Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

Want a Steinway? The Forest Service Stands in the Way

By Sara Lehnert
The Wall Street Journal
August 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

KLAWOCK, Alaska — Steinway pianos have a particular sound. …The secret to the sound isn’t merely Steinway’s skilled craftsmen—who’ve been using the same methods since 1853—but the specialized wood they use for the soundboards. It comes from the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. Unfortunately, a broken promise from the federal government will soon stop the music. …In 2016 the U.S. Department of Agriculture created a management plan that promised the availability of old-growth timber from the Tongass annually on a fixed schedule. …Not only has the Forest Service never met the timber-sale goals outlined in their management plan, in the past four years it offered less than 10% of the annual needs for the industry. …An executive order from President Trump… and a lawsuit we filed against the USDA earlier this year haven’t been enough to get the Forest Service to stop starving the industry. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]

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‘Pray for rain’: wildfires in Canada are now burning where they never used to

By Leyland Cecco
The Guardian
August 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Road closures, evacuations, travel chaos and stern warnings from officials have become fixtures of Canada’s wildfire season. But as the country goes through its second-worst burn on record, the blazes come with a twist: few are coming from the western provinces. Instead, the worst of the fires have been concentrated in the prairie provinces and the Atlantic region, with bone-dry conditions upending how Canada responds to a threat that is only likely to grow as the climate warms. Experts say the shift serves as a stark reminder that the risk of disaster is present across the thickly forested nation. …“We had fire everywhere,” said Paul Kovacs, at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction at Western University. “And so for the first time, we had a different thought about wildfires as a country. …This is a national issue. This can show up anywhere.”

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As Canada wildfires choke US with smoke, Republicans demand action. But not on climate change

By Tammy Webber
The Associated Press
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

The sternly worded statements and letters are filled with indignation and outrage: Republican US lawmakers say Canada has done too little to contain wildfires and smoke that have fouled the air in several states this summer. …They’ve demanded more forest thinning, prescribed burns and other measures to prevent fires from starting. They’ve warned the smoke is hurting relations between the countries and suggested the US could make it an issue in tariff talks. But what they haven’t done is acknowledge the role of climate change — a glaring and shortsighted omission, according to climate scientists. It also ignores the outsized US contribution to heat-trapping gases that cause more intense heat waves and droughts, which in turn set the stage for more destructive wildfires, scientists say. …“I don’t think there’s much they can do,” said Michigan climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck. He noted that hotter temperatures are melting permafrost in northern Canada.

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Redefining resilience with the Wildfire Resilience Consortium of Canada

By Forestry For The Future
Canadian Geographic
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

As of mid-August, the 2025 fire season is shaping up to be Canada’s second-worst on record. Since the spring, headlines across the country have consistently highlighted a community ordered to evacuate, a new fire sparking somewhere, or unique resource-sharing situations for fire management. Enter the newly-created Wildfire Resilience Consortium of Canada. As a beacon of boundary-breaking hope, the WRCC aims to create a transformative approach to wildfire management, bringing together the front line, researchers, industry experts, the forest products sector, Indigenous Peoples and governments. “It’s a purpose-built not-for-profit that was designed to transform wildfire resilience across Canada, really focusing on a ‘whole of society’ approach,” says Kelsey Winter of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre and Board Chair of the WRCC. …As part of breaking down boundaries between the different stakeholders involved in wildfire management, the WRCC has divided the country into six zones representing the different types of forest ecosystems that experience fire. 

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Replanting forests after wildfires comes with complex challenges, but there are opportunities in the ashes

By Martin Halek
CBC News
August 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Early last September, firefighters were in the final stages of containing a 33,000-hectare wildfire complex in Alberta’s Jasper National Park. Elsewhere, park workers were already replanting the first batch of trees in the recently scorched earth. The Douglas firs were chosen because they resist fire better than other conifers, according to Marcia DeWandel, vegetation restoration specialist for Parks Canada. However, replanting so soon after a fire is much more exception than rule. Replanting is typically expensive, time consuming, labour intensive — and doesn’t always work. …In most cases, it can take years for replanting to begin after a fire. …”It’s actually really important not to speed and just go right after a fire,” says Jess Kaknevicius, CEO of Forests Canada, one of the organizations supporting Ogoki’s replanting. …In some replanted areas, ensuring survival is easier said than done, especially when dealing with other effects of climate change. 

