Applications Now Open For FPAC’s 2026 Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry. The Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry, awarded by Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) are now open for applications. This national recognition program highlights the innovative spirit, leadership, and research excellence of students and early-career researchers in Canada’s forest sector. The Chisholm Awards pay tribute to young innovators whose work has the potential to transform Canada’s forest sector, from advancing sustainable forest management and clean manufacturing to breakthroughs in supply chain processes or forest-based product development. “The Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry recognize research and solutions that advance the adoption of Canadian forest products through value chain innovation,” stated Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of FPAC.
A BC First Nation in the final stages of treaty negotiation is suing the province for allegedly breaching the “honour of the Crown” after an official extended an expiring timber licence in its traditional territory. Filed in a BC Supreme Court last week, the application for judicial review from ’Wuìk̓inux̌v Nation seeks to overturn an August 2025 decision… that gave Interfor a three-year extension to log an estimated 50,000 cubic metres of timber. The court application argues that allowing a third party to continue harvesting on the nation’s lands—without their consent and against their environmental concerns—is a step backward that the law no longer allows. The claim, which also names Interfor, arrives at a volatile moment for BC politics: by leaning on a landmark legal precedent set in December 2025, it lands squarely in the middle of a heated debate over how the province manages its natural resources in an era of reconciliation.
North Cowichan wants something done about the growing amount of fibreglass pollution in the Cowichan estuary. Council passed a motion at its meeting on Feb. 4 that the municipality write a letter to senior levels of government and the appropriate regulatory authorities asking that they raise awareness of the issue and take action to deal with the problem. Coun. Christopher Justice, who made the motion, said that the issue of derelict and deteriorating fibreglass boats is something that is becoming more acute in local harbours and waterways. …North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas said the municipality must signal its support for the continued operation of the Western Forest Products sawmill, which operates in that area. He said he spoke to officials at the mill before the council meeting. “They advised me that they are not aware of any fibreglass contamination coming from the mill site,” Douglas said.
PRINCE GEORGE – [Local forester and forestry advocate Michelle Connolly says what’s being suggested in a recent report, titled “From Conflict to Care: BC’s Forest Future,” is off the mark.] “One of the core beliefs is that people are better at managing nature, than nature is, even though forests have been self-organizing and self-managing for millennia,” says Connolly. “The lack of self-awareness right up front in that report is troubling, because it means that they’re not aware of their own biases and belief systems that are guiding the things they’re putting in this report.” Kiel Giddens, Conservative MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie, says the report overlooks a lot of industry concerns. …Giddens says, while the report misses the mark overall, he agrees with Objective Number 2 around regional decision making. …But Connolly says where the report truly hits the mark is over what is seen as a lack of transparency in the decision-making processes.
Whistler is fortunate to be surrounded by temperate rainforest, which is essential to the resort’s appeal as a tourist destination. Forests have also proven to be highly beneficial for human mental and physical health. …Old-growth forests, defined as undisturbed for at least 250 years, are vital to addressing the interconnected biodiversity and climate crises. …On the climate side, old-growth forests store vast amounts of carbon in living trees, dead wood, and undisturbed soil. …Since the early 1900s, Whistler’s forests have been logged extensively, and low-elevation old-growth forests that once covered the valley are now found only in limited areas. Commercial logging and thinning have continued by the Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF) since 2009, though old-growth logging was deferred in 2021. …Given that old-growth forests thrive on stability, attempting to manage them doesn’t make ecological sense, especially since they are already among the most climate-resilient ecosystems on Earth.
A Williams Lake man was of three people to be recognized by Forest Professional British Columbia (FPBC). At the 78th annual forestry conference on February 5, John Walker was honored as a Distinguished Forest Professional. …“John is a respected collaborator and mentor across BC, particularly in the Cariboo region, where he builds strong connections between forestry practices, First Nations stewardship and research,” Forest Professionals BC Board Chair Dave Clarke said. “I’ve been in Williams Lake since 1996 starting in consulting making decisions on a block by block level. Now working with Williams Lake First Nation it’s more landscape level working towards different policies and then also being operational. A lot of the Fire Mitigation work around town we’ve been a part of and helped push for,” Walker said. He has also collaborated with the BC Wildfire Service to develop thinning methods for prescribed burns, reducing wildfire risk, restoring culturally important plants, and enhancing operational efficiency.
