for by forest firefighters is contested. Draft information seen by Global News shows the reclassification involves renaming positions within the existing union structure — and moving people one category further up the grid, for a raise of roughly $3 per hour.

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Going digital – Brushing paint aside for digital tree-marking methods

By Elizabeth Munding
USDA US Forest Service
July 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

With a paint can in hand, a forester walks step by step through the dense Arizona ponderosa pine forest, marking trees with distinctive orange streaks. The forester is part of a timber-marking crew assessing if each tree should stay or go during harvest, per a prescription from the Forest Service silviculturist. Trees to remain receive the orange marking; the others will be harvested. Timber-marking crews cover thousands of acres of Forest Service lands each year, prepping critical thinning projects to reduce the number of trees and move forest lands toward a condition less vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire. With this laborious operation, many began to ask: Couldn’t there be a more efficient way of marking trees?

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We Are Living in the Age of Fire. And It’s Only Going To Get Worse

By Stephan Maher
Time Magazine
July 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The hills of Louis Creek Valley are covered in lovely, towering Douglas fir, healthy evergreens climbing from the grassy meadow at the valley floor up to the ridges where the mountains meet the sky. It’s lush, like much of interior British Columbia, where densely packed conifers line the innumerable wooded valleys, the heavy cone-laden branches reaching down to the ground.  Joe Gilchrist, a fire steward of Secwepemc people, and a firefighter for more than 30 years, stands on the valley floor and looks at the beautiful trees. But what he sees first is danger. “It’s been over 100 years since it’s been illegal for Indigenous people to use fire on the land, and so in that time, the trees have overgrown the area, and some of the trees have got diseased,” he says. 

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Position on President Trump’s Executive Order “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response”

The Federation of American Scientists
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response” is the latest of several significant federal policy efforts aimed at tackling the wildfire crisis. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) focuses on embedding science, data, and technology into government to support communities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from wildfires. FAS applauds several elements of President Trump’s EO. For instance, the EO correctly recognizes that wildfire technology and prescribed fire are powerful tools for reducing risk and strengthening wildfire resilience. FAS is also glad to see the Administration promote interagency coordination; emphasize the importance of state, local, and Tribal leadership; and recognize the intersection of wildfire resilience and other sectors, such as the grid and our bioeconomy. We are encouraged that the Administration and Congress are recognizing the severity of the wildfire crisis and elevating it as a national priority. Yet the devil is in the details when it comes to making real-world progress.

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Rainy Rambles: The importance of dead wood to a forest

By Rebecca Lexa
Discover Our Coast
July 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Our many stunning hiking and walking trails in the Columbia-Pacific region offer locals and visitors alike wondrous views of forests of many different stages of succession, from recent clearcuts attempting to come back to life, to ancient old growth stands that somehow avoided the ax and the saw. The beauty of our area is one of its most valuable assets — so it may seem odd to some people that these forests include significant numbers of dead trees. Some call them ugly, while others refer to them as beautiful, but they do in fact have formal names. A standing dead tree is known as a snag, but once it falls to the ground it is a nurse log, so named because its rotting wood nurses young plants and fungi in their first years of life. One could also refer to a decaying stump covered in mosses, lichens, and other green growing things as a nurse stump.

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How can we protect cool water in Western Washington’s forest streams?

Department of Ecology
State of Washington
July 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Streams that wind through Western Washington’s forests are essential habitat for frogs, bugs, and lots of other tiny critters. These streams are also a critical source of clean, cool water downstream. This means these streams are an important part of large watershed ecosystems. For the past 26 years, the timber industry, Tribes, environmental organizations, and Washington State agencies have worked together to address pollution and meet water quality standards through the “Forests and Fish Agreement.” The agreement aims to address pollution that can come from forestry activities like logging and forest road construction and maintenance, while maintaining both a viable timber industry and water quality. This coordination primarily happens through the Forest Practices Board, an independent state agency chaired by the elected Commissioner of Public Lands. Rules adopted by the Board are implemented and enforced by Washington’s Department of Natural Resources.

