Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

Canfor and Canfor Pulp demonstrate ESG performance in 2024 Sustainability Report

By Canfor Corporation
Cision Newswire
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

VANCOUVER, BC – Canfor Corporation and Canfor Pulp Products released their joint 2024 Sustainability Report today. The report describes the companies’ approach to managing environmental, social and governance activities, and reports on established targets. Canfor CEO Susan Yurkovich said, “Sustainability is at the forefront of our business and we continually strive to be better at all that we do.” 2024 performance highlights include: Maintaining certifications for sustainable forest management and fibre procurement activities, with 100% of Canfor-managed forests certified to SFI® or FSC® Forest Management Standards, 100% of sourced fibre in North American operations managed to the SFI Fibre Sourcing Standard and 100% of Swedish forestry operations certified to the PEFC Forest Management Standard. …Advancements in safety, health and wellness initiatives. …Investing in communities, with more than $2 million donated. …Continuing to pursue our goal to be net zero by 2050.

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Forest Stewardship Council News & Views

Forest Stewardship Council Canada
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Headlines this month include: 

  • How forestry is supporting biodiversity in Northumberland County
  • Forest Stewardship Council launches the FSC Brand Hub – a new platform for FSC trademarks and marketing
  • FSC is hiring a Director of Marketing
  • Advancing EUDR: A time to act and make it a reality
  • FSC is hiring an Operations Manager
  • The outcomes of COP 16.2 create momentum for the forest sector to strengthen its commitment to biodiversity
  • FSC Forest Week 2025 – September 20 – 26 – Registration Open

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New Report shows repeat spraying of BC and New Brunswick forests, contrary to federal approval

By Safe Food Matters Inc.
Cision Newswire
March 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

TORONTO – A new report shows pesticides are sprayed on Canadian forests up to 7 times in the forestry cycle, not just once – as assumed in Health Canada’s approval for spraying. It also shows the risks to people eating forest foods, including Indigenous people and foragers, have not been assessed. The report, written by Safe Food Matters, presents data compiled by the Wilderness Committee and Stop Spraying New Brunswick showing cutblocks in New Brunswick and British Columbia have been sprayed 2, 3 or more times with glyphosate, the main pesticide used in forestry. It presents evidence that many Indigenous people eat forest foods, putting them at risk. Recent science from the University of Northern BC shows glyphosate accumulates and persists for years in forest plants like berries and roots. Based on the report, groups are signing an Open Letter to the Health Minister to cancel the approval.

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Why does Alberta have an annual elm pruning ban?

By Harrison O’Nyons
High River Online
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Crews finished up the last of the tree pruning activity in Okotoks last week, giving way to the annual elm pruning ban. The ban is in place from April 1 to Sept. 30 of each year to prevent the spread of Dutch Elm Disease. Tree pruning is done in the ‘dormant season’ to target certain harmful species and diseases, as bark beetles rest during the winter months, and cuts aren’t likely to attract them. The beetles spread the disease by carrying the Ophiostoma ulmi fungus from tree to tree… Thanks largely to those efforts, Alberta has the largest Dutch elm disease-free American elm in the world.

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Landslide closes the only direct road between Vernon and West Kelowna

CBC News
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A debris slide in the central Okanagan has closed off the only direct road running between Vernon and West Kelowna. As Brady Strachan reports, it happened along steep slopes where a wildfire burned trees and vegetation two years ago. 

Related content: 

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Island broom busters call for volunteers as cutting season approaches

By Robert Barron
Comox Valley Record
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The wildfires that rampaged through and around Los Angeles at the beginning of the year prompted 120 new volunteers to join the Broombusters Invasive Plant Society in an effort to prevent the same catastrophe from happening here. Joanne Sales, executive director said that there’s been an increase in wildfires globally, and the primary culprit is climate change. She said on Vancouver Island, the main invasive species is Scotch broom and that FireSmart has listed the invasive plant as one of the highest-risk flammable plants in the region… those who are looking to stop its spread have said that allowing it to grow densely over the extensive network of B.C. Hydro’s transmission lines from Campbell River to Victoria creates a dangerous pathway for wildfires to spread quickly across the Island.

