Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

Forest Stewardship Council News & Views

Forest Stewardship Council Canada
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

In the September newsletter, you’ll find these stories and more:

  • Jaguar Land Rover first to launch tires with over 70% renewable and recyclable materials
  • FSC Canada Welcomes New Team Members: Tina Langille-Hayward, Director of Policy & Standards AND Mylène Raimbault, Regional Manager, Eastern Canada
  • The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Canada is pleased to announce the launch of a public consultation on draft Indicators related to Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) – August 1 – September 30, 2025
  • FSC Forest Week runs September 20-26, Register Today!
  • Webinar: Wellness and Beauty and FSC, September 18, 2025
  • New Guidance Document for the Ecosystem Services Procedure

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Drought across Canada could lead to duller fall colours, Ontario biologist says

By Jordan Omstead
Canadian Press in CBC News
September 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Professor Susan Dudley at McMaster University in Ontario says drought-stricken parts of Canada could be in for some underwhelming fall foliage if stressed trees lose out on the energy needed to generate some of the season’s most brilliant colours. Dudley says trees in dried out parts of the country could see their leaves die off rather than turn red. As the days shorten, green chlorophyll in tree leaves starts to break down and reveals the yellow and orange pigments underneath. Yet Dudley says some trees, such as maple, oak and sumac, synthesize a pigment in the autumn responsible for turning their leaves into the reds and purples associated with the most brilliant foliage. If a tree is too stressed … the leaves may die off before that new pigment can fully develop and give off its most vibrant colour, leaving brown leaves associated with rapid stress-induced death…

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Canada’s out-of-control wildfire crisis in six charts

By Barry Saxifrage, Climate Analyst
National Observer
September 3, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Fossil fuel pollution is overheating Canadian forests, spawning an out-of-control wildfire crisis. Wildfire is now incinerating four times more forest carbon than during the 1990s. …This accelerating new source of CO2 is adding to the already massive and growing emissions of CO2 caused by humans burning fossil oil, gas and coal. Canada’s continent-spanning forest is especially vulnerable to this rising heat. Its billions of trees, spread across hundreds of millions of hectares, are overheating at two to three times the global pace. …Let’s start with the 1990s. During that decade, wildfire emissions totalled 800 MtCO2. …Compare that to the most recent decade (2016-2025). Over these 10 years, wildfires released four times more carbon than they did during the nineties – a total of 3,200 MtCO2. …But wildfires also impact the climate system. And that climate impact unfolds over decades.

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BC Truck Loggers Association Statement on Protests in Upper Walbran Valley

BC Truck Loggers Association
September 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The BC Truck Loggers Association (TLA) has a long history of working collaboratively with First Nations and licensees in support of sustainable timber harvesting in British Columbia. The protestors who are blocking access to the Upper Walbran Valley area are obstructing forestry workers from accessing operations that have been approved by both government and the Pacheedaht First Nation. While the TLA respects the right to peaceful protest, it is unacceptable for these actions to continue to interfere with lawfully approved forestry operations. TLA members must be able to continue to work, provide employment, and contribute to the economic well-being of their communities. A timely resolution is needed so that front line forestry workers can return to their jobs to support their families, and communities can continue to thrive.

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Forestry Officials Tied CN Rail to Lytton Fire, Then Backed Off

By Amanda Follett Hosgood
The Tyee
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

As recently as last year, B.C.’s Ministry of Forests believed that Canada’s largest railway company played a role in the deadly wildfire that destroyed Lytton. In a February 2024 letter to the Canadian National Railway, provincial officials told the company that it intended to seek restitution for costs for the fire. But just six weeks later, the province reversed course and closed the file, according to documents released in response to a freedom of information request. …Last September, the RCMP wrapped up its three-year investigation without laying charges, saying it could not determine what caused the fire. …The letters provide another glimpse at investigations that have largely remained hidden from the public since Lytton burned four years ago. …A lack of information about the cause of the wildfire in Lytton hasn’t stopped a flurry of lawsuits against railway companies CN and Canadian Pacific, as well as federal and provincial agencies, in recent years.