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Washington forest health survey finds 545,000 acres of stressed or dead trees

By Emily Fitzgerald
Washington State Standard
July 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

More than half a million acres of trees spread across Washington were sick, struggling, or dead last year, according to the results of an aerial survey of forests by the state’s Department of Natural Resources. Surveyors identified about 545,000 acres with some level of tree mortality, defoliation, or disease, the department said this week. That’s less than 1% of the total forestland surveyed. The amount of forest with problems is up nearly 30,000 acres from 2023 and more than the 10-year average of 519,000 acres, but well below the acres mapped with diseased or dead trees in 2022, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service partnered to conduct an aerial survey of 22 million forested acres in Washington state to observe recently killed and damaged trees. They carried out the survey between June and September last year.

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US Agriculture Secretary says ‘roadless rule’ roll back impacts all but two states — Colorado and Idaho

By Robert Tann
Sky-Hi News
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

When U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Monday that her department would be opening up more US Forest Service land to development, she did so with the caveat that just two states — Colorado and Idaho — would not be impacted.  Rollins, who serves in President Donald Trump’s cabinet, unveiled the plans during a meeting of Western state governors in Santa Fe, where she told reporters that the Agriculture Department would be rescinding the 2001 “roadless rule” established under former President Bill Clinton. The rule, hailed by conservationists as a landmark preservation effort, protects roughly 58.5 million acres of backcountry Forest Service land from road construction, logging and other development. “For too long, Western states, especially those with large swaths of land administered by our incredible Forest Service, have been inhibited from innovating because of burdensome regulations imposed by the federal government,” Rollins said.

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The right mix and planting pattern of trees enhance forest productivity and services

EurekAlert! Press Release
July 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A new paper published in Nature Communications reveals how the way tree species are arranged in a forest can help optimise ecosystem functioning and productivity. The study was conducted using empirical field data combined with advanced computer models and simulations by researchers at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig University, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The researchers simulated virtual forests with multiple arrangements of tree species, such as block and mini-block designs, plantings in single and double lines, and fully random distributions. These simulations incorporated real data from the BEF-China (Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning) experiment, including tree growth models (based on field inventories), litterfall collections, and decomposition rate measurements. This data allowed the researchers to model the effect of spatial arrangement on ecosystem functions, such as tree productivity, nitrogen, and carbon cycling.

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Organized Crime in The Amazon: A Growing Threat to the World’s Greatest Tropical Rainforest

By Charles (Chip) Barber
World Resources Institute
July 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Brazil once again leads the world in the loss of primary tropical forests. New data shows the country accounted for 42% of global primary rainforest loss in 2024, largely due to widespread fires throughout the nation and in neighboring Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. The 2024 spike in Amazon forest loss was due in large part to one of the worst fire seasons on record. But what’s often missed is the fact that recent fires in tropical primary forests are by no means a “natural” disaster. Rather, the conflagration represents a perfect storm of climate change-induced environmental conditions, governance failures and unchecked, organized criminality. Fires in the Amazon are largely started by arson and related criminal activity accompanying agriculture, logging, mining and road building. In fact, a recent survey of government data concluded that 91% of forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon is linked to illegal activity like land-clearing for agriculture and artisanal mining, often orchestrated by well-structured international criminal enterprises.

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Forestry Australia Welcomes Timber Fibre Strategy as a Science-Led Vision for Forests and the Future

Forestry Australia
July 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Forestry Australia has welcomed the release of the Federal Government’s Timber Fibre Strategy, congratulating Minister Julie Collins and the Albanese Government for delivering a timely and important roadmap to support a sustainable, world-leading forest and wood products sector. The Strategy recognises the critical role of science, innovation, and active forest management in ensuring that Australia’s forests can continue to deliver environmental, economic, cultural and social outcomes for generations to come. Dr Michelle Freeman, President of Forestry Australia, said the Strategy provides a clear signal that science-led forest management and a resilient forest sector are central to Australia’s future. “As the professional association representing forest scientists and professionals, we are particularly encouraged by the Strategy’s strong emphasis on science, good ecological practice and evidence-based decision-making,” Dr Freeman said.

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Can Business Conserve Forests and Our Future?