Fire departments across BC are concerned about changes to the FireSmart program and how funding is provided to communities as they plan for wildfires. The Ministry of Forests says it’s moving to a more “holistic approach” based on where risk is the highest but the fire chief who was at the centre of the Wesley Ridge wildfire on Vancouver Island last summer says the program is too important to change. Nick Acciavatti says funding from the provincial FireSmart program was instrumental in saving numerous homes in the Wesley Ridge fire. …The program provides funding to local fire departments that then go into local neighbourhoods to educate and undertake fire prevention work like brush clearing and cleaning properties of combustible materials. But that money may no longer be available to any fire department that applies for it is something Acciavatti is concerned about, considering the changing wildfire conditions here on Vancouver Island.
Montreal — An activist group calling itself Les Robins des ruelles has followed its recent Robin Hood-style grocery store heists in Montreal with a claim to have sabotaged planned logging operations in a forest in the Mauricie region. …Translated as the Robins of the Alleyways, the group’s name is intended to evoke the legendary English folk hero who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. The group says on social media that although it delivered the booty to community kitchens and low-cost housing complexes, the grocery heists were political statements against the current economic order. …The latest such move by the group seems to be an action intended to discourage logging in some old-growth forests of Mékinac, in the Mauricie region. In a statement … the Robins say they have “armed the forest by driving steel bars through the trees on the site.” …The president of Forex Langlois Inc., said he is taking the sabotage claims “very seriously” 
A research paper questions a key rationale for expanding road access in national forests. Lifting restrictions on road construction in national forests could lead to more wildfires, according to a newly published study. The research led by a senior scientist at The Wilderness Society — which opposes the Trump administration’s proposal to reopen forests to new roads and logging — reinforces earlier studies finding that fire ignitions are more numerous near forest roads, including for fires started by lightning. The new research, published in the 
President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to promote the domestic production of phosphorus and the weedkiller glyphosate, which he said is critical to both defense and food security. Glyphosate is often targeted by supporters of the Make America Healthy Again movement as a harmful chemical. Trump aligned with the MAHA movement after Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the 2024 election. “I find that ensuring robust domestic elemental phosphorus mining and United States-based production of glyphosate-based herbicides is central to American economic and national security,” Trump said in the order. “Without immediate Federal action, the United States remains inadequately equipped and vulnerable.” Glyphosate … has been the subject of controversy over alleged links to cancer. Bayer, the company that makes the glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup, recently proposed paying $7.25 billion to settle lawsuits claiming the chemical causes cancer.
WASHINGTON — Billions of American chestnut trees once covered the eastern United States. …But by the 1950s, this venerable tree went functionally extinct, culled by a deadly airborne fungal blight and lethal root rot. A new study provides hope for its revitalization, finding that the genetic testing of individual trees can reveal which are most likely to resist disease and grow tall, thus shortening how long it takes to plant the next, more robust, generation. …The American chestnut … had little defense against foreign-introduced blight and root rot. Another type of chestnut, however, had evolved alongside those diseases. The Chinese chestnut had been introduced for its valuable nuts and it could resist diseases. …So, the authors want a tree with the characteristics of the American chestnut and the disease resistance of the Chinese chestnut. …Breed for disease resistance alone and the trees get shorter, less competitive.
A plan to revise the Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management plan, with a new emphasis on timber and other resource industries as mandated by President Donald Trump, is set to begin a 30-day public comment period. … The 1979 plan for the 16.7-million-acre forest has been revised three times, most recently in 2016, and the agency hopes to publish a new draft plan by this fall. A forest service press release spells out the past and new parameters that will be considered in the revised draft. “Public comments will help identify changes that are needed to the current plan, adopted in 1997, to align with best available science, as well as laws and regulations, including Presidents Trump’s Executive Order 14225 – Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production to support American economies and improve forest health and Executive Order 14153 Unleash Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential, benefitting the Nation and the American citizens who call Alaska home.”
SALEM — A bill meant to reward Oregon landowners for wildfire risk mitigation with more affordable insurance rates will survive until the end of the 2026 legislative session. However, supporters of Senate Bill 1540 haven’t yet reached complete agreement with the insurance industry on the proposal, which could threaten its passage given this year’s time constraints. “It is a challenge to get this done in a 35-day session,” said Kenton Brine, president of the NW Insurance Council, which represents the regional industry. In broad terms, SB 1540 will require insurance companies to consider wildfire mitigation actions in their models for assessing risk, which inform pricing and policy decisions. Insurers will have to submit these models for verification with Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services, but if they don’t, they will still have to offer discounts to landowners who undertake wildfire mitigation steps.