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From Fairy Creek to the Walbran Valley, the fight for ancient forests persists

By Maia Wikler
The National Observer
September 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West
 

For over 30 years, people have been fighting to save the Walbran. Blockades and direct actions in the early 1990s led to the creation of the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park. Missing, however, from the park protections were the central and upper Walbran Valley. Will O’Connel says, “As soon as we knew this was falling, there was no question but to mobilize. We will be here until they haul us out.” …“A lot of our hope was crushed by Fairy Creek,” O’Connel admits. “Yet, we’re still here fighting. The government relies on the fact that most people aren’t in the forest to see what’s really happening. …“Blockading is not a marathon; it’s a relay. We just hope people will be here to pick up the baton,” says O’Connel.

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Forestry company asks for injunction to remove logging protesters in Walbran

By Roxanne Egan-Elliott
The Times Colonist
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A forestry company is expected to be in court on Tuesday to request an injunction against protesters who have blockaded an area in the Upper Walbran Valley. The Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited Partnership said a “sophisticated, targeted, and well-publicized” blockade is affecting the company’s ability to log in the area where it has the rights to log. The company said the group behind the blockade is the same one responsible for a protest against old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek area near Port Renfrew. …The company is asking for a one-year injunction preventing people from obstructing access… and interfering with logging in the area. The company said it is suffering “irreparable harm” due to the blockade, which has trapped a contractor’s fire truck and emergency transport vehicle, causing safety concerns. …Western Forest Products Inc. holds a 65% equity interest in the company. Huu-ay-aht First Nations holds the other 35 %.

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Temporary orders protect chinook salmon in Thompson Okanagan

By Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Government of BC
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

As severe drought conditions continue to affect river levels in the Thompson Okanagan region, fish-population protection orders will protect endangered chinook salmon in the Salmon River and Bessette Creek by temporarily restricting water use for forage crops and identified industrial purposes. The Salmon River and Bessette Creek have seen persistent low streamflows that are threatening the survival of spawning chinook populations. The fish-population protection orders will help restore water-flow levels and protect the salmon run. Effective Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, 490 surface-water and groundwater licences and transitioning groundwater users in the Salmon River and Bessette Creek watersheds within the assessed curtailment area are affected by the orders to stop using water for forage crops, which include grass for hay, alfalfa and forage corn. Irrigation of forage crops is one of the most water-intensive agricultural water uses. 

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Axes will fly at Ladysmith Loggers’ Sports fundraiser

By Morgan Brayton
The Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The tools of BC’s traditional industry will take centre stage in Ladysmith on Sunday, Sept. 14 for Ladysmith Loggers’ Sports. The event supports the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, an annual bike tour across Vancouver Island that raises funds for childhood cancer research and support programs. The loggers’ sports exhibition event will take place at the Transfer Beach amphitheatre starting at 2 p.m. …Among the upgrades this year are three massive dummy logs donated by Western Forest Products. This year’s key supporters include Spuzzum Contracting, LCU Insurance Agencies, Mosaic Forest Management and the Town of Ladysmith.

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Documentary ‘B.C. is Burning’ showing in Castlegar

By Betsy Kline
The Rossland News
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

A documentary addressing British Columbia’s escalating wildfire crisis and the urgent need for solutions is playing in Castlegar on Sept. 11. The film was produced by former Castlegar resident Murray Wilson. Wilson graduated from Selkirk College’s Forest Technology program in 1981 and then worked in Salmo and Nakusp before spending more than three decades in forestry across British Columbia. “My early forestry work in the Kootenays showed me the wildfire risks communities face and the solutions we need, which is at the heart of B.C. is Burning,” said Wilson.

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UBC professor sounds alarm on clearcut logging

By Barb Aguiar
The Kelowna Courier
September 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Younes Alila

A UBC professor says the time is now to be serious about the way BC manages its forests because it affects our water. Dr. Younes Alila, a professor of forest hydrology at the UBC Faculty of Forestry, made the statement at the Kelowna screening of Trouble in the Headwaters, a documentary by Dan Pierce. Alila, who has studied the connection between forestry and flooding for decades, is featured in the film, which focusses on the flooding of Grand Forks in 2018. Alila alleges the flooding was caused by clearcut logging. “The forest cover is our most powerful protection against flood risk and drought risk,” he said, noting the tree canopy intercepts snow as well as shading snow that reaches the ground, allowing it to melt slower. …Alila would like to see the remaining old-growth forest left alone and selective logging in the secondary forest that’s already been logged.