By Seth Larson
World Wildlife Federation
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Last month, alarming new data were released showing record-breaking tropical forest loss in 2024—an 80% increase over the previous year. Forests are critical to our planet and to us as humans, so we need to double down on efforts to stop the loss of forests where possible and more responsibly manage forests that are earmarked for production. Businesses have a big role to play because 54% of the world’s forests are managed either wholly or partly for the production of things like timber, pulp and paper, and furniture. In this episode of Nature Breaking, host Seth Larson sits down with Linda Walker, WWF’s senior director of corporate engagement for forests, to explore the urgent threats to global forests and the role of business in helping reverse current trends. [Watch the interview on You Tube or read full transcript in story link]

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Funding announced for several biomass projects

By Gerald Tracey
The Eganville Leader
July 9, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Five Eastern Ontario companies – three of them in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke – will receive just over $9.1 in government funding under the Forest Biomass Program to create new products and expand markets for existing products produced from low quality forest products. The announcement was made Monday morning by MPP Kevin Holland, the Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products at one of two Killaloe Wood Products sites in Bonnechere Valley Township, south of Eganville, where landscaping mulch and other biomass products are processed… “These investments support good paying jobs, drive local growth and encourage innovation,” he said. “But today isn’t just about numbers on a page. Behind every dollar are businesses right here in Eganville and in Whitney that form the backbone of our local economy. The forestry sector is the cornerstone of the economic ecosystem that supports every corner of the riding.”

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Chloris Geospatial Raises $8.5 Million Series A to Scale Satellite-Based Forest Carbon Monitoring

Cision Newswire
July 7, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Chloris Geospatial, a climate-tech company pioneering satellite-based measurement of forest carbon and ecosystem change, announced today it has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. Developed under the guidance of Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer Dr. Alessandro Baccini, the Chloris technology uses satellite data, proprietary sensor fusion and machine learning to measure vegetation, going far beyond traditional land cover mapping. Chloris is uniquely positioned to provide high-quality, affordable, and timely data on what has happened in every acre of forest around the world since the year 2000. Across both voluntary carbon markets and corporate supply chains, organizations are increasingly relying on satellite-based insights to assess, invest in, and monitor forest carbon projects and to report emissions and removals in alignment with protocols like the GHG Protocol.

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California nonprofit revises plan for controversial wood pellet project

By Edvard Pettersson
Courthouse News Service
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

A California nonprofit organization has decided to revise its controversial plan to build two wood pellet processing plants that would turn excess biomass in the state’s forests into pellets to be shipped overseas for use in renewable energy generation. Golden State Natural Resources said Wednesday it will develop a reduced-scale project focused on domestic, rather than international, use of sourced wood, producing wood chips instead of pellets. The project will target emerging demand in California and nearby regions for sustainable energy and alternative wood products. The organization’s proposed Forest Resiliency Project has drawn the ire of environmentalists who say California needs to rethink “falling for the biomass delusion.” Golden State Natural Resources was formed by rural counties to reduce massive wildfires fueled by overgrown, undermanaged forests. The project aims to use low-value forest material like ladder fuels and dead trees to lower wildfire risk and improve forest health. 

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European Union includes international CO2 credits in climate goal for first time

By Kate Abnett
Reuters
July 2, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed an EU climate target for 2040 that for the first time will allow countries to use carbon credits from developing nations to meet a limited share of their emissions goal. The European Union executive proposed a legally-binding target to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040, from 1990 levels – aiming to keep the EU on course for its core climate aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050. But following pushback from governments including France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic, the Commission also proposed flexibilities that would soften the 90% emissions target for European industries. Reflecting Germany’s public stance, up to 3 percentage points of the 2040 target can be covered by carbon credits bought from other countries through a U.N.-backed market, reducing the effort required by domestic industries. 

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Unprecedented fires fueled by climate change threaten iconic World Heritage forests

UNESCO World Heritage Conservation
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

In an update to the joint UNESCO-WRI-IUCN report “World Heritage forests: carbon sinks under pressure”, new data reveals that fires have accounted for approximately 75% of tree cover loss in World Heritage sites. Steadily increasing tree cover loss due to fires, fueled by climate change, has led to record high emissions, and threatens the robust carbon sinks of forests in World Heritage sites. Since 2001, approximately 4.5 million hectares of forest—more than the area of Switzerland—have been lost across World Heritage sites, with fires responsible for around 75% of that loss. The vast majority — approximately 80% — of all fire-related tree cover loss occurred in high-latitude forests, primarily across North America and Siberia. Forests in Australia account for an additional 15% of the loss, while all other regions contributed approximately 5%.