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Canada Invests to Build and Mobilize Knowledge on Wildfires

Natural Resources Canada
August 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

CALGARY, Alberta — Wildfire season is in full effect across much of Canada, and Canadians are facing significant impacts. …Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Tim Hodgson, announced $45.7 million in funding for 30 projects across Canada through Natural Resources Canada’s Build and Mobilize Foundational Wildland Fire Knowledge program. These projects are driving research focused on protecting Canadians from the growing threat of wildfires, strengthening wildfire risk assessments and improving mitigation and adaptive forestry practices. We are also helping Indigenous communities access the tools needed to lead on wildfire readiness in their communities and backing Indigenous-led projects that support fire stewardship.

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Canada vows more wildfire action as smoke sparks U.S. complaints

By Sean Boynton
Global News
August 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Canada is committed to doing more to prevent and control devastating wildfires, federal officials said Tuesday as the resulting smoke sparks formal complaints and calls for action from U.S. lawmakers. But Corey Hogan, parliamentary secretary to the federal energy and natural resources minister, added the growing spread of blazes and smoke beyond Canada’s borders underscores the need for an international fight against climate change that scientists say is fueling more destructive wildfire seasons. …A group of Republican state lawmakers from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota last week filed a formal complaint against Canada to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and the International Joint Commission, a binational organization that resolves disputes on shared water and air quality. …The research funding announced Tuesday will go toward 20 research projects aimed at strengthening wildfire risk assessments and improving mitigation and prevention measures, the government said.

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Time to move forward on national agency to fight forest fires, chiefs say

By Émilie Bergeron
The Canadian Press in the Prince George Citizen
August 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

OTTAWA — The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs says it’s time for Ottawa to stop studying the idea of a national forest fire co-ordination agency and take action. The organization’s president wants the federal government to take inspiration from the U.S. Fire Administration to establish a similar office in Canada. The U.S. office is part of Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, but Ken McMullen says a Canadian version could be simpler and less costly. He said the proposed fire administration office, which could be staffed by one or two people, would ensure that personnel and equipment are appropriately dispersed across the country in the event of wildfires. It would also allow security and fire services to have a seat at the table when relevant policies are being discussed. …”We just have to get moving and make decisions,” said McMullen, who is also fire chief in Red Deer, Alta.

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Climbing trees repaired for Ladysmith loggers’ sports show

By Duck Paterson
The Chemainus Valley Courier
August 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

…It’s a rare sight today to see a spar tree in a timber harvesting area, but you can see them at any loggers’ sports shows. This year locals will have a chance to see climbers in action on Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Transfer Beach Amphitheatre. Just a couple of weeks ago the state of the two spar poles at the amphitheatre was in question. …Dave MacLeod from Husky Forest Service, a professional tree climber as well as a loggers’ sports tree climber, said instead of destroying the trees, they could be taken out to find out where the rot ends. His suggestion was accepted and the trees were taken out by RKM Cranes on July 30 and laid down to be examined. MacLeod did tests at various lengths of the trees and it was determined that the rot was up 10 feet from the bottom, so 11 feet was cut off.

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Adam Yeadon Memorial Scholarship offers two $5000 scholarships for forestry/wildfire management students

Government of Northwest Territories
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Adam Yeadon

The 2025 intake for the Adam Yeadon Memorial Scholarship is open for applications. The Adam Yeadon Memorial Scholarship is awarded to Northwest Territories full-time post-secondary students enrolled in diploma, degree or other approved training programs related to forestry or wildfire management to support northern students interested in pursuing an education in these fields. The scholarship was established in 2024 after Adam’s passing in the line of duty during the 2023 wildfire season. In Adam’s memory, two scholarships of $5,000 each will be awarded to NWT students pursuing post-secondary forest management education.