Additional coverage in The Tyee, by Alice Kassam: Floods, Fires, Forests. For Younes Alila, It All Connects

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Wildsight Golden hosts UBC forestry professors to tackle local forestry challenges

Wildsight
September 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Last week, Wildsight Golden welcomed professors from the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Forestry for a collaborative visit focused on the unique forest management challenges facing the Golden region. The visit brought together representatives from the forestry industry, woodlot and community forest sectors, environmental groups, and wildfire risk reduction experts. The UBC professors were here investigating the feasibility of holding forestry field camps in Golden. …UBC professors have committed to returning in Spring 2026 – this time with forestry graduate students. These students will explore Golden’s forestry challenges firsthand, with the opportunity to develop local research projects with real-world impact—projects that may influence provincial policy. With strong collaboration across sectors already underway in Golden, and plans to host UBC’s 2026 Sustainable Forestry Field Camp and participate in provincial forestry conferences like SISCO, local leaders aim to showcase Golden as a model for sustainable, community-driven forestry.

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B.C. still failing to protect old-growth forest: Wildsight

By Wildsight
The Cranbrook Daily Townsman
September 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Five years after the release of the Old-Growth Strategic Review report, the BC NDP’s momentum towards a “new, holistic approach” to the management of old-growth forests has slowed almost to the point of regression. “Rather than the ‘paradigm shift’ we were promised, we’ve seen Premier Eby’s government doubling down on its prioritization of timber and industry profits over all other values,” said Eddie Petryshen, Wildsight Conservation Specialist. After its public release on September 11, 2020, the BC NDP government promised to enact all 14 recommendations made in the landmark Old-Growth Strategic Review (OGSR). The goal: to shift its focus towards ecosystem health, rather than timber. Since then, temporary logging deferrals have been put in place in high-risk old-growth stands in some parts of the province, and a 2023 Draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework was released for public review. 

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Chance to explore deeper in Maple Ridge’s UBC research forest

Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows News
September 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Nature lovers have a rare invitation to “Explore the Hidden Side of the Forest,” from UBC’s Wild and Immersive Programs which are held in the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest. The forest at 14500 Silver Valley Road has seen 76 years of teaching and learning, and hosted more than 1,000 research projects about a variety of topics. Now the public is invited to go behind the scenes and discover what researchers have learned over the decades. They can join a guided van tour through rarely-seen areas of the forest, and explore a rotating selection of research sites and studies each year. This tour is led by Hélène Marcoux, Registered Professional Forester and manager of the research forest.

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BC logger fighting provincial government for return of $180,000 timber sale licence deposit

By David Carrigg
The Vancouver Sun
September 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A BC logger is fighting for the return of a $180,000 deposit he paid to the provincial government to access a timber lot that he did not harvest for lack of demand. In 2023, Bill Bosovich struck a deal with BC Timber Sales to log 116 hectares of forest between Osoyoos and Midway. …Bosovich promised to pay the government at least $1.7 million for the wood he would harvest, and put down a cash deposit of $176,700 to cover any contingencies. However, before any logging had occurred and as wood prices fell, Bosovich learned that the four major log buyers in the area were not interested in his wood. …Bosovich let BC Timber Sales know he could not find buyers and was offered a 12-month extension, but only if he committed to paying a further $83,000 deposit. …Bosovich did not want to extend the licence. …BC Timber Sales’ Allan Powelson responded that the government would be keeping his money.

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B.C.’s late-season wildfires a serious issue, minister says, as smoke descends

By Brenna Owen
The Canadian Press in Victoria Times Colonist
September 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

©BCWildfireService

Drought, heat and lightning have spurred late-season wildfire activity in British Columbia, with the forests minister saying the risk of new starts and growth remains a “serious issue” and there is no relief in the short-term forecast. Ravi Parmar said the heat is expected to persist through the weekend, with temperatures reaching 10 C above seasonal in some areas. There is no significant rain in the forecast for the coming days, and another bout of lightning strikes is expected along B.C.’s coast later this week, he said. …There are about 150 active wildfires across B.C., with close to 60 classified as burning out of control. There were eight fires burning on Vancouver Island as of Wednesday night, including one discovered earlier in the day west of Parksville and just east of the Wesley Ridge fire. Four of the fires were considered under control and the others were being held.