CHEYENNE—A $5.1 million investment that would create the first two ground-based professional wildland firefighting teams in Wyoming history is gaining momentum in the statehouse. On Monday, the Wyoming House of Representatives passed House Bill 36, “Forestry division wildland fire modules.” The bill included an earmark of $2.7 million for one team of firefighters going into the day, but Buffalo Republican Rep. Marilyn Connolly brought an amendment that doubled the funding, providing enough to finance two crews — one each in the eastern and western sides of the state. The former Johnson County emergency management coordinator spoke about her experience being on the ground while wildfires were spreading and resources were lacking. “We need some strike teams, we need engines — and they’re not available,” Connolly said on the House floor. 
Senator Steve Daines received federal agency backing on Thursday for his bill to downgrade three remote Montana landscapes from potential wilderness to regular public forest. Officials from the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management told the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining they supported Daines’ S.3527, the Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act. Chris French, associate chief for the Forest Service, told the subcommittee the Trump administration didn’t support creating new wildernesses or wilderness study designations. BLM state official John Raby added that his agency was intent on fulfilling the president’s agenda supporting “fire management, recreation, access … and domestic mineral production to the maximum practical extent.” Wilderness status is the highest level of protection for public lands. …Outside the hearing, several environmental organizations criticized Daines’ bill. Barb Cestero, The Wilderness Society’s Montana state director, called it “deeply flawed.”
Oregon entities funded by timber sales want to ensure revenue. For the third consecutive legislative session, a group of Oregon county governments hope to pass a bill requiring more predictable timber harvests in state forests. Similarly to past proposals, House Bill 4105 would require the Oregon Department of Forestry to annually log enough trees to comply with a 10-year “sustainable harvest level” adopted by the agency. If fewer trees are logged than required by the sustainable harvest level, that amount of timber would be added to the next 10-year plan, unless the reduction was due to wildfire, disease or storm damage. …Environmental groups are opposed to HB 4105, similarly to previous versions of the proposal that failed to pass in 2025 and 2024, because they say the ODF already does a good job of estimating logging levels.
COLORADO — Forest experts are warning that Boulder’s foothills could look markedly different this year as a mountain pine beetle outbreak intensifies, with potentially far-reaching impacts on recreation and fire risk. Landowners are urged to watch for signs of beetle infestation. The state has taken action: Gov. Jared Polis announced a task force in December aimed at protecting Front Range forests from mountain pine beetle over the next decade. Boulder County has seen increased beetle activity in several areas, including upper Lefthand Canyon and Jamestown. Years of drought, warmer temperatures and overcrowded forests have weakened trees, creating ideal conditions for beetles to spread rapidly and overwhelm remaining healthy stands. …The brood of beetles already in trees and poised to spread this summer is substantial, according to Colorado State Forest Service entomologist Dan West. “It’s kind of this cake that’s already being baked,” West told Boulder Reporting Lab.
Biological legacies (i.e., materials that persist following disturbance; “legacies”) shape ecosystem functioning and feedbacks to future disturbances, yet how legacies are driven by pre-disturbance ecosystem state and disturbance severity is poorly understood—especially in ecosystems influenced by infrequent and severe disturbances. Focusing on wet temperate forests as an archetype of these ecosystems, we characterized live and dead aboveground biomass 2–5 years post-fire in western Washington and northwestern Oregon, USA, to ask: How do pre-fire stand age and burn severity drive variability in initial post-fire legacies, specifically aboveground biomass carbon and fuel profiles? …Our findings demonstrate the importance of pre-disturbance ecosystem state in dictating many aspects of initial post-disturbance structure and function, with important implications for managing post-fire recovery trajectories in some of Earth’s most productive and high-biomass forests.
NEW YORK — BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group has acquired approximately 107,000 acres of sustainably managed timberlands in Central Virginia from the Weyerhaeuser Company. The acquisition represents one of the largest recent timberland transactions in Virginia, significantly expanding BTG Pactual TIG’s footprint in the region and bringing the firm’s total US portfolio to approximately 1.6 million acres under management. The property is Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified, consisting primarily of loblolly pine, and will be well-integrated with BTG Pactual TIG’s existing regional operations. …The acquisition also enables BTG Pactual TIG to further expand conservation efforts in the region through its long-term collaboration with NatureVest, The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC’s) in-house impact investing and nature finance team. A preliminary assessment of the asset conducted by TNC found that 25% of the property falls within areas of high ecological and biodiversity value.