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Weir at Cowichan Lake to go into operation this month

My Cowichan Valley Now
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Cowichan Lake weir will be put into operation this month to regulate the water flow out of Cowichan Lake into the river. Crofton Pulp Mill Owner, Domtar, says it will be done to ensure an adequate flow can be maintained during the summer. Once the weir is mechanically and electrically confirmed to be ready for another control season, the boat lock gates will be lowered, and boaters will need assistance from Boat Lock operator to pass through. While the weir lock is operated 24 hours per day during control season, passage through the locks is intended to be a daylight activity… Paper Excellence, owner of the Crofton Mill, rebranded itself as Domtar after acquiring Domtar Corporation and Resolute Forest Products last year.

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New forestry partnership aims for sustainability, stewardship

By Don Urquhart
The Times Chronicle
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) and American forestry company Weyerhaeuser have struck what they describe as a “landmark partnership” to manage a tree farm licence (TFL) east of OIB reserve land near Oliver. The OIB said stewardship of their traditional territory “is both a responsibility and an opportunity”. Through this partnership, OIB says it has taken a co-leadership role in managing TFL 59, an area of “profound cultural, ecological, and economic significance”. The two aim to raise the benchmark for sustainable forestry by balancing modern forestry practices with traditional knowledge… The tenure has a broad and ambitious set of management objectives, including reducing wildfire risk, protecting water resources, enhancing wildlife habitat, increasing forest resiliency and rehabilitating areas impacted by the devastating 2021 wildfires.

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There are ways to support the forestry industry though tariffs, duties

By Curtis Galbraith
EverythingGP
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The senior vice president of the Alberta Forest Products Association says there are a few things people in the Peace can do to support an industry dealing with tariffs and duties. Brock Mulligan says there is “a huge opportunity to build more with our wood.” “We see a growing demand for recreation centres. We think that a lot of them should look like the Philip J. Currie (Dinosaur) Museum out in the County of Grande Prairie. Amazing, beautiful wood building.” “We also see increasing urbanization and folks living in increasingly taller apartment buildings and those should be built with resources that are made here in Grande Prairie.” Mulligan says there are 2500 forestry jobs in or near Grande Prairie between the Canfor, International Paper, Weyerhaeuser and West Fraser mills.

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Caribou herds will be destroyed under Alberta government draft plan, say conservation groups

By Peter Shokeir
Rocky Mountain Outlook
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Conservation groups are warning that a proposed Alberta government plan for a sub-region in west-central Alberta would wipe out two caribou populations if implemented. The draft plan for the Upper Smoky sub-region would enable the U.S.-based timber company Weyerhaeuser to entirely clearcut the last winter range forests… A Caribou Task Force, made up of Indigenous groups, industry, municipalities, various user groups and interest groups, had been established to advise the Alberta government on Upper Smoky sub-regional planning. These multi-stakeholder conversations were held from 2019 to 2021; however, none of the task force’s recommendations related to caribou conservation and recovery were reflected in the report. Public engagement runs until June 25 and can be completed online.

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First Nation-led innovation in forestry uses cultural burns and thinning to bring back food and wildlife

Bulkley Valley Research Centre
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Jordan Gabriel

The Silviculture Innovation Program (SIP) of the Bulkley Valley Research Centre (BVRC), recently launched its first episode of a new series titled ‘Out On A Limb’. The goal of the series is to uplift voices of trailblazers in B.C. communities who are leading innovative management practices for the betterment of the forests of tomorrow. “The series helps tell stories to inspire and motivate practitioners who are carrying out innovative forestry practices by celebrating creative solutions to complex problems” shared Gillian Chow-Fraser, Extension Specialist for the SIP, a program created following the government-led Old Growth Strategic Review (2020) focused on increasing the uses of alternative forestry practices in B.C. The inaugural episode, released on March 31, features Líl̓wat Forestry Ventures (LFV) and highlights their unique holistic approach to forest management.

[Watch the first episode of this series on YouTube here]

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TLA 80th Annual Convention: Advancing Innovation for 80 Years

By Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Forestry News
Truck LoggerBC Magazine
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

David Eby

The 80th annual Truck Loggers Association (TLA) Convention brought together industry leaders, policymakers, and experts at a time of significant change and challenge for BC’s forest sector. The attendees engaged in discussions on investment concerns, policy shifts, contractor sustainability, wildfire and climate change mitigation, and technological advancements shaping the industry’s future. Three keynote speakers stood out: Premier David Eby, who took an unusually conciliatory tone in acknowledging past missteps; Forest Minister Ravi Parmar, who laid out ambitious promises for the future, and John Rustad, BC Conservative leader, who provided a strong counterpoint. The convention opened with a sobering but forward-looking message from TLA President Dorian Uzzell and owner of Wahkash Contracting. Reflecting on this year’s theme, he underscored the growing uncertainty in BC forestry, warning that policy-driven inefficiencies are making some forests uneconomical to operate in. “If the entire supply chain isn’t functioning, we all become the have-nots,” he cautioned. 