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Regional District of Nanaimo plans $30M purchase of Hamilton Marsh south of Qualicum Beach

Parksville Qualicum Beach News
September 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Regional District of Nanaimo and Mosaic Forest Management have signed a conditional contract of purchase and sale for approximately 360 hectares of land known as Hamilton Marsh. An offer of $30 million was accepted. The sale is anticipated to be completed by March 31, 2026 if all conditions of the purchase and sale contract are met. To acquire the lands as regional parkland and conservation area, the RDN needs to secure a minimum of $7.5 million in funding through other partners. Owned by Island Timberlands and managed under Mosaic Forest Management, the Hamilton Marsh site is located south of the Town of Qualicum Beach… “We recognize the importance of Hamilton Marsh to the community, which is why we’ve entered into a conditional purchase agreement — a key step that enables the Regional District to begin working with potential funding partners toward permanent conservation of the area,” said D’Arcy Henderson, Senior Vice President, Timberlands and Chief Operating Officer, Mosaic Forest Management 

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Mi’kmaq continue blockade of forestry in Cape Breton Highlands

By Aaron Beswick
The Chronicle Herald
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

A Mi’kmaq blockade of harvesting for Port Hawkesbury Paper in the Cape Breton Highlands continued Tuesday. The blockade had been temporarily lifted Sunday, after forestry crews and law enforcement removed a barrier of spruce logs built on Hunters Mountain Road. The logs had been seized from a logging truck by Mi’kmaq led by Ashton Bernard. Trucks were allowed through the line set up by the Mi’kmaq through Monday morning until Madonna Bernard stood in front of two trucks during the afternoon. A significant RCMP presence was on scene but did not interfere in the blockade. “They’re clear-cutting our land and we’re trying to save it,” said Madonna Bernard, who also goes by her Mi’kmaq name, Kuku’wes, as she stood in front of the logging truck.

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Environmentalists raise concerns spraying forests with glyphosate makes them more vulnerable to wildfires

By Jonathan Migneault
CBC News
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Amid calls from some First Nations and municipalities in northeastern Ontario to stop glyphosate spraying on Crown land, environmental groups are raising concerns over the herbicide’s effect on biodiversity. …Wildland fire ecologist Bob Gray said leafy deciduous trees, like aspen, are more resilient to wildfires than softwood conifers like pine and spruce. “Softwoods are highly resinous,” he said. “The foliage and bark is highly flammable. When you’ve got large contiguous areas of conifer forest, you can have large continuous forest fires.” If a timber company’s goal is to promote the growth of softwoods for harvest, at the expense of hardwoods, it can make that area more prone to wildfires. …Jocelyne Laflamme is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia found that aspen becomes more flammable in the fall, when they lose their leaves. …In August, forest company Interfor cancelled plans to spray herbicides on trees along the north shore of Lake Huron.

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Forestry blockade heats up on Cape Breton’s Hunters Mountain

By Aaron Beswick
The Chronicle Herald
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

NOVA SCOTIA — Mikmaq have begun blocking logging trucks from leaving Hunters Mountain. Madonna Bernard began the blockade on Monday afternoon when she stood in front of two logging trucks. She was then joined by other Mi’kmaq seeking to stop harvesting from the Cape Breton Highlands. …“This is not a protest, this is a protection. We’re willing to stay as long as it takes.” A large RCMP presence has gathered and more Mi’kmaq supporters are arriving. …Port Hawkesbury Paper mill manager Bevan Lock said that the supercalendered paper relies on wood coming from the highlands for a significant part of its woods fibre. He said some 70 people work for forestry and logging contractors operating in the area. “The province and RCMP have taken steps to remove the blockade and allow travel on a public road,” said Lock.

