Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

The Printing House Partners with Canada’s Forest Trust Corporation to Grow Canada’s Green Economy

By Canada’s Forest Trust Corporation
Cision Newswire
March 27, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

TORONTO – The Printing House (TPH) is growing its corporate sustainability mission with the launch of the TPH Smart Forest™, a new initiative in partnership with Canada’s Forest Trust Corporation (CFTC). Through CFTC’s six-phase tree planting and preservation approach, this partnership will harness Canada’s natural ecosystems to drive carbon capture, restore biodiversity, purify air, and create green jobs. The first TPH Smart Forest™ is starting its growth in New Brunswick, with the goal of expanding across Canada in the regions where the business is located. Their Smart Forest™ model goes beyond traditional sustainability initiatives by combining nature with digital tracking through a Smart Forest™ portal, allowing TPH to quantify, showcase, and grow their environmental contributions over time.

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Canada Strengthens Wildfire Response Through Training

Natural Resources Canada
March 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

OTTAWA — The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson announced a $16.3 million investment over the next three years, starting in 2024–25, to support 25 projects through the Government of Canada’s Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate Program (FMWCC) – Training Fund. Through this investment, over 2,800 youth and community members in remote, rural and Indigenous communities across Canada will receive wildland firefighting training to enhance community capacity for responding to and managing wildfires. …Some of the projects funded through the FMWCC Training Fund include: $329,109 to the Keewaytinook Okimakanak’s project in Thunder Bay, Ontario… $499,330 to the Metis Settlements General Council’s project in Edmonton, Alberta… $946,330 to Prince Albert Development Corporation Management Co. Ltd.’s project in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan… and $1,999,999 to the Independent First Nations Alliance’s (IFNA) project in Sioux Lookout, Ontario.

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BC Parks Foundation acquires over 80 hectares near Oliver

By Brennan Phillips
Vernon Morning Star
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BC Parks Foundation recently announced the acquisition of private land including a private portion of the road leading up to Mount Kobau near Oliver.  The land was acquire from Shawn Baenziger of HB Land Company Ltd. and covers over 80 hectares (over 200 acres) in the upper Fairview area of Oliver.  The road access will now be under the stewardship of the foundation, where previously it was Baenziger, Fortis and the BC Forest Service that managed access. Baenziger had worked with the others to install a gate to pro-actively reduce the risk of wildfires and protect a stand of old-growth trees. “I hope that the new owners will find effective ways to manage access to the area while ensuring its pristine condition is maintained for future generations,” said Baenziger.

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Crews rushing to finish wildfire mitigation projects before summer

By Rob Gibson
Castanet
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

If you’ve noticed smoke on days it hasn’t been snowing or raining recently, it’s likely from a prescribed burn. Local governments across the Okanagan including the Westbank First Nation are working to finish as many of their prescribed burn operations as possible before the weather gets too hot and dry. A prescribed burn, sometimes called a controlled burn, is a planned and intentional use of fire on a specific land area to reduce wildfire risk, improve wildlife habitat, or restore ecosystems… The McDougall Creek wildfire was one of the most destructive local wildfires in recent memory, destroying 303 structures in West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation, Kelowna and the RDCO. The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated the fire caused $480 million in insured damage.

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Draft management plan for North Cowichan’s forest reserve not expected until 2026

By Robert Barron
The Cowichan Valley Citizen
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A draft co-management framework and plan to manage North Cowichan’s 5,000-hectare municipal forest reserve likely won’t be presented until sometime in 2026. The municipality and the Quw’utsun Nation (which consists of Cowichan Tribes, Halalt First Nation, Lyackson First Nation, Penelakut Tribe, and Stz’uminus First Nation) agreed in April, 2024, that they would work together to establish a co-management framework and plan for the forest reserve, and that work is still ongoing. North Cowichan’s communications director Barb Floden said the municipality and the Quw’utsun Nation issued a joint request for proposals to support the development of the co-management plan in February, which will be closing soon, and it is expected that the draft framework and plan will be ready next year. “The public will be kept informed of the process through joint statements and updates at council meetings,” Floden said.