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Industrial update: Helping Cariboo forests regrow

By Andie Mollins
The Williams Lake Tribune
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

When it comes to reforesting areas made bare by natural causes, it’s the Ministry of Forests’ job to oversee the progress. “Wildfire…really is the biggest thing we’re focusing on,” said Shelley Barlow, the ministry’s regional silviculture specialist for the Cariboo. According to a February 2018 report by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, 80 per cent of the area affected by the 2017 wildfires in B.C. was in the Cariboo. About one million hectares of forests were burnt in the region, and 609,000 of those hectares were part of the Cariboo’s timber harvesting land base. Prior to 2017, the ministry was planting up to two million trees per year in the Williams Lake forestry district. Since then, Barlow said this number has at least tripled.

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‘No one is investing’: Nova Scotia woodland owners concerned tariffs will negatively impact industry’s future

By Emma Convey
CTV Atlantic
April 3, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Julia and David MacMillan own 1,000 acres of woodland in West Tatamagouche, N.S. They currently grow around a million trees annually, consisting of around 35 to 37 commercial tree species, including spruce, maple, hemlock, ironwood, and balsam fir… The MacMillan family sells their product to roughly 15 companies. Some of the big ones include Irving, Ledwidge Lumber, Elmsdale Lumber and a paper mill in Port Hawkesbury, N.S. “If the sawmills and other mills in Nova Scotia that use the product, the other materials that we use from the woodlot, if those mills have to slow down or shut down as a result of the tariffs, then ultimately there is no market for the product that we make,” says David. The woodlot employs six full-time staff and 20 seasonal workers. Julia and David’s biggest fear when it comes to tariffs is the impact on their workers and their families.

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Caring for Trees After Ice Storms: Forests Canada Offers Guidance to Care for your trees

By Forests Canada
Wawa-news.com
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

In the wake of the recent ice storm in parts of Ontario and Southwestern Quebec, home and landowners should assess and care for damaged trees on their property. A loss of branches and foliage, split trunks, and even uprooted trees may need immediate attention to minimize any long-term impacts the damage may cause. Damage from ice storms can impact the ability of a tree to grow and make trees more susceptible to insects, disease, and additional damage in the event of future storms. Recovery depends largely on the initial health of the tree and the extent of damage incurred. Healthy trees with minimal crown loss (upper branches) should recover, and over time, the crown may even appear normal.

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Forest fire season begins today

By Jeff Turl
The Bay Today
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

There is still plenty of snow around, but today, April 1, marks the first day of the fire season. That means Ontario’s Outdoor Burning Regulations are now in effect for the Northeast Fire Region. There are currently no active wildland fires in the Northeast Region. If you live in Northwestern, Northeastern or North-Central Ontario, you must follow certain rules to have an outdoor fire. Also, check with your local municipality for any rules it may have. By law, you need a fire permit to burn wood, brush, leaves and grass outside during the fire season of April 1 – October 31.

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Acadia to lead groundbreaking research to save Nova Scotia’s hemlocks, mitigate impacts of climate change

Education News Canada
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Dr. Kirk Hillier

At first glance, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) – a tiny, aphid-like insect barely bigger than a millimetre – hardly seems threatening. Beaded among leaves like garland, the insect’s fluffy white bodies could be mistaken for the world’s smallest cotton balls. You might even say they look cute. But those who understand the invasive critter and the devastation it can cause know better than to coo over evidence of HWA among nearby trees. Nova Scotia’s old-growth hemlock forests, the meal of choice for this insect, are now under significant threat if nothing is done – and the effects of these forests being wiped out would be catastrophic… “It’s not just a change in the landscape that’s at risk – but cascading ecological and economic destruction when entire tree species are lost,” said Dr. Hillier.