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Record New Brunswick wildfires alter forest ecosystems, creating winners and losers among birds

By Hope Edmond
CBC News
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

As wildfires tear through New Brunswick’s forests at record rates this year, researchers say the resulting damage is reshaping bird habitats — displacing some species while creating new opportunities for others. “With every disturbance in a forest, you have winners and losers,” says Joe Nocera, a forestry and environmental management professor at the University of New Brunswick. In this case, the winners will be woodpeckers. Wildfires, while destructive, are a natural part of forest ecosystems, said Amy-Lee Kouwenberg, an associate director at Birds Canada explained. They clear out underbrush and create habitats that support a wider range of species, boosting biodiversity in the long run. Woodpeckers thrive in burned areas, and the resulting tree cavities they leave behind are used as nesting sites that other birds rely on. …Species like the Canada warbler, wood thrush and Bicknell’s thrush — all of which depend on dense, mature or shrubby forests — are particularly vulnerable . 

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A wildfire in southern Ontario burns differently. Here’s why

By Rebecca Gao
The Narwhal
September 3, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Air quality warnings are becoming a feature of Ontario summers, but for most, the source has felt far away. As southern Ontarians stayed indoors … under air quality warnings this summer, fires closer to home ignited. In July and August, the province experienced a number of wildfires in places including the Kawarthas, a couple hours northeast of Toronto, and near the town of Huntsville, in the cottage country region of Muskoka. Farther north, First Nations communities like the Pikangikum First Nation and North Spirit Lake First Nation were evacuated due to wildfires and smoke… How do wildfires in southern Ontario stack up to the massive fires farther north, and what can be done? Here’s what you need to know. …fires in southern Ontario are different for two main reasons: the forest type and the many, many people here.

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Activists question why Nova Scotia no longer disclosing glyphosate spray locations

By Luke Ettinger
CBC News
September 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Activists are pushing for more information about where aerial spraying of glyphosate is happening after the Nova Scotia government has stopped releasing the locations for spraying of the herbicide by forestry companies. However the forestry sector says the use of the herbicide gets unfair attention, and identifying the locations draws protesters who block access to woodlots.  Glyphosate is used by some woodlot owners to …reduce competition for more profitable softwood species… Previously, the provincial government provided premises identification (PID) numbers for where aerial sprays were approved. That didn’t happen when four approvals for spraying were issued in August. “We don’t have to tell everyone where these PIDs are, because it attracts people who don’t know the full story about forest management to show up roadblock your private woodlot, and prevent you from managing it as you see fit,” said Todd Burgess, executive director of Forest Nova Scotia. 

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Charter challenge on Nova Scotia’s woods ban set for next year

By Blair Rhodes
CBC News
September 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

It will be early next year before the province’s decision to impose a sweeping travel ban in Nova Scotia woodlands gets tested in court. Lawyers for the Canadian Constitution Foundation were in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Tuesday to set dates for its challenge to the ban. The first available dates are Feb. 2-3, 2026. The foundation will be joined in their challenge by Jeff Evely, a Nova Scotian who deliberately violated the ban and was fined $28,000 as a result. …Last week, the government removed the ban in Cape Breton and the eastern part of the Nova Scotia mainland because recent rainfall had reduced the fire risk. …On its website, the Canadian Constitution Foundation describes itself as “a national and non-partisan charity” whose objective is ensuring “government power does not infringe on the rights and freedoms of Canadians.”

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U.S. Wildfire Fighters to Mask Up After Decades-Long Ban on Smoke Protections

By Hannah Dreier
The New York Times in DeseretNews via Yahoo
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

After years of wildland firefighters developing cancer, lung disease and other health issues while not being allowed to wear masks as they work, the US Forest Service will now allow these crews to wear masks. The policy turnaround comes as the Forest Service posted new guidance on Monday “acknowledging for the first time that masks can protect firefighters against harmful particles in wildfire smoke,” per The New York Times. Workers were barred from wearing masks for years, with the agency arguing that they were too cumbersome for the job. Officials from the Forest Service reported that the agency did not want to deal with potential expensive consequences of admitting the long-term dangers of smoke exposure. The agency has now stockpiled around 80,000 N95 masks… and is “encouraging firefighters to mask up.” …The new guidance follows a series of NY Times articles documenting a growing occupational health crisis among wildfire crews.

