…Now Canada’s forest industry, a pillar of our economy since colonial times, must also look itself in the mirror. …So does that mean the Americans are right? Republican John James, a U.S. Congressman from Michigan, blamed Canada for abdicating its “responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country’s airspace.” The short answer is no. …but the responsibility lies not with Canada, per se; the main culprit is human-caused climate change. …The current U.S. administration has recklessly and suicidally turned its back on a transition to a low-carbon economy. …Meanwhile, our own federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney has pulled away from Justin Trudeau’s bold moves to curb fossil-fuel use, and has instead championed pipelines. …The key, big-picture, is to transition to a low-carbon future. In the meantime, we can do a better job with forest management, informed by Indigenous knowledge, to avert or mitigate wildfire disaster. [Access to this story requires a Globe and Mail subscription]
OTTAWA – The 2026 wildfire season has been manageable so far, largely because of significant amounts of rain across Western Canada, but federal officials cautioned Thursday the summer forecast is hotter and drier than normal in much of the country. … The southern Prairies and eastern Quebec have had more rain than usual this year, and it’s expected that above-average precipitation will continue in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Forecasts for July and August are calling for higher than usual temperatures for Ontario, Quebec, northern parts of the Prairies and the territories. …The latest information from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre shows there have been 3,100 fires across the country so far this season, compared to around 2,900 at this time last year. …But the total area burned this year is less than last year, at around 12,000 square kilometres, down from 46,000 square kilometres.
A Saanich councillor’s attempt to recognize trees’ right to live will have to wait until next term. Saanich council voted down Coun. Nathalie Chambers’ motion to have the district endorse the principles of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Tree, which recognizes trees as vital living beings, deserving protection including the right to life, natural growth, integrity and regeneration. While all members of council took the opportunity to stress their love of trees, none supported the motion. Coun. Zac De Vries said the declaration was well-intentioned, but more clarity is needed about how it would affect current policies. …Chambers’ inspiration for the motion was the Quebec town of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, which last month voted to recognize trees as living beings with rights.
In the battle against one of the most significant forest fires of this summer, the BC Wildfire Service says that for the first time in Canada it has used a drone to ignite a controlled burn. …The wildfire service began testing remotely piloted aircraft systems on prescribed fires several years ago with the intent of using them alongside traditional aircraft and to support ground crews. The drones use a plastic sphere dispenser to drop fire into specific areas “controlling the spacing and intensity of the fires and avoiding placing firefighters in challenging or dangerous terrain.” …“The drone used for ignition is accompanied by observation drones outfitted with infrared and imaging capabilities, which gives us project intelligence not just during ignitions but through all phases of operations”. …The new technology improves firefighter safety and decision-making and helps the wildfire service “better protect communities and the environment,” it said.
Nk’Mip Forestry, with support from Siya Forestry, has planted more than 900,000 trees and native plants across Osoyoos Indian Band territory this year as part of the federal “2 Billion Trees Program.” The restoration project focuses on areas damaged by wildfire and other disturbances, including land severely burned during the 2021 Nk’Mip Creek wildfire where natural regeneration has been limited. “These sites were severely burned by the 2021 Nk’Mip Creek wildfire and were not regenerating on their own,” said Peter Flett, head of operations for Nk’Mip Forestry, in a press release issued Tuesday. “By planting now, we can help establish mixed-species forests that are better suited to future environmental conditions.” …In addition to restoring forests and wildlife habitat, the initiative is creating employment opportunities for local crews through seed collection, nursery work, planting and monitoring. The project is funded through the Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees Program
British Columbia is expanding the BC Timber Sales Value-Added Manufacturing Program by creating a new dedicated category that will secure fibre for custom cutters and processors. BC’s action builds on Canada’s Forest Sector Transformation Task Force, which was commissioned in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new duties and tariffs on Canadian wood products. The task force recommends strong support for value-added operators so Canada can build high-quality products at home. “British Columbia’s path forward for forestry can’t just be providing dimensional lumber to Americans. We have to make more in B.C.,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. …Custom cutters and processors are a group within the value-added wood-manufacturing sector without their own sawmilling facilities. …BC Wood Specialties Group Association’s chair, Kelly Marconi said “our custom cutting and processing members were part of the task force’s public consultation, so we are pleased to see this inclusive change.”
…As some resource roads across the province fall into disrepair … outdoor groups are working to save them. 
Open letter to Premier David Eby, B.C.’s Minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar, spoke in Revelstoke about his hopes for sawmills, old- growth and caribou protection (recently). It is evident Parmar is misinformed about the issues critical to the Revelstoke community and other British Columbia residents, and is failing to act on your government’s commitments to climate action, environmental protection, and sustainability. When asked about protecting old-growth within the Revelstoke region, such as the Rainbow-Jordan Wilderness (RJW), Parmar stated: “What I wouldn’t support is just saving land for the sake of saving land and seeing mills close down.” That response demonstrated a lack of understanding of community priorities. …The minister’s comments also show a lack of understanding of the Old Growth Strategic Review, which your government commissioned and committed to implementing. Rather than perpetuating the volume-based resource extraction model, a shift to a value-added sustainable forestry is needed for the provincial economy and long-term employment opportunities.