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Old-growth advocates rally in Langford, denounce ‘talk and log’ approach

By Evan Lindsay
Peninsula Daily News
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Old-growth forest advocates rallied outside the office of Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar March 26, hoping to send a message of change. “We’re gathering to show the minister of forests that people need to seek an investment in an Indigenous-led, just transition to sustainable jobs, instead of continuing to stand by as industry giants abandon communities and log dwindling old-growth forests,” said Tobyn Neame, forest campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. “In 2021, on average, 726 hockey-rink-sized swaths of old-growth were logged every single day, and there is no evidence that has dwindled,” Neame said… Awi’nakola Foundation, the Wilderness Committee and Stand.earth hosted the rally, which gathered upwards of 50 advocates. …“We are trying to directly engage with Minister Ravi Parmar. Unfortunately, the minister closed his office today – to not be here during the rally, and I think that’s a real missed opportunity for him,” said Tegan Hansen, senior forest campaigner at Stand.earth. 

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District of Clearwater recruiting for its own specialized wildfire initial attack crew

Castanet
March 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

BRITISH COLUMBIA — The District of Clearwater is taking a new approach to wildfire response and mitigation, recruiting residents to join a specialized initial attack crew that will be called out to tackle new fire starts. Along with launching the new initial attack team, the district, which is embedded in a dense forest, is also expanding its FireSmart Mitigation Crew to conduct fuel reduction projects throughout the community. …On Tuesday, March 18, district council approved the establishment of the Clearwater Fire Department Initial Attack Crew and the expansion of the FireSmart Fuel Mitigation Crew. …Funding for the initial attack crew’s initial setup will come from the Wells Grey Community Forest Reserve, while the expanded FireSmart team will be funded through 2027 by a combination of the district’s Local Government Climate Action Program reserves and annual FireSmart grant contributions.

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Simpcw First Nation and valley partners lead the way: Forests Minister Parmar

By Hettie Buck
Clearwater Times
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar headed up Highway 5 on Friday, March 21 into the North Thompson. He visited with Clearwater’s mayor and council,  followed by a meeting hosted by Simpcw First Nation’s Kukpi7 George Lampreau and band council in the Village of Chu Chua near Barriere. The North Thompson Valley is predicted to be facing another critical wildfire season and according to an AI-driven data analytics company, AISIX Solutions Inc. Clearwater has been identified as one of the top ten Canadian “most at risk of wildfires given historical conditions”. …Minister Parmar had a number of stops scheduled in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding held by newly elected MLA Ward Stamer who is also the Opposition Forestry Critic in B.C. The ‘get stuff done tour’ also stopped in the Okanagan, Kamloops and Merritt on what is being labelled a ‘listen and learn tour’.

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BC Institute of Technology students explore sustainable forestry and estuary restoration in Squamish

By Jennifer Thuncher
The Squamish Chief
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

28 students from Burnaby-based British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), all clad in hiking boots and high-vis vests, listen intently to the Squamish River Watershed Society’s Edith Tobe. Squamish’s Justin Perry stands nearby. He is an instructor with BCIT’s Forest and Natural Areas Management program. On this day, Squamish is their classroom. …These 28 students are about to graduate from the two-year diploma program that focuses on forestry, vegetation management and arboriculture to support sustainable community development. …Squamish isn’t the only stop for the students. They were in the Sea to Sky Corridor all week. …Julia Allards-Tomalin, BCIT program head in Forest and Natural Areas Management, notes that forestry attracts a diverse group of students. The program is usually half women and half men, she said.