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New forestry investment reaches Pontiac

By Tashi Farmilo
Quebec Community Newspapers Association
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Pontiac, Quebec — The federal government is investing over $250,000 in five forestry-related projects across western Quebec, including initiatives in the Outaouais region, as part of a larger $13.3 million funding package aimed at strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of Quebec’s forest sector. Announced on March 20 by Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, the funding includes support from the Indigenous Forestry Initiative, which focuses on fostering Indigenous leadership in forest management and encouraging economic opportunities rooted in environmental stewardship. In the Outaouais, the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community in Maniwaki will receive $50,000 to enhance its ability to participate in forestry consultations. The project aims to equip the community with the tools and expertise needed to conduct in-depth analyses of proposed forest plans, ensuring that responses reflect community values and long-term impacts. Further north in Kebaowek, two projects are receiving federal support.

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Province of Ontario bolsters staff in preparation for 2025 wildland fire season

By Kris Ketonen
CBC News
March 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Province of Ontario says it’s prepared for the fast-approaching 2025 wildland fire season. The new season starts on April 1, and preparations have included filling more than 100 new, permanent positions to help support forest fire fighting operations, said Chris Marchand, fire information officer with Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES). …Exactly how busy this season will be remains unknown, Marchand said, as it’s very difficult to predict how intense a fire season will be. …Marchand said the previous winter saw “somewhat normal” snowfall patterns across Ontario. …Marchand noted, however, that the 2024 fire season was slower than usual — 480 fires were reported, down from the 10-year, seasonal average of 700 fires. The Province of Ontario said it partnered with the federal government last year to invest $64 million in the provincial wil

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Logging is quietly ravaging US forests. Trump is taking an axe to protections

By Jennifer Skene, NRDC
The Guardian
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, International

The world is running out of time to halt deforestation. Yet instead of stepping up, the US is dismantling forest protections and undermining global progress – highlighting the dangers of global forest policy that fails to hold the wealthiest, most powerful countries accountable. …But the latest actions by the US highlight just how dangerous and unbalanced this paradigm is. …Under the pretense of national security, Trump’s orders aim to gut environmental safeguards and fast-track industrial clearcutting in some of the US’s most precious and climate-critical forests. …Meanwhile, as Europe strengthens forest accountability, US state officials are pushing to exempt the country from new deforestation protections.. These officials, echoing industry talking points, are urging the EU to exclude US wood products from a law requiring due diligence to prevent imports or exports tied to deforestation or forest degradation. Their argument? That the US doesn’t need oversight.

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A notorious, tree-chewing pest could be making a comeback in Colorado

By Sam Brasch
CPR News
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

An insect known for turning entire mountainsides the color of rust could be making a resurgence in Colorado.  The pest is none other than the mountain pine beetle. After a roughly decade-long period of relatively lower populations, the bugs are rebuilding their numbers along the Front Range and in southwest Colorado, according to an annual forest health report published by the Colorado State Forest Service in late March. “I’m a little concerned moving in this summer because we really haven’t had any precipitation,” said Dan West, the forest entomologist for the Colorado State Forest Service. “I’m worried bark beetles are going to increase their populations in these drought-stricken trees.” Few bugs have had a more visible impact on forests across the western U.S.

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Logging company fined $16K for ‘Yellow Lake Fire’

By MI Jewkes
ABC4
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The U.S. Forest Service has imposed the maximum penalty of $16,000 on the logging company it holds responsible for starting last autumn’s Yellow Lake Fire. The penalty comes after a three-month-long investigation conducted by fire investigators with the U.S. Forest Service. At about 11 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2024, the only person on shift at the Duchesne Ridge Fuelwood Sale Site in the Uinta Mountains left for the day. Just over four hours later, dispatch received the first report of smoke in the area. According to the report, the fire was most likely started by friction from the logging company’s equipment. Despite having officials on the scene early, the fire grew to 150 acres overnight. The fire eventually became Utah’s largest wildfire in 2024, growing to over 33,000 acres.

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Wildfires in California are threatening the world’s oldest trees

By Jeanine Santucci
USA Today
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Firefighters in central California were working Tuesday to contain a wildfire near the Nevada border threatening a forest home to the oldest trees in the world, after making good progress on Monday, officials said. The Silver Fire broke out Sunday near Bishop, California, in Inyo County and has burned ‎1,589 acres. It was 50% contained as of Tuesday morning. “The fire still threatens structures, critical infrastructure, watersheds, endangered species, and cultural resources,” the Cal Fire San Bernardino Unit said in a post to social media on Tuesday. Less than 15 miles from the fire, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest contains trees that are more than 4,000 years old. The Patriarch Tree is the world’s largest bristlecone pine tree.