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Long-delayed moisture for BC coast finally arrives for fire relief

The Weather Network
August 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Relief is finally coming for dry- and fire-stricken regions in B.C. this week. Much-needed and substantial rain is forecast for the South Coast from Thursday night through Sunday. An atmospheric river is taking shape, expected to fill in and bring periods of rain that will total 20-40+mm to much of the Lower Mainland, and 50+mm for the higher terrain. It will be a highly beneficial rainfall since it will be spread out over a more extended period of time. Some beneficial rain is likely for the southern and central Interior, as well. …A low-pressure system from Alaska will form west of Haida Gwaii for Thursday and Friday. The associated cold front will pull ample amounts of of moisture to set up an atmospheric river for the B.C. coast. …The heaviest rainfall will be Friday along the BC coast. 

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Amid wildfires, B.C. tree planting to plummet for third year

By Stefan Labbé
Business in Vancouver
August 13, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The number of trees planted in British Columbia is set to decline for a third year in a row, falling a combined 135 million seedlings short of a B.C. government’s election promise to increase planting amid a string of devastating wildfire seasons. In B.C., the logging industry is legally required to reforest after harvesting. But as harvest levels have dropped, so too has tree planting. The province planted 281 million tree seedlings in 2024. But by the end of the 2025 season, that number is expected to drop to 238 million, according to the Ministry of Forests. By the end of 2026, projections from the Canadian Tree Nursery Association (CTNA) suggest the number could fall even further to 226 million — far short of the 300 million trees promised by the NDP government in the last election.

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Federal funding boosts research and Indigenous knowledge on wildfires

By Emily Joveski
My Cowichan Valley Now
August 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Ottawa is offering $45.7 million for projects in B.C. and across Canada that advance knowledge about wildfires. The projects will be focused on protecting Canadians from the growing threat of wildfires, strengthening wildfire risk assessments, and improving mitigation and adaptive forestry practices. …The Vancouver-based Métis Wildfire Community Research Initiative is among the funding recipients.  “Our approach is different because we are building strong relationships with local people.” said Joe Desjarlais, Director of Research for the B.C. Metis Foundation. “We’re training them to do wildfire research, to recover their own knowledge for their own benefit, to give them a voice.” …Natural Resources Canada said annual national costs for fighting wildland fire total over $1 billion. It says fire-suppression costs could double by 2040.

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College of New Caledonia awarded $170K federal grant to launch remote sensing lab for forest stewardship

Education News Canada
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

CNC’s Applied Research team received a $170,775 Applied Research Tools and Instruments (ARTI) grant through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for the creation of a state-of-the-art remote sensing lab. …The grant allows for the acquisition of terrestrial LiDAR scanners, allowing researchers to capture, analyze and better understand individual tree characteristics, forest structure, and wildfire hazards, among other forest attributes. CNC research fellow Dr. Pablo Crespell will lead research activities related to remote sensing lab purchases and operation, including drones, LiDAR sensors and scanners, multispectral sensors, software applications, and computer hardware. Grant funds will also be used to support the costs of relevant training for CNC research staff, such as drone pilot training and new analysis approaches.

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Wildfires Will Get Worse. Here Are Five Things We Can Do Now

By Viviane Gauer & Zacharie Carriere, Canadian Climate Institute
The Tyee
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

…as climate change fuels more frequent and intense wildfires, governments can reduce the damage and protect lives with proactive, targeted actions. That means strengthening policies that guide where and how we build, investing in land and fuel-management strategies, supporting Indigenous leadership and stewardship, expanding emergency-response capacity and accelerating emissions reduction. The solutions are within reach, but they require governments to lead with urgency, coordination and commitment. …Here are five key actions governments can take to reduce wildfire risk — noting that no single strategy can solve the problem by itself: Stop encouraging building in harm’s way; Make new development fire-resilient; Manage forests and reduce wildfire fuel; Strengthen firefighting capacity; and Cut carbon pollution to avoid runaway risk. Governments at all levels face a clear choice: continue with business as usual and see fire seasons grow worse or take bold action to reduce risk, protect people and ensure public resources are spent wisely.