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We Must Protect our Public Lands from Trump

By Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia
Time Magazine
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Ryan Gellert

For 25 years, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has kept vital forests and grassland safe… But now the more-than 58 million acres of pristine national forest it protects are at risk of being exploited for profit. In June, the Trump Administration announced its intent to rescind the 2001 law, a hard-fought policy that prohibited the building or reconstruction of roads and timber harvesting in certain areas in national forests. At the time of its signing, it was the most commented-on rule in U.S. history, with 95% in support of protecting forests and grasslands from development. Since enactment, it has become one of the country’s most consequential conservation policies ever. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is attempting to paint rescinding the Roadless Rule as a way to protect us from wildfire and encourage responsible forest management. We should know better than to take the administration’s statements at face value

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Hearings offer outlet for unease with Forest Service revamp

By Marc Heller
E&E News by Politico
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

National forests and wildfire will return to the congressional agenda this week with a pair of House subcommittee hearings on Forest Service programs. The Trump administration’s challenges in managing the 193-million-acre forest system with a sharply reduced workforce — and a big agency reorganization still to come — are likely topics for both the Agriculture and Natural Resources subcommittees. In the Natural Resources hearing, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands will take testimony on the state of national forests, picking up on a hearing that was initially scheduled for July 9.  In the Agriculture hearing, the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture will focus on improved active forest management, such as increased thinning of national forests to reduce potential wildfire fuel. [to access the full story an E&ENews subscription is required]

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US Department of Agriculture Announces Forest Health Resilience Projects to Improve Timber Production

The US Department of Agriculture
September 3, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $8 million for five new projects to reduce wildfire risk, protect water quality, and improve forest health across the nation. This expands President Trump’s mission to improve the lives of American families, support rural communities, and expand domestic timber production. Today’s announcement builds on Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins’ commitment to wildfire preparedness and President Donald J. Trump’s vision to safeguard American families. USDA and its agencies are working together to take action to protect people, communities, and the natural resources on which this country depends. The Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership Program is a collaborative effort between USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Forest Service to work across public-private boundaries and at a landscape scale. The $8 million investment in new projects is in addition to $32 million for 24 existing three-year-long Joint Chiefs’ projects.

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Rescinding the Roadless Rule is a necessary step for forest health and public safety in Montana

Nick Smith, Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities
The Missoulian in West Virginia News
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Nick Smith

Montana’s national forests… face growing threats from wildfires, drought, and insect infestations. These are threats that are worsened, not reduced, by the outdated Roadless Rule. …While limited management activities are technically permitted under the rule, its sweeping prohibitions on road construction make it exceedingly difficult to implement large-scale forest restoration or wildfire mitigation projects. As a result, even science-based treatments like thinning or prescribed burning frequently face delays or cancellation. At the same time, nearly 300 to 370 million board feet of timber are currently tied up in litigation on Montana’s national forests. …These materials could otherwise help fund forest restoration, supply local mills, and reduce hazardous fuels, all while supporting jobs in rural communities. …After nearly 25 years, the evidence is clear: the Roadless Rule is not a conservation success story. It’s a barrier to active, science-based stewardship at a time when our forests are under unprecedented ecological stress.

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Boosting timber harvesting in national forests while cutting public oversight won’t solve America’s wildfire problem

By Courtenay Schultz, Forrest Fleischman & Tony Cheng
The Conversation US
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The western United States is facing another destructive wildfire season. …As US forests burn, Congress and federal agencies are asking an important question: What role should federal land management play in reducing fire risk? …Several of the current federal proposals for managing fire risk focus on increasing timber harvesting on federal lands as a solution. They also propose speeding up approvals for those projects by limiting environmental reviews and public oversight. As experts in fire science and policy, we see some useful ideas in the proposed solutions, but also reasons for concern. While cutting trees can help reduce the severity of future fires, it has to include thinning in the right places to make a difference. Without oversight and public involvement, increasing logging could skip areas with low-value trees that need thinning and miss opportunities for more effective fire risk-reduction work. 