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Oregon conservationists celebrate legal victory against BLM’s old-growth logging

Assoicated Press in KPIC
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

EUGENE, Ore. — Conservation groups across Oregon have won a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management’s logging plans. On Monday, a federal judge ruled that the BLM had illegally authorized the logging of old-growth forest lands within protected areas called late successional reserves. Those are reserves specifically created to protect old-growth forest ecosystems. The court pointed out that logging in these reserves would increase fire hazards and harm nearby habitats. The Cascadia Wildlands Group, alongside other conservation groups, add that they’re hoping to get BLM forest managers on board with fire resiliency projects and fire fuel reduction rather than further timber sales.

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Meet the Coloradans Working To Save the West’s Wildfire-Ravaged Forests

By Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan
5280 | The Denver Magazine
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

There are a number of ecological incentives for keeping the West forested. Trees stabilize soil, preventing flooding and landslides. They keep sediment out of rivers and streams, protecting aquatic habitats and drinking water. Forests help preserve mountain snowpack, replenishing groundwater reserves. They provide a home for wildlife, from bugs and birds to elk and black bears. And trees sequester carbon, a crucial tool in the fight against climate change. Beyond science, though, the desire to preserve forests feels deeply personal. “Forests are like Colorado’s DNA,” says Catherine Schloegel, watershed forest manager for the Colorado branch of the national nonprofit the Nature Conservancy. “We love to hike in them, bike in them, ski through the trees. They’re a huge reason why we live here. The legacy of Colorado is our forests.”

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Controversial logging bill makes it through Oregon committee

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Lawmakers have moved forward a controversial logging bill that could open the state up to lawsuits if Oregon doesn’t log enough timber in a given year. Representatives in the House Committee on Natural Resources unanimously advanced House Bill 3103 early Monday. The bill would allow counties and the timber industry to sue the state forester if Oregon logs less than the Department of Forestry forecasts in its once-a-decade estimates. There are exceptions if a large mass of trees are destroyed by wildfires, diseases or storms… Every decade, the Oregon Department of Forestry estimates how much timber it could log from state land for the next 10 years. Timber industry representatives and county officials say the department tends to over-promise and under deliver, making it difficult for them to plan ahead.

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Wilderness permits for Oregon parks returns despite uncertainty over ranger staffing

By Zach Urness
The Register-Guard
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The sometimes controversial permit system meant to limit crowds in three of Oregon’s most popular wilderness areas will return this summer, despite questions about who will enforce the system following widespread layoffs and another round of anticipated cuts to the U.S. Forest Service… The agency stated: “For the Deschutes, we will still have a wilderness ranger presence this summer. We also have a dedicated cadre of trained volunteer wilderness backcountry rangers who focus on education and mitigating impacts as well as a robust volunteer group that staffs wilderness trailheads to ensure awareness of and to gain compliance with the permit system (including redirecting people who do not have permits to other opportunities within the 60 available self-issued permit wilderness trailheads).”

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Forging a Greener Future: Global Spirits Company and Conservation Leaders Continue Alliance to Plant 8,000 Trees for a Sustainable Future

By Chelsea Bowers
The Nature Conservancy Press Room – USA
March 31, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Continuing a four-year collaboration dedicated to enhancing environmental sustainability, Green Forests Work, Suntory Global Spirits, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) are joining forces to reforest a former mine site in Hazard, Kentucky. This annual tree planting event underscores each organization’s strong commitment to restoring Kentucky’s natural habitats and fostering healthy environments for sustainable communities around the world… “Our premium spirits are made with agricultural ingredients, such as grains and agave, and we rely on healthy forests and White Oak trees for the barrels that age our spirits,” said Kim Marotta, Chief Environmental Sustainability Officer. “Given the significant role White Oak plays in our bourbon barrels, we’re committed to their regeneration and have set an ambitious goal of planting half a million trees by 2030.

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Apprenticeship Program Aims To Help California’s Struggling Logging Industry

By Keith Mizuchi
KQED
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

For centuries, logging was a seasonal, learn-on-the-job trade passed down from father to son. But as climate change and innovations in the industry have changed logging into a year-round business, there aren’t always enough workers to fill jobs. “Our workforce was dying,” said Delbert Gannon, owner of Creekside Logging. “You couldn’t even pick from the bottom of the barrel. It was affecting our production and our ability to haul logs. We felt we had to do something.” Retirements have hit Creekside Logging hard. In 2018 Gannon’s company had jobs to do, and the machines to do them, but nobody to do the work. He reached out to Shasta College, which offers certificates and degrees in forestry and heavy equipment operation, to see if there might be a student who could help.