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Branchlines Summer 2025 – UBC Faculty of Forestry

Branchlines UBC Faculty of Forestry
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The human side of forestry is often overlooked but always present. Seeing the forest for the trees in this case means connecting the dots between the many ways that people interact with, benefit from and shape natural spaces, and the consequences these activities are having on everything from environmental sustainability to community wellbeing. In this issue, we delve into the social sciences of forestry, highlighting how the academic work, career paths and actions taken by our UBC Forestry community are shaping the future for the sake of humans and the planet.

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Western Forest Products donation allows logger show to go on in Ladysmith

By Duck Paterson
Cowichan Valley Citizen
August 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Ladysmith’s amphitheatre was designed around holding these events and it’s had the opportunity to stage these events many times. Built through the generosity of local businesses, organizations and individuals the theatre still requires the generosity of donations to continue the traditional logging show. Last week the local Western Forest Products (WFP) mill… donated the three very large logs that are used as the ‘dummy logs’ that many of the events are staged around. “The obstacle race and the various saw events centre around these logs, and the ones we have now are 12 years old and are getting pulpy so the folks from Western Forest Products stepped up and found three new ones. They made it possible for the show to go on.” …Glen Waatainen from SDN Contracting/Pro-Cut Lumber Corp lined up the loading and transportation and supplied the boom truck driven by Ken Nicholson. 

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Logging probe shows compliance, shortfalls

Forest Practices Board
August 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

SMITHERS – The Forest Practices Board has released the results of its investigation into a complaint about logging in the Lemieux and Gardner Creek watersheds, 30 kilometres southeast of Smithers. A resident alleged that over-harvesting had dried up creeks and wells, and that logging proceeded without proper public consultation. Board investigators examined recent harvesting, road construction and maintenance by three licence holders: BC Timber Sales (BCTS), Kyah Development Corporation (KDC) and the holder of woodlot licence W0104. Investigators assessed whether licensees met legal requirements for water management and public review. All three licensees complied with requirements for public review. BCTS and KDC exceeded requirements by voluntarily sharing operational-planning information with stakeholders. BCTS and KDC also met all water- management requirements.

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Tsi Del Del Enterprises Ltd. features in TV series

By Monica Lamb-Yorski
The Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal
August 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Tsi Del Del Enterprises Ltd. is being featured in a TV documentary series about the forestry industry. The Tsilhqot’in company will join returning companies Peters Contract Logging, Freya Logging and Integrated Operations Group to be featured in Season 2 of Timber Titans. Launching August 12, 2025, the new season showcases the hard work, innovation, and resilience of four forestry operations across B.C., including Tsi Del Del Enterprises Ltd. and their role in rehabilitating fire-impacted forests in the Cariboo Chilcotin region. Timber Titans is produced by Vancouver-based Great Pacific Media.

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Kalesnikoff Mass Timber receives shout-out from Prime Minister

By Betsy Kline
The Boundary Creek Times
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Castlegar sawmill and mass timber producer Kalesnikoff Lumber received a mention from Prime Minister Mark Carney on Aug. 5 during a visit to Kelowna. Carney was talking about his government’s Build Canada Homes initiative when he brought up Kalesnikoff’s innovations. The Build Canada Homes program prioritizes domestic materials in construction and requires companies contracting with the federal government to source Canadian lumber. It also calls for the use of Canadian technologies and resources in off-site construction of prefabricated and modular homes. “One example of the possibilities, just a few hours drive from here in Castlegar, Kalesnikoff Mass Timber recently opened its 100,000-square-foot mass timber prefabrication and modular facility – the first of its kind in North America,” said Carney. “They’re adding new products and services, including prefabricated wall panels, mass timber modules, and trusses designed and manufactured for construction efficiency.”

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BC Timber Sales scales back logging planned for Revelstoke mountain

By Evert Lindquist
Nelson Star
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

One of Revelstoke’s most popular mountains for Nordic skiing and cycling has reappeared on the map for B.C.’s lumber licensee, raising questions of how recreationists’ favourite routes could be impacted. Within the last year, BC Timber Sales (BCTS) issued a Forestry Operations Map outlining plans for Mount MacPherson, home to the Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club (RNSC) and various Revelstoke Cycling Association trails. Currently, several dozen hectares in the Wetask-Mt. MacPherson area are licensed for cut blocks, while several hectares more are mapped for retention areas and roads. …Operations are indicated to run until 2027, and all six cut block licenses have a planned development date of last Jan. 15. In a statement the Ministry of Forests said one of its recent licences was auctioned last spring and will be harvested this fall or winter. Another licence currently sits in the development stage, slated for auction next summer.