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Conservationists call for BC forestry industry to be modernized

By Hussam Elghussein
My Cowichan Valley Now
March 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Conservationists want BC’s forestry industry to be modernized amid ongoing US tariff threats. On Friday, the Ancient Forest Alliance and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance called on the BC Government to not only modernize the industry, but to also protect old-growth forests. The aim is to bring a more sustainable second-growth forest industry to respond to tariff threats, with hopes it can lead to endangered ecosystems being protected and a more diverse economy. Executive Director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Ken Wu says the government can go in two routes in response to US tariffs. …“This should include financial incentives for new industry investments in value-added and engineered wood products made from second-growth wood,” said the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance. …Other changes they recommend include bringing a Conservation Economy Strategy to support economic opportunities, developing a Protected Areas Strategy to protect old-growth forests, and to implement a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework.

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Restoring critical endangered pine species

By Megan Jamison
East Kootenay News Weekly e-KNOW
March 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Randy Moody — based in Kimberly, BC — is co-founder of the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada (WPEFC), is a leading provincial expert in whitebark and limber pine ecosystems and the recovery of these endangered species. …About 16 years ago, Randy started the WPEFC as a sister agency to the original Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation based in Montana. The Canadian chapter works in BC and Alberta coordinating projects promoting recovery work, engaging public and private partners, supporting research, and conducting educational programs to further knowledge, expertise, and management of these ecosystems. …Both whitebark pine and limber pine are endangered species, with whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) being the only Species at Risk Act-listed endangered tree species in Western Canada. …Whitebark pine communities are provide critical ecosystem services including protecting watersheds, reducing erosion, and being an important food source for Clark’s nutcrackers and other birds, as well as mammals such as grizzly bears and rodents. 

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Canfor, area First Nations receive federal forestry funding

The Prince George Citizen
March 23, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A Canfor operation in Prince George and three area First Nations have received federal funding to boost innovation in forestry. The $293,500 in local funding is part of more than $20 million the Canadian government is investing in 67 projects province-wide. The funds are part of a broader effort to enhance the competitiveness and resiliency of Canada’s forest industry, which has faced increasing trade barriers, particularly from the US. Among the recipients is Canadian Forest Products, or Canfor, which will receive up to $121,500 for a project aimed at producing innovative, formaldehyde-free and isocyanate-free wood adhesives. The company will explore extracting kraft lignin from black liquor at its Northwood mill in Prince George, converting it into a new, sustainable bioproduct. The project aims to determine the commercial viability of this process, which could open up new revenue streams and reduce reliance on harmful chemicals.

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This Giving Day, support the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest Renewal Project

By the Faculty of Forestry
The University of British Columbia
March 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

At UBC’s Faculty of Forestry, we are shaping a sustainable, biodiverse, and inclusive future by advancing the stewardship of forests and the environment. The Faculty is Canada’s largest forestry school, welcoming over 1,600 students annually. Our innovative research, hands-on education, and community engagement are addressing some of the most pressing global challenges. This Giving Day, we’re proud to feature the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest (MKRF) Renewal Project. This project will transform MKRF’s gateway entrance into a vibrant centre where the public, professionals, and students can explore science-in-action and discover the future of forest and ecosystem management. Your gift to this project will help MKRF grow into a leading hub for forestry, conservation, and climate change research, education, and community outreach. Donations will also expand MKRF’s reach, inspiring visitors and informing decision-making to move the forestry profession forward. 

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Cariboo, Central Coast forest sectors receive over $1.4 million boost

By Andie Mollins
Coast Mountain News
March 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Cariboo forest sector is getting a $317,256 boost from the federal government’s Green Construction through Wood (GCWood) program. The funding announcement was made on March 19 by Jonathan Wilkinson, minister of energy and natural resources, as part of a total of $20 million destined for 67 projects across British Columbia. Five projects within the Cariboo are included in this funding which aims to support the competitiveness and resiliency of the province’s forest sector by using innovative technologies in projects which will reduce emissions. The Cariboo recipients are the Tŝilhqot’in National Government, the Tl’etinqox Government, Tŝideldel First Nation, Stswecem’c Xget’tem First Nation and the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation Government. Each recipient will put funding towards their proposed project, ranging from forestry development strategies to building the nations’ active participation in the region’s forest landscape plan.