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The Tongass is not ‘overstocked’— it’s irreplaceable

By Ariel Hasse-Zamudio, Executive Director, Alaskan Energy Infrastructure Project
The Alaska Beacon
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

©USForestService

In 2001, the United States recognized the … significance of over 58 million acres at the heart of our national forests and granted them additional protections known as the Roadless Rule. Last month, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced plans to advance reversing the Roadless Rule, which would open millions of acres of federal lands to industrial development. … Reversing the Roadless Rule would open up 9.3 million acres of the Tongass National Forest, and 5.4 million acres of the Chugach National Forest to development, allowing for roads and structures that will have negative impacts that could last many lifetimes. …With a government focused on putting profits over people, it is no surprise that Sec. Rollins would prefer to use the 58 million acres for short term commercial interests. The American public should be outraged at the prospect of tarnishing our national forests and potentially depleting their resources forever. 

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Can California Forestry Become More Fire Resilient?

By Zeke Lunder
The Lookout
September 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Today’s Lookout Livestream looks at economic, institutional, and physical constraints to California’s timber industry becoming more wildfire resilient. Topics include: The role of private timberland owners, the impact of climate change, long-term supply challenges for logs and woodchips, need for fire in dry forest ecosystems, and the challenges of prescribed fire implementation. The conversation highlighted the need for comprehensive forest management strategies that are focused on what the fuels look like after the logging is complete. Zeke Lunder discusses the complexities of forestry and biomass energy, highlighting the economic challenges of financing new power plants, and the need for long-term sources of fuels to keep the plants running over the life of the investment in the plant. He notes that biomass power plants don’t pencil out without subsidies being paid to the operators. Lunder emphasizes the need for sustainable logging practices to manage fuel loads and reduce fire hazards.

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A ‘Roomba for the forest’ could be SoCal’s next wildfire weapon

By Noah Haggerty
The Los Angeles Times
September 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

CALIFORNIA — The giant, remote-controlled vehicle — somewhere between a tractor trailer, a tank and a Zamboni in appearance — slowly rolled across the dry, brittle grass growing between the tangle of freeways making up the 101 and 23 interchange in Thousand Oaks. Inside the beast, fire churned. And as it rolled over the land, that fire incinerated any brush it encountered, leaving only a thin smoke cloud billowing from the top of the machine, some flashes of orange and red from behind its metal skirt and, in its wake, a desolate, smoldering black line. BurnBot isn’t the fastest way to rid a landscape of dangerously flammable vegetation (it tops out at around 0.5 mph) but it can do something that traditional vegetation management techniques cannot: with almost surgical precision, it can kill the flammable brush sitting within feet of homes and highways with virtually no safety risks or disruptions to daily life.

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Roadless Rule protects forests; Trump wants to eliminate it

By Bill Berry
The Capital Times
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

STEVENS POINT, Wisconsin — The Trump administration blitzkrieg on the environment is rumbling along, and 45 million acres of remote national forest lands are in their sights. These are areas protected by the Roadless Rule, adopted in 2001. …The administration is rushing the public comment period, with a deadline of Sept. 19. …There’s a good chance the administration has already made up its mind. But there’s something to say in this moment about being on the right side of history. …Why should Wisconsin care about the Roadless Rule, which is a huge deal in the West? Mike Dombeck, a Wisconsin native, was chief of the USDA Forest Service when the rule was adopted.” …It’s an important niche between wilderness and development. …It took a long time for us to recognize that suppressing fire actually contributes to uncontrollable wildfires. Fire has been a forest management tool for eons.

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North Carolina to be home to new USDA forest project

By Katherine Zehnder
The Carolina Journal
September 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US East

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would invest more than $8 million in five new projects, including one in North Carolina. These projects will improve forest health by reducing wildfire risk and improving water quality. …North Carolina has two primary wildfire seasons, one in the spring and one in the fall. …The five new projects include efforts across several states to restore and protect essential landscapes. The National Forest is launching the “Alabama Chattahoochee Fall Line Restoring Longleaf” project in Alabama. Colorado and Wyoming will see work in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest through the “Headwaters of the Colorado” initiative. Montana’s Lolo National Forest is beginning the “Blackfoot River Valley Landscape Mosaic” project, while North Carolina’s National Forests are moving forward with “Uwharries to Sandhills, Phase 2.” Finally, Oregon’s Mt. Hood National Forest will focus on “Hood River Wildfire and Watershed Resilience.”