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Calls for provincial ban on herbicides in forestry are growing in northeastern Ontario

By Jonathan Migneault
CBC News
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

LAKE HURON, Ontario — Jenifer Brousseau often picks berries and traditional medicines in the bush around her community in northeastern Ontario. But in recent years, Brousseau and many others from Serpent River have been concerned about the forestry industry’s use of herbicides that contain the chemical glyphosate. …Environmental groups — including Friends of the Earth Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, Safe Food Matters and Environmental Defence Canada — have launched a court challenge of Health Canada’s conclusions on glyphosate. …Some small municipalities in northern Ontario have also started to petition the province in their effort to get the ban. …Fred Pinto, an adjunct professor of forestry at the University of Toronto said herbicides are just one tool used by forestry companies to manage vegetation. Pinto said herbicide spraying is often done using aircraft in areas that have little to no road access.

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Members of Serpent River First Nation protest herbicide spraying

By Kim Garritty and Jonathan Migneault
CBC News
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

ONTARIO -Roughly 100 people gathered along the Trans-Canada Highway passing through Serpent River First Nation on Thursday morning to protest forest companies spraying herbicides containing glyphosate in the surrounding area. The herbicide application is part of a growth program for the trees that forestry companies plant after clear-cutting operations. But several members of the Serpent River First Nation said they’re concerned about the chemical’s effect on the environment and human health. …Allan McDonald is an elder from Garden River First Nation. He questions why the chemical is still in use in Ontario when other provinces have restricted its use. “Quebec’s done it for, I think it’s over 22 years now and they seem to be doing OK. So why is it that Ontario can’t follow suit?”

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Forestry operations still allowed in Nova Scotia’s woodlands, but should they be?

By Joan Baxter
The Halifax Examiner
August 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

On Aug. 5, 2025, Premier Tim Houston announced a ban on forest travel in Nova Scotia because of extreme wildfire risks. …However, the ban didn’t apply to commercial operators in the province’s woodlands who could secure special travel permits from the Department of Natural Resources. …But not all forestry operators were comfortable with that. Some decided the risks of their heavy machines causing sparks and wildfires were just too great, and voluntarily halted all their work in the forests. …North Nova Forest Owner’s Co-op, managed by Greg Watson, is one of the organizations that opted not to continue operations, given the extreme risks, despite the fact that its revenue comes almost entirely from wood harvesting. …To find out more about the co-op’s decision to cease all forestry operations … the Halifax Examiner spoke with Watson from his home near Tatamagouche in northern Nova Scotia. …The interview has been edited for length and clarity.  

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Rain relief reaches Atlantic Canada though some areas still miss out

The Weather Network
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

A couple of cold fronts are set to move across Atlantic Canada in the coming days. These systems will bring showers and thunderstorms, with isolated areas experiencing heavy downpours. Some temporary and localized relief from the ongoing dry conditions is expected; however, rainfall amounts will fall short of addressing the broader precipitation deficit in most regions. Much of the Maritimes have received less than 40 per cent of their average summer rainfall, resulting in extremely dry conditions and heightened fire danger. Recent heat waves have also set multiple monthly and all-time temperature records across the region. The intense heat across the Maritimes is coming to an end. While most regions will remain warm on Thursday and Friday, with highs in the mid to upper 20s, a cold front is set to deliver some relief in the form of rain.

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Nova Scotia Recommends More Wildfire Precautions

By Natural Resources
The Government of Nova Scotia
August 13, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Nova Scotia is strongly recommending additional precautions for industrial and agricultural operations on private land. “…there are always safety precautions to reduce the risk of wildfires on Crown Land. We added to those requirements last week given the current conditions,” said Tory Rushton, Minister of Natural Resources. “We’re working with forestry, agriculture and other industries operating on private land to also use those measures until we see rain counteract these dangerously dry conditions.” Commercial operations like forestry and mining need a travel permit to continue working on Crown land. Where possible, such as in forestry, permits require work to be done between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 a.m.; fire suppression equipment must be on hand, and there must be a two-hour fire watch after work is completed. On private land any activities that require heavy machinery, including agriculture and forestry, are strongly recommended to take the same approach.