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Forestry commission wants to see more from province

By Josh Lewis
The Eastern Graphic
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

PEI’s next forest policy has to address the goals of various types of woodlot owners, the province’s Forestry Commission concluded in its final report. That includes owners who simply want to enjoy their woodlots as they are, those who want to manage them actively and sustainably, and others who manage the forests as a revenue source. The 13-person Forestry Commission was appointed by the province in early 2023 to review PEI’s forest policy, programs and legislation in the wake of Hurricane Fiona. The report builds on last year’s discussion paper Towards a New Forest Policy with 14 recommendations. They range from rewriting the Forest Management Act to encouraging better private woodlot management, encouraging more resilient forests and preparing for the next major hurricane. It was submitted to the province in October but was not released until last week.

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First Nations organizations get nearly $4M for firefighter training

By Gary Rinne
North West Ontario News Watch
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

THUNDER BAY — Three First Nations organizations in Northwestern Ontario are getting significant new funding to support the training of wildland firefighters. Some of the training will take place in Thunder bay. Keewaytinook Okimakanak, which represents six remote First Nations, will use $329,000 to to help train 25 youth in wildfire prevention and mitigation to build up local fire management practices and enhance community resiliency to forest fires. In Sioux Lookout, the Independent First Nations Alliance, which includes five First Nations, is getting $2 million to train 50 participants and increase the capacity for managing fires at the local level. The Whitefeather Community Resource Management Authority will use an allocation of just under $1.6 million for firefighter training for 144 community members on the Pikangikum First Nation.

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First-ever ‘zombie’ fire field data suggests overwintering may not be as destructive as predicted

Wilfrid Laurier University
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

WATERLOO – A study from Wilfrid Laurier University offers a rare “good news story” in relation to forest fires. Jennifer Baltzer, the Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, published field data on overwintering fires – known as “zombie” fires – that smoulder throughout the winter and reignite the following spring. Despite fears that zombie fires would increase carbon release and hinder forest regrowth, Baltzer’s data suggests that they are less destructive than anticipated. Between 2022 and 2023, Baltzer and colleagues collected samples at overwintering fire sites. They visited 20 locations in the boreal forests of Alaska and the Northwest Territories that had originally burned in 2009 or 2014. …Baltzer’s research shows that more often than not, overwintering fires are actually happening in “upland” locations – productive forests on higher ground with good drainage and thinner layers of organic, carbon-rich soil. “…smouldering is happening in the roots and trunks of trees, as opposed to deep organic soils,” says Baltzer.

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Prince Edward Island Forestry Commission calls for end to ‘status quo budgeting,’ more assistance for woodlot owners

By Stu Neatby
The Saltwire Guardian
March 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

After a two-year effort, a commission established to make recommendations aimed at preserving the province’s forests has highlighted the need to boost funding for programs aimed at assisting private woodlot owners. In its final report, the P.E.I. Forestry Commission, a 13-member advisory group chaired by Jean-Paul Arsenault, said successive P.E.I. governments have been “neglecting” the implementation of existing forestry policies since 2006. “The Forestry Program is a long-term victim of status quo budgeting, also called zero-based budgeting, an approach focused on maintaining expenditures at previous levels,” wrote the commissioners. …The report, which was completed last October, was not made public until March 19 by the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action. …The commission’s report notes that P.E.I. faces a unique challenge in forestry preservation, given that 85 per cent of the province’s forests are owned by private landowners.

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York University receives close to $400K from Natural Resources Canada to better understand planning needs of wildfire prone communities

York University
March 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Eric Kennedy

TORONTO – With $386,000 in funding from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) through its Build and Mobilize Foundational Wildland Fire Knowledge Program under the Wildfire Resilient Futures Initiative, York University and its partners will evaluate the issues local governments face in adopting wildfire mitigation practices and determine how to scale up their mitigation efforts. The project, Understanding and Improving Wildfire Mitigation Partnerships with Local Governments, which also received more than $100,000 in-kind from York, is led by York emergency management Associate Professor Eric Kennedy of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies in collaboration with FireSmart Canada; the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources/Aviation, Forest Fires and Emergency Services; and Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. It is particularly important today as the frequency and severity of wildfires continues to rise, increasingly threatening the health and safety of communities.