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Giant pine scale threatens South Australia forestry industry as pest spreads in Adelaide

ABC News, Australia
September 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

South Australia’s $3 billion forestry industry says a pest that kills pine trees and is spread by humans needs to be eradicated. Giant pine scale was found in pine trees in the north-eastern Adelaide suburbs of Hope Valley and Highbury in 2023. The pest sucks the sap of pine trees, causing branch dieback and eventually killing the tree. … The state government said nearly 1,400 trees had been cleared, with more trees set to be felled this year after further outbreaks at the reservoir and the Highbury Aqueduct Reserve. Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven said so far, the outbreak had been contained to the north-eastern suburbs. …South Australia’s forestry industry includes estates around the outskirts of Adelaide and in the state’s south-east. The state produces 35 per cent of Australia’s structural timber for housing.

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Timber industry counts cost of ban from 176,000 hectares of Great Koala National Park

By Cathy Adams, Lauren Bohane and Claire Simmonds
ABC News Australia
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

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Timber mills fear they will be unable to fill orders after the New South Wales government confirmed logging would end in forests gazetted as part of the Great Koala National Park. The state government announced an immediate temporary moratorium on logging in 176,000 hectares of state forest. The government said the decision would impact six out of 25 mills operating in the region and about 300 jobs. Details of which mills will close and where jobs will be lost are yet to be announced as the government negotiates assistance deals with owners and workers. …The state government announced a worker and industry support package for those affected, as well as $6 million in community and business support. For workers, that included Job Seeker-style payments equivalent to their wage and free access to health, legal, and financial services, as well as training support. Tony Callinan from the Australian Workers’ Union said the offer fell short.

Related content in The Advertiser Australia, by Nathan Schmidt: Great Koala National Park could make $300m in carbon credits over 15 years

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‘Conservation outcomes don’t get much bigger than this’: Great Koala National Park announced

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons
The Sydney Mornng Herald
September 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The Minns government will announce the proposed boundaries of its signature Great Koala National Park on Sunday, and call an immediate halt to logging in 176,000 hectares of state forest near Coffs Harbour. The creation of the Great Koala National Park will fulfil a promise made by former Labor leader Luke Foley 10 years ago and taken to every election since. The announcement comes 2½ years after the March 2023 election, and logging has continued throughout the lengthy assessment and consultation process. NSW Premier Chris Minns said the government would provide an additional $60 million for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to establish the park, on top of $80 million allocated in 2023, as well as $6 million to boost tourism in the region. “Koalas are at risk of extinction in the wild in NSW – that’s unthinkable,” Minns said in a statement.

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Global forestry companies not ready for EUDR, analysis finds

By Joshua Neil
The Edie Network
September 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

UK — The majority of leading tropical forestry companies do not disclose where their materials come from, meaning they will fail to comply with the EU’s forthcoming Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR). The Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) latest assessment found that only 18% of the world’s largest 100 tropical forestry companies disclose the countries from which they source. Additionally, only 4% state the percentage of their supply that is traceable to the forest management unit level. The assessment additionally found that none of the companies studied have published georeferenced maps for third-party FMUs, with only 3% reporting on how much of their supply is verified deforestation-free. Without clarity around sourcing and supply, companies are unable to prove responsible sourcing to stakeholders. Given that the timber and pulp industry is worth $480bn a year, ZSL said, small traceability failures can put billions of market value at risk.

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Ireland’s next forestry programme must ensure that planting is ‘economically viable’

By Kathleen O’Sullivan
AgriLand Ireland
September 3, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

IRELAND — The next forestry programme must “ensure that forestry as a land use option is economically viable and competitive, while satisfying environmental requirements”, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA). IFA president Francie Gorman has said that forestry is a “strategically important sector that has a key role to play in achieving climate change targets”. …Ireland’s largest forestry and timber body, Forest Industries Ireland (FII) has highlighted the “huge opportunity” for farmers “to take advantage of afforestation grant schemes” during a meeting with the IFA this week. FII highlighted the need for more farmers to consider planting forestry on their land amid rapid growth in global demand for timber products, driving up the value of future forestry harvests. “The Irish timber industry has the potential to significantly grow as many countries move towards net zero carbon targets and focus on sustainable building materials such as timber.”

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