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Dry conditions taking a toll across New Brunswick, sparking new forestry restrictions

By Sam Farley
CBC News
August 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Worsening dry conditions across New Brunswick — which sparked a provincewide burn ban and led this week to an uncontrolled wildfire near Miramichi — have prompted the provincial government to impose restrictions on some industrial activities in forested areas. The Department of Natural Resources said in a news release Friday that some forestry operations would be banned for the next several days given the high risk of another wildfire. …From midnight on Aug. 8 to midnight on Aug. 12, harvesting, forwarding, skidding, scarification, chipping and all pre-commercial thinning and cleaning are all banned. That restriction applies to all forestry on both Crown and private lands. Trucking, road construction and maintenance, vegetation management and tree planting are allowed to continue. …Except for the possibility of a shower Saturday afternoon in northern New Brunswick, the province could see at least six more days of dry, hot weather, according to Environment Canada forecasts.

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Provincial forest bans miss the point

By the Editorial Board
The Globe and Mail
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Last week, the province of Nova Scotia, facing an extreme risk of wildfire caused by hot, dry weather, banned people from entering forests and national parks as a precautionary measure. …New Brunswick followed suit on Saturday with an open-ended ban on commercial and recreational activity on Crown land. Private landowners were asked to follow suit. …But we note that, as of Sunday, Newfoundland – where fires have forced … government to declared a state of emergency in one part of the province – had not gone to the extreme of banning responsible citizens from the woods. We respectfully suggest that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick’s decision to cancel summer in early August is draconian, and that their over-abundance of caution may speak to the fact that, like the rest of Canada, they do too little to prevent forest fires in the first place, creating a higher risk of intense and dangerous events. …Canada needs to develop a national regime of prescribed burns… [A Globe and Mail subscription is required to read the whole story]

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Allegheny National Forest will increase logging by millions of board feet this year

By Abigail Hakas
Ellwood City Ledger
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

PENNSYLVANIA — The Allegheny National Forest is set to ramp up logging by more than 10% this year as part of a push from President Donald Trump to boost domestic lumber supplies. The move has sparked fierce debate between environmentalists and pro-logging groups who disagree on cutting trees to reduce wildfire risks or improve forest health. In the coming fiscal year, the state’s only national forest is set to sell 45 million board feet, an over 12% increase from this fiscal year, said Alisen Downs, for the Allegheny National Forest. …Allegheny National Forest has proposed a five-year plan starting next fiscal year, Downs said.“I think a slow and steady progress toward that increase is probably the best approach,” said Julia McCray, of the Allegheny Forest Alliance, which includes local officials and people from the timber industry. …While next year’s logging will be an increase… it’s not a historic high. 

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Trump’s Call to Log More Forests to Face Lawsuits, a Soft Market

By Bobby Magill
Bloomberg Law
August 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The Trump administration wants to scrap a rule that protects tens of millions of acres of national forest from road-building and large-scale logging—but its zeal to log will face a reality check from government downsizing, possible litigation, and even a soft timber market. The US Forest Service is grappling with budget cuts and staffing shortages. At the same time, environmental groups are already gearing up for legal battles, arguing the so-called Roadless Rule safeguards endangered species, clean water, and biodiversity. “The administration can sprint and rescind the Roadless Rule, but then what?” said Murray Feldman, at Holland & Hart LLP in Boise. “It seems like a moonshot to try to reverse decades of national forest management plans by revoking one specific set of rules. But we’ll see.” …The Forest Service hasn’t taken any official steps to rescind the Roadless Rule since Rollins’ announcement in June. 

