Ottawa – B.C. wildland firefighters work long hours in dangerous conditions… Yet the federal government’s occupational classification system still places them under silviculture and forestry workers. This week, wildland firefighters represented by the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) are bringing their experiences to Parliament Hill… The BCGEU is fighting for this classification change because wildland firefighters deserve recognition that reflects their responsibilities and the risks they face. …Proper recognition is an important foundation for advancing the protections, supports and retirement provisions that reflect the demands of their work. …Frontline wildland firefighters are currently classified under NOC 84111, Silviculture and forestry workers. The BCGEU is calling for them to be included in NOC 42101, Firefighters, and for appropriate senior wildland fire officers to be included in NOC 40041, Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers. The union is also asking that wildland firefighting roles be removed from forestry and silviculture classifications.
For more than 20 years, Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) has protected wildlife that are at risk of being lost. …Nevertheless, these protections are routinely delayed for years. Our recently 
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As Canada’s 2026 wildfire season closed having scorched roughly 4.5 million hectares and forced 33,750 people from their homes — making it the country’s fourth-worst fire season on record — researchers in Montréal and Ottawa announced an AI tool that compresses months of hazard computation into hours. On October 23, Mila — the Québec Artificial Intelligence Institute — and the forestry division of Natural Resources Canada jointly announced an AI emulator designed to slot into Canada’s existing wildfire hazard workflow as a radically faster alternative to BurnP3+, the country’s established physics-based simulator. Depending on the hardware it runs on, the model operates between 800 and 3,400 times faster than BurnP3+, according to 
The Lac Simon Anishnabe Nation has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing its failure to protect the caribou from the impacts of mining and forestry threatens their members’ constitutional rights. Since 2020, the last seven caribou of the Val-d’Or herd have lived in a 14-hectare forested enclosure in northwest Quebec. …The Val-d’Or caribou herd faces imminent extinction in Quebec as its habitat is fragmented by industry, with only one-third of its habitat intact. Though the caribou are listed under the federal Species At Risk Act, the nation says the government has focused on consultation rather than action, leaving the caribou vulnerable to the threat of ongoing environmental degradation. The Anishnabe Nation of Lac Simon argues its constitutional right to hunt relies on the continued existence of the caribou herd. If successful, the case could set a precedent at a crucial time when endangered species face escalating risks from major projects across Canada.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it has acquired 814 square kilometres of boreal forest and peatlands south of Kapuskasing, previously owned by a company selling carbon offset credits. The non-profit says where the landscape is healthy and free of vulnerable species, some day-use recreational activities such as hiking and paddling may continue, in line with provincial laws. The federal government says it’s contributing $13 million to the project as part of a total $64-million investment from both public and private donors. The announcement comes ahead of next week’s annual United Nations biodiversity summit, where the talks are expected to focus on global progress toward conservation goals. Ottawa unveiled a new $3.8-billion nature protection strategy earlier this year intended to put Canada’s goals within reach, months after the federal environmental watchdog found it to be more than one-million square kilometres short of its 2025 goal to protect 25 per cent of its lands and inland water.
FREDERICTON, NB — …The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced an investment of up to $50 million for the establishment of the New Brunswick Strategic Innovation Centre in Digital Forestry, an initiative led by the Northern Hardwoods Research Institute in collaboration with ResearchNB. …The new Centre will establish a pilot for digitalizing the forest sector, helping the industry and its stakeholders better identify, track and use fibre resources across the supply chain. By increasing certainty of fibre supply and matching that fibre supply to facilities’ specific manufacturing requirements, the initiative would modernize the forest products sector in New Brunswick and create a model for other regions — attracting investment, reducing costs and improving operational efficiency for businesses. The digital infrastructure will place New Brunswick at the forefront of innovation and support the long-term resilience of Canada’s forest industry. Minister Hodgson confirmed that Budget 2026 will contain further details related to the federal forest sector strategy. 
When the US Forest Service opened 947 acres of western Colorado to commercial logging in July, officials expected at least a few companies to jump at the opportunity. Not one did. None had bid a year earlier, either. Surging fuel costs and plummeting prices for Ponderosa pine made it impossible for them to turn a profit, so they all skipped it. That isn’t just a problem for the loggers. Timber sales are an important tool for preventing catastrophic wildfires, helping to thin dense underbrush and other vegetation that builds up over decades. …Yet loggers are passing up on timber sales across federal lands because of an accelerating downturn in the industry. Demand has been cratering for some wood products, especially pulpwood used to make paper. “If we don’t have a viable economic market,” said Scott Dane of the American Loggers Council. “Without markets, there is no forest management.” [to access the full story a NY Times subscription is required]
EUGENE, Oregon – President Trump is widely expected to soon open up some 44 million acres of the country’s last pristine national forests. …With the formal repeal of the Roadless Rule rule expected early next year, the picture on the ground in timber country looks messier. Those who make a living in the forests say the problems are much bigger than access to more trees. …Sean Smith, CEO of the family owned Starfire Lumber in Cottage Grove, Oregon says the industry has more pressing challenges now, starting with the record high price of diesel fuel. Economists largely blame that on Trump’s war with Iran. And then there’s inflation, which is driving up the costs of just about everything. …So repealing the Roadless Rule – which has largely banned new road building and logging projects on some 44 million acres of pristine national forests since 2001 – is lower on the priority list.
Mexico’s armed forces have dismantled more than 123 clandestine sawmills and detained 116 suspected illegal loggers over the government’s first two years, Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said on Tuesday, Mexican newspaper La Razón 
Environmental organization Greenpeace International has accused Ikea Group of wood sourcing practices that are destroying forests in Europe despite the furniture retailer’s reported commitment to sustainable wood sourcing standards, according to an Oct. 13 press release. 
Europe is emerging from one of its worst wildfire seasons on record. Deadly blazes this year ripped through countries including Spain, France and Greece, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate and burning 699,000 hectares – four times the size of London. The disasters highlighted how climate change is fuelling hot and dry conditions that amplify wildfires. But another, often-overlooked factor played a pivotal role in some instances: How governments and private landowners are managing Europe’s emptying countryside. In the 195s, the countryside west of Madrid, Spain’s capital, was a mosaic of crop fields and pastures. If a fire ignited, the fragmented landscape would limit its spread. By 1975, the first signs of decline rural activity were visible in aerial photographs. …In the decades that followed, young forests took root. The woodland spread grew denser, joining together to form more continuous forest. Now, if a fire starts, the continuous vegetation provides fuel for the flames to spread.