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Why forests are the next frontier in climate investment

Environmental Finance
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Andrew Boutwell

Investors increasingly understand the role sustainable forestry can play in the path to a net zero economy, argues Andrew Boutwell, Senior Managing Director and Head of Investment Management at Forest Investment Associates. Investors increasingly see forests as platforms for a broader set of value streams, for example ranging from carbon credits and conservation finance to renewable energy siting, mitigation banking, and participation in the growing bio-economy. As the pricing of natural capital becomes more sophisticated and land markets respond to climate adaptation needs, we believe diversified forest portfolios will be well-positioned to capture these uplift opportunities. This shift is driving renewed focus on land use optimisation through data, analytics, and active management. From converting marginal plantations to solar use, to improving productivity on high-quality soils, to conserving ecologically sensitive areas, diversified forest portfolios enable strategic flexibility. For investors, this means cash flow from timber alongside exposure to a growing set of land-based value drivers aligned with climate-smart use.

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Forest Fires

BC Wildfire assists on Washington State fire

The Times Chronicle
July 8, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, United States

The BC Wildfire Service said Tuesday (July 8) afternoon it’s aware of the wildfire in Washington State 16 km southwest of Northport and is assisting in fire suppression. The location is south of Highway 3 between Christina Lake and Trail, and is being referred to as the “Hope Fire”. The fire was first reported at approximately 1:15 p.m. was estimated later in the afternoon to be 600 acres (243 hectares) in size. BC Wildfire said in a social media post that the US Department of Natural Resources is responding and have resources on-site. BC Wildfire has also deployed airtankers to support wildfire suppression efforts. “At this time there is no threat to the Canada-US border,” it said. Stevens County Emergency Management has announced Level 3 (LEAVE NOW) evacuation orders in the area of Three Pines Youth Camp, according to a statement from Stevens County Emergency Management.

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Four new forest fires reported in the Northern Ontario region Monday

By Darren MacDonald
CTV News
July 7, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

Ontario Forest Fires says there are now six forest fires in the northeast region after four new ones were discovered Monday. One of the fires is under control while the other five are being held, the group said in its daily update on the area’s forest fire situation. “The fire hazard is low across the central and southern section of the region and moderate to high with a few pockets of extreme values across the northern section of the northeast region,” the update said. Wildland fires can affect communities when they occur in or near neighbourhoods near forested areas. The FireSmart program offers tangible tips on how to mitigate the risk of wildland fires spreading to your home, cottage, or community. “Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services would like to remind the public to use caution when performing any outdoor burning,” the update said.

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Ontario’s largest forest fire is now being held

By Gary Rinne
NWOnewswatch.com
July 7, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

The province’s biggest-ever forest fire is now considered unlikely to spread beyond its existing boundaries. The 196,000-hectare Red Lake 12 was declared “being held” by the Ministry of Natural Resources on Sunday. The MNR described it as “a significant milestone” for the fire that prompted the evacuation of both Deer Lake and Sandy Lake First Nations. Eighteen firefighting crews supported by seven helicopters are still assigned the task of bringing the fire under complete control, but some other equipment has now been demobilized. Logistic support staff will be shipping firefighting apparatus out of Deer Lake and Sandy Lake over the next few days. 

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After weeks of escalation, rainfall has reduced wildfire hazards across northwestern Ontario

By Sarah Law
CBC News
June 25, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

Recent rainfall has reduced the wildfire hazard across northwestern Ontario, though the region’s largest wildfire is now more than 194,000 hectares large. Red Lake 12 — the fire that has forced community evacuations in Deer Lake First Nation and Sandy Lake First Nation — remains not under control. However, precipitation and cooler temperatures have given FireRangers more breathing room over the past few days and have also reduced smoke levels. However, thunderstorms this past weekend have created the potential for holdover fires caused by lightning, which crews will be monitoring over the next week. Red Lake 12 has 23 firefighting crews assigned to three divisions on the fire’s south and eastern perimeters, supported by 18 helicopters, including four heavy helicopters with increased bucketing capacity, Ontario Forest Fires said in its latest update.

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French warned of high-risk summer for wildfires as Marseille blaze contained

By Jon Henley
The Guardian
July 9, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

More than 15,000 residents of Marseille confined to their homes have been allowed out after a wildfire on the outskirts of France’s second city was brought under control, but officials have warned the country faces an exceptionally high-risk summer. Fanned by gale-force winds and kindled by parched vegetation, several fires have burned swathes of southern France in recent days, including Tuesday’s just north of the port city. The weather service has said the weeks ahead could be critical. “The fire is receding, but with a blaze this severe, over this big an area, it’s clear there may be fresh flare-ups, flames can jump, embers can reignite,” the prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Georges-François Leclerc, said on Wednesday.

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