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Conservationists again sue US Fish and Wildlife for denying Oregon red tree voles protection

By Alex Baumhardt
Oregon Public Broadcasting
August 13, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Conservation groups are again going to court as part of a nearly two-decade-long fight to protect a small forest-dwelling rodent native to the Oregon Coast. The Center For Biological Diversity, Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and the Bird Alliance Of Oregon sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 17 in U.S. District Court in Portland over the agency’s decision not to provide the north Oregon Coast red tree vole federal Endangered Species Act protections. The suit names the agency’s director, Paul Souza, and Doug Burgum, head of the U.S. Department of the Interior, as defendants. The suit is the latest in an ongoing effort since 2007 to protect red tree voles, which live in the canopy of old growth conifer forests and feed on the needles of Douglas fir, Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees. …But they’ve seen their habitat reduced by roughly 65% since 1986 due to logging and wildfires.

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US Department of Agriculture signs historic agreement to reduce wildfire risk in Montana

Lewiston Sentinel
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

HELENA, Mont. — U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz and Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a historic Shared Stewardship Memorandum of Understanding, establishing a new framework between the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the State of Montana to advance forest restoration and reduce wildfire risk across the state. Montana’s Shared Stewardship Agreement expands collaborative efforts to accelerate active forest management, safeguard communities, and support sustainable timber production. “This agreement is exactly the kind of forward-leaning, state-driven leadership that President Trump and USDA have championed since day one,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “By cutting burdensome, unnecessary red tape and empowering Montana to lead, we’re proving that through real partnership, conservation and economic growth can go hand-in-hand. This partnership is just another example of our shared commitment to protect lives, livelihoods, and our forest resources — while creating opportunities for hardworking Americans.”

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New Trees Take Root in Lahaina, Hawaii, Two Years After Devastating Wildfires

Business Wire
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

On the two-year anniversary of the deadly wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, the Arbor Day Foundation launched its effort to help replant lost tree canopy. The Foundation distributed more than 580 trees alongside its local planting partner The Outdoor Circle, in collaboration with Treecovery Hawaii and The Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows.“Recovery from a wildfire of this scale can take years, but the Arbor Day Foundation is committed to being here for the long haul. We’re proud to work alongside the passionate advocates at The Outdoor Circle to help regrow a flourishing community canopy,” said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “We know trees won’t replace all of what’s been lost in Lahaina, but they can help grow new roots of resilience and nurture hope for the future.”

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The closure of Chillicothe’s paper mill puts Ohio’s logging industry in danger

By Kendall Crawford
The Ohio Newsroom
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Despite attempts to save it, the longstanding Pixelle Specialty Solutions in Chillicothe closed its doors permanently on Sunday. The southern Ohio paper mill announced its planned closure in April after nearly 200 years of operating in Ross County. Local leaders and state representatives alike pushed to delay its shuttering, but ultimately the company ceased production this weekend. Not only did the paper mill employ more than 800 people, it fed a larger industry in the state. Executive director of the Ohio Forestry Association Jenna Reese said the mill’s closure will hurt Ohio loggers. “This is gonna have ripple effects throughout the state,” she said. “We’re unfortunately anticipating attrition.” With nearly 8 million acres of forest in Ohio, logging is a major industry. It contributes $1.1 billion to the state economy annually, according to Reese. Forest products, more broadly, make up more than a quarter of Ohio’s agricultural industry, which tops the state.

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The government is literally telling firefighters “help is not on the way”

By Kylie Mohr
Vox
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Every spring, Forest Service fire leaders meet to plan for the upcoming fire season. This year, some employees were shocked by the blunt remarks made during a meeting with forest supervisors and fire staff officers from across the Intermountain West. “We were told, ‘Help is not on the way,’” said one employee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their job. “I’ve never been told that before.” Agency leaders already knew it might be a bad wildfire season, made worse by having fewer hands available to help out. According to the employee High Country News spoke to, the Forest Service lost at least 1,800 fire-qualified, or “red-carded,” employees through layoffs, deferred resignation, and retirement offers. In total, 4,800 people left the agency. “We were told: Don’t commit to an attack thinking the cavalry is going to come,” the employee said. As fire activity continues to pick up across much of the West, that warning rings true. [a free subscription is required to read the original article, here, published in High Country News]

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Tree rings reveal how Western Apache controlled Arizona’s wildfires for centuries

The Parker Pioneer
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Western Apache fire management once reshaped Arizona’s forests — and tree rings prove it. A new study combining tree-ring evidence and historical data shows that for centuries, Western Apache communities systematically controlled fire activity across their homeland, reducing the role of climate in driving wildfires. Led by Southern Methodist University fire scientist Christopher Roos, the research analyzed 649 fire-scarred trees from 34 sites in central and eastern Arizona and compared them to several thousand samples from the broader Southwest. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that Apache burns were more frequent, smaller, and timed differently than fires elsewhere in the region. Scientists found that in Apache territory, fires often occurred in late April and May — months when community members were engaged in subsistence activities in pine forests.