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Governor Stitt floats the idea of dissolving Oklahoma Forestry Services

By Graycen Wheeler
KGOU
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Last week, Gov. Kevin Stitt criticized the Oklahoma State Forester’s response to the fires that blazed across Oklahoma in March. This week, the governor is floating the concept of axing the entire Forestry Services division. Stitt has said he believes the Oklahoma Forestry Service held back resources during the fires. When asked to specify which resources during a press conference, Stitt said he didn’t know. “The fact that we can’t get answers about where their assets were around the state is further proof that this is a deep-seated bureaucracy that are trying to protect their actions,” Stitt said. “We still haven’t been able to figure out where they were during that thing.” Just weeks after the fires, the state’s Chief Forester Mark Goeller resigned following criticism from the governor.

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Environmental groups launch lawsuit over the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan

By Katie Myers
WHQR Public Media
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The Southern Environmental Law Center has sued the National Forest Service alleging its Nantahala-Pisgah Forest logging plan violates federal law. The lawsuit – filed on behalf of MountainTrue, the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Defenders of Wildlife – argues that the 2023 forest planning document is not in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Forest Management Act, or the National Procedure Act. The lawsuit seeks to have the Forest Service withdraw and revise its Forest Plan, which ultimately guides short- and long-term land management policies on federal lands. The full environmental review process for the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan took nearly a decade. It sets guidance for forest management of 1 million acres of national forest in Western North Carolina for the next two decades.

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Logging truck bill advances without weight limit increase

By Mary Sell
Alabama Daily News
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

A bill timber industry leaders hoped would increase the per-axle load limits on logging trucks, leading to fewer citations and more productivity for truck drivers, passed the Alabama Senate Tuesday without the increase provision. As initially written, Senate Bill 110 by Sen. Jack Williams, R-Wilmer, would have increased the tandem axle limit from 34,000 pounds to 44,000 pounds. It did not change the 80,000-pound maximum allowed weight of a logging truck. The weight change was removed from the bill in an amendment on the Senate floor. Opponents of the bill, including the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, had said the increased weight would significantly damage roads and bridges across the state and cost hundreds of millions of dollars per year in needed repairs. 

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New Department of Environmental Conservation chief honors trans ranger in first Adirondack stop

By Zachary Matson
Adirondack Explorer
April 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Amanda Lefton

Amanda Lefton, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s new leader, came to her first public appearance in the Adirondack Park with a message: All are welcome on state lands. Lefton led a transgender day of visibility flag-raising ceremony in honor of former forest ranger Robbi Mecus, who came out as transgender midway through her ranger career and helped bolster the region’s LGBTQ community. Mecus died in a climbing accident in Alaska last year. Lefton said Mecus’ career and the acceptance of her by her fellow rangers was an important reminder to the agency charged with managing New York’s public lands. “As a land manager, as a big agency, it’s critical we are allies to show these lands are for everyone and everyone is welcome here,” Lefton said. …Lefton said she planned to focus on recruiting more rangers to fill out the force’s ranks.

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Mississippi State University graduate student’s app fights illegal logging worldwide

By Vanessa Beeson
Mississippi State University
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Kyle Spessert

A Mississippi State graduate student is helping inspectors across the world identify timber species and combat illegal logging with a new smartphone application. Inspired by Asi Ebeheakey, a sustainable bioproducts doctoral student from Accra, Ghana, and developed as part of Kyatt Spessert’s master’s research in sustainable bioproducts, the innovative app WhatWood? provides a digital alternative to traditional wood-identification manuals used in Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Ghana by placing a dependable, field-ready resource in the palms of users’ hands. By correctly identifying wood quickly and effectively, Ebeheakey said inspectors can make an impact on illegal logging and the export of illegally prohibited or mislabeled wood. WhatWood? is free to download for iOS and Android devices at their respective app stores.