It was more than a decade ago that the Ontario government started to worry about its wildland firefighting program. In 2016, a report warned that fire rangers were quitting at an alarming rate, were less experienced than in previous years and were comparatively underpaid. Those issues have persisted ever since. Versions of the report repeated the warnings in 2018 and 2019, while an internal memo from 2022 warned of “an increase in the number of people leaving our organization for employment opportunities elsewhere.” …The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has pushed for major pay increases, to reclassify wildland firefighters as firefighters, not resource technicians, and more year-round jobs. …The government has vehemently denied claims it has failed to prepare for the fire season or that it is underfunding the fight to control the blazes.
It was more than a decade ago that the Ontario government started to worry about its wildland firefighting program. Back in 2016, a 
Oregon forestry officials will need to manage hundreds of thousands of acres of western state forests to better support critical species, water and air quality and to decrease greenhouse gas emissions under a new management plan the Board of Forestry approved Wednesday. The seven-member board voted 5-2 to pass the 168-page 
As tribes across the West seek the return of federal lands through U.S. Congress, land trusts have advanced a complementary strategy: helping tribes buy back private lands from willing sellers — including timber companies — with public funding and conservation dollars. That approach is also gaining support in Oregon where five federally recognized tribes are pursuing federal legislation that would transfer public lands into tribal ownership. In a letter last week to the state’s congressional delegation … urged lawmakers to invest in tribal acquisitions of private lands while preserving environmental protections and public access on federal lands. …Historically, land trusts focused on buying and preserving environmentally valued land via conservation easements and other deed restrictions [that] limited people’s access to the land or prohibited most human activities. In recent years, the trusts have started to reexamine that approach, particularly when working with tribes who strongly believe that land should exist in relationship with people.
Two Western Washington tribes are suing the Trump administration to save endangered-species habitats nationwide. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Seattle by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and the Squaxin Island Tribe, follows the Trump administration’s recent reinterpretation of the Endangered Species Act. The Interior Department and the Department of Commerce announced they were nixing the decades-old interpretation of the act: Damage to an endangered species’ habitat would no longer be viewed as “harm” to the species. The species act would only be used to prevent directly injuring or killing endangered wildlife. “It’s devastating because of the impacts on the ESA-listed Chinook salmon,” Swinomish tribal chair Steve Edwards said. …Noah Greenwald said companies would have little incentive to enter into or continue habitat conservation plans. …Nick Smith said the new rule could make projects like tree thinning in fire-prone forests easier to carry out.
A historic drought is turning Colorado’s mountain landscapes into a tinderbox. After last winter’s record-low snowpack, wildland firefighters who continuously monitor indexes of weather and climate data to help predict wildfire risk and how conditions might affect fire behavior say they’re staring down unprecedented levels of dryness. “That lack of snowpack has had a very real impact on the fuels, the vegetation — specifically the large logs that are on the ground,” said Jim King, the fire behavior analyst for the Willow Fire burning near Leadville. “Those are 1,000-hour fuels. The way we measure those in this line of work, they’re just at the very peak. They’re basically as dry as they can get.” …King described how bone-dry logs in the dense forest near Turquoise Lake, along with high winds, contributed to 100-foot columns of flames and extreme fire behavior that at times threw “spots” …more than a half mile ahead of the blaze.
CALIFORNIA — A bipartisan bill intended to protect people and forests from wildfires in the Shasta-Trinity and other national forests is dividing lawmakers and conservationists in Northern California and nationwide. Supporters of the Fix Our Forests Act say it speeds up the bureaucratic process for approving projects that reduce wildfire risk in national forests. These include control burn and vegetation removal projects. A chorus of conservationists opposed to the bill say they worry about uncontrolled logging in some of the country’s pristine forestlands. …According to the bill’s wording, it would limit how much environmental protection oversight projects that reduce vegetation would have to surmount before they’re approved. It also would limit legal challenges to those projects from community and environmental groups. The latter has been dividing lawmakers across both parties for more than a year.
NEW ZEALAND — With El Nio forecast to bring drier, windier conditions and elevated fire danger across many parts of New Zealand this summer, maintaining a strong level of readiness will be particularly important. A 
ITALY — The good news is that European forests continue to grow: according to the 2025–2026 Annual Report of the European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry (EOS), a body representing around 80 per cent of European sawn timber production, European forests now cover over 232 million hectares, equivalent to 35.4% of the continent’s land area, and over the last 35 years they have expanded by more than 23 million hectares, with an average increase of around 665,000 hectares each year. At the same time, Europe’s forest stock has reached 38.3 billion cubic metres, an increase of around 45% compared with 1990. Yet – and this is the less positive news – the availability of raw materials for the timber industry remains one of the main challenges to the sector’s competitiveness and to Europe’s sustainability objectives, as emerged from the Forestry-Timber General Assembly organised in Bologna by Filiera Legno (an association representing almost 600 companies in the timber industry). 