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Controversial timber sales begin in Hoosier National Forest, despite Gov. Braun’s objections

By Sophie Hartley
The Indianapolis Star
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

The US Forest Service kicked off timber sales in the Hoosier National Forest this week despite resistance from advocacy groups and Gov. Mike Braun, who called the federal project “misguided.” The timber auction is part of a controversial forest management plan called the Houston South Project — an initiative the USFS says will promote tree growth, reduce disease and move the landscape toward “desirable conditions.” Local environmental advocates have been suing the agency to halt operations since 2020, saying the project could jeopardize the quality of drinking water 130,000 Hoosiers rely on in Lake Monroe. But the project is plowing ahead, despite local outcry and direct pleas from Braun to halt the project. The Forest Service declined to immediately comment to IndyStar’s request, instead asking for one to two weeks to respond. …The project includes prescribed burns on 13,500 acres of forest and permitting timber harvests on another 4,300 acres across the next 10-15 years.

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Tracking a new forest pathogen killing beech trees

By Kristen Munson
Phys.Org
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Near the bottom of a shady hillside in Jericho, a lone beech tree stretches high into the canopy, a relic of a bygone forest. Through luck or (hopefully) genetics, this mighty tree has avoided contracting beech bark disease—a fatal fungal pathogen that has proven deadly to mature beech trees. And it stands just outside a hotspot where a new pathogen called beech leaf disease (BLD) is spreading across Vermont forests. “Beech is here a lot as a sapling … but if you look out into the forest it’s not really common in the overstory,” said Jess Wikle Ph.D. ’24, lecturer in forestry and manager of the University of Vermont’s Research Forests. The beech trees that do succumb often send out a series of root sprouts before they die, turning a forest of big trees into a thicket of saplings. Beech leaf disease is different. It seems to be spreading faster and young beech trees tend to die first.

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Ministry, private sector interpret differently European Court of Justice ruling on bird nesting sites

By Maril Kangur
ERR News Estonia
August 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued a ruling on suspending logging to protect bird nesting sites in Estonia. However, the Ministry of Climate and forestry industry representatives interpret the ruling in opposing ways, each claiming their stance is the right one. The final decision on the matter is set to be made in the autumn by the Estonian Supreme Court, which should clarify whether current practices will be changed or not. Head of the Ministry of Climate’s Biodiversity Protection Department, Timo Kark, said overall the ECJ considered the suspension of logging to be justified. “In the opinion of the European Court, the birds directive must be interpreted such that its provisions apply to all bird species, including those that are not protected. So any activity that may result in birds being killed, such as logging during the spring-summer nesting period, can be suspended,” Kark said.

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Increasing Scotlands tree production to help tackle climate change.

Government of Scotland
August 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The First Minister has today opened a new £26 million facility to help grow more trees for Scotland’s forests and woodlands. Newton Tree Nursery, near Elgin, will support Forestry and Land Scotland to almost treble their tree production – from seven million to nearly 20 million trees per year by 2029. It will help support the sustainable management of Scotland’s national forests and land and help tackle the climate emergency, while also supporting the rural economy. Seedling operations at the redeveloped tree nursery began in March 2025 and 12 million trees have already been established within the glasshouse. The new nursery is the UK’s largest and most advanced tree-growing glasshouse and sets a new standard for bio secure, sustainable, and high-volume forest nursery production.  The facility ensures that an adequate supply of high-quality trees is available to supply the publicly managed forests of Scotland with those forests supporting rural economies, providing flood mitigation, improving biodiversity and sequestering carbon.

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