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Cigarettes caused South Carolina’s Table Rock Fire, Forestry Commission says

By Phil Helsel
NBC News
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Three South Carolina men and a juvenile were charged with a misdemeanor Tuesday after authorities said their failure to properly put out their cigarettes sparked the Table Rock Fire, which has burned more than 13,000 acres. …The Table Rock Fire was sparked by their handling of cigarettes while they were hiking in Table Rock State Park on March 21, the Forestry Commission said. …The fire was 30% contained Tuesday. No injuries have been reported. …The charge of negligently allowing fire to spread to lands or property of another is a misdemeanor punishable with a minimum of five days in jail and a maximum of 30 days in jail if convicted or a fine of $25 to $200. …In South Carolina, 12,652 acres have burned, and 635 acres have burned in North Carolina, the Forestry Commission said in a daily update.

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New York’s forests are migrating. Here’s what the future might bring.

By Roger Hannigan Gilson
The Times Union
March 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

At Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve in rural Albany County, the white spruce trees are struggling. Planted in the 1920s at what was then the southern part of the trees’ range, the plot now has no white spruce saplings, and “the adults are not doing well either,” said Andrei Lapenas, a professor at the University at Albany’s Transformational & Ecosystem-based Climate Adaptation. Lapenas, said higher temperatures from climate change have slowed older trees’ growth, while younger trees are being out-competed by the mature ones. Meanwhile, a different species, red spruce, has established itself in the preserve… He speculated that in the next 20 to 40 years, the preserve “will be overtaken by other tree species, and red spruce is a good candidate for this.”

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Missoula County Backs Acquisition of Blackfoot Timberlands

By Martin Kidston
Missoula Current
April 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Nearly 18,000 acres in the lower Blackfoot River watershed prized for its habitat and wood products could become publicly owned if the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) follows through with its planned acquisition. Missoula County last week signed a letter of support backing the BLM’s proposed acquisition of the former private industrial timberland in the Gold and Twin Creek drainages northeast of Missoula. Chet Crowser, chief lands and communities officer with the county, said that acquiring the parcels would permanently protect public ownership and provide benefits for decades to come… More than 60% of Missoula County is covered with public lands – lands the county claims sustain local economies through restoration and active management.

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A Look At New York State’s Ambitious Goal To Plant 25 Million Trees

By Noël Fletcher
Forbes
March 28, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

New York has a new interactive web tool to track the state’s progress in an ambitious goal by Gov. Kathy Hochul to have people plant 25 million trees within a nine-year period. The new online “Tree Tracker” enables state residents to self-identify as a private landowners, group members, paid professionals, municipality workers or state agency employees and input information about their tree planting. “New York is taking decisive action to protect our environment and strengthen communities’ ability to withstand severe weather,” Hochul noted in statement unveiling the online tool last month. “Our progress toward the 25 Million Tree goal is a testament to the power of community-driven action, and the new Tree Tracker will make it easier for New Yorkers to track our progress, share updates and contribute to a healthier environment for the future.”

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Allegheny National Forest could see more logging under Trump, local officials hope

By Abigail Hakas
Pittsburgh Union Progress
March 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

PITTSBURG, Pennsylvania — Local officials are pushing for more logging in Pennsylvania’s only national forest, and the federal government might grant their wish. President Trump warned of a reliance on imported wood amid threat of Canadian lumber tariffs and called for more logging in federal forests. The Allegheny National Forest spans over 500,000 acres, drawing thousands of people for camping, hunting, boating and other outdoor activities. Local officials can’t rely on property tax from the federal land, but they do receive a 25% share of revenue from timber sales in their counties. mOfficials hope for increased timber sales to generate more cash for their budgets. …U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Centre County, “I welcome reforms that will ensure a robust forest industry, strengthen rural economies and benefit local education.” …“I am in favor of [increased logging], but it has to be done wisely. You can’t overcut,” said Ken Klakamp, Warren County commissioner.

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AI-powered drones track down fires in German forests

By Stebastien Ash
Phys.org
March 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

GERMANY — Inside a green orb planted in the German countryside is a high-tech aid to prevent wildfires. The installation, resembling a giant golf ball covered in solar panels, is the hangar for an AI-powered drone that its developer hopes one day will be able to sniff out and extinguish new blazes in minutes. “Fires are spreading much faster and more aggressively than in the past,” Carsten Brinkschulte, the CEO of the German firm Dryad, said at a demonstration of the technology. …Dryad is in the running with 29 other teams from around the globe for a multi-million-dollar prize to develop the ability to autonomously put out fires within 10 minutes. During Dryad’s demonstration on Thursday—the first for a computer-steered wildfire detection drone according to the company—chemicals in smoke from burning wood were picked up by sensors distributed in the forest.

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