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U.S. Department of Agriculture Seeks Nominations for Christmas Tree Promotion Board

AgNet West Radio
March 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for four open seats on the Christmas Tree Promotion Board. These positions are for three-year terms beginning January 1, 2026. The deadline for nominations is June 1, 2025. The Christmas Tree Promotion Board is responsible for promoting real Christmas trees, educating consumers, and conducting industry research. The board consists of 12 members—11 producers and one importer—who collaborate to support the Christmas tree industry in the United States. Producers from three regions are eligible for nomination. The Western Region, which includes states such as California, Oregon, and Washington, has two open seats. The Central Region, covering states like Michigan, Missouri, and Texas, has one open seat. The Eastern Region, which includes states such as New York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, also has one open seat. Producers who grow trees in multiple regions may only seek nomination in the region where they produce the majority of their trees.

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Radical environmentalism and failed leadership turned America’s wildfires into costly infernos

By Jeff Stier, Senior Fellow, Consumer Choice Center
The Washington Times
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The Trump administration is making news at an unprecedented rate as the president fights back against a bloated federal government and its supporters in the mainstream media. It is important that we pause and understand the implications of some of the biggest issues facing our country… One key issue that the media has begun to gloss over is the United States’ tragic failure to manage natural disasters. Unburdened by woke ideology, we can do a better job of mitigating tragedies and rebuilding more efficiently. Consider California, where liberal mismanagement has turned natural disasters into preventable catastrophes. …Meanwhile, North Carolina has faced its own failures in disaster preparedness. …For decades, the Sierra Club and like-minded activists have transformed America’s forests into fuel reserves. …These misguided environmental policies are not just causing destruction; they are draining taxpayer dollars. …America must reject the radical green policies that have turned states into fire-prone disaster zones.

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Is planting trees ‘DEI’? Trump administration cuts nationwide tree-planting effort

By Eva Tesfaye
Oregon Public Broadcasting
March 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The Trump administration’s efforts to end federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs has hit an unexpected target: In February, communities around the country learned that funding was canceled for a nationwide tree-planting program aimed at making neighborhoods cooler, healthier and more resilient to climate change. …In a letter terminating the contract, the U.S. Forest Service stated the program “no longer aligns with agency priorities regarding diversity, equity and inclusion.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which houses the Forest Service, said in an emailed statement that the agency was complying with President Trump’s executive orders. …“That has nothing to do with this grant funding. The word ‘equity’ is pervasive in the grants that were funded by this, but in a totally different context,” Susannah Burley, ED Sustaining Our Urban Landscape, said, adding that in this context, equity meant planting trees in neighborhoods without them.

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Pests thrived in Colorado forests in 2024, report says

By Marilyn Moore
9News Colorado
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A warm and dry 2024 wasn’t great for Colorado’s forests, according to the Colorado State Forest Service.  The agency’s annual forest health report released Wednesday found that after a wet and cool year in 2023, near-record-breaking temperatures and below-average precipitation stressed trees trying to build a defense from forest pests. The insects can create fuel for wildfires by filling forests with dead and dying trees… The report details how wildfires in Colorado’s forests impact the state’s watersheds. Colorado’s mountain watersheds are vital to the nation’s freshwater supply. The report recommends protecting the state’s watersheds through “ongoing collaboration among landowners, contractors and partners at the local, state and federal level.” Lastly, the report explains the importance of wildfire mitigation saying, “Active management is critical to help keep wildfires at a low severity and protect the many benefits that forests provide.”

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Wood is key to building. Importing it is worse than responsible Washington logging

By Amy Harding, commissioner, Port of Olympia
Tacoma News Tribune
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Amy Harding

The Pacific Northwest is fortunate to have vast forests and ideal conditions for growing trees quickly. …However, we face a troubling trend: a decline in local timber production and a growing reliance on imported lumber. We use science for active forest management with the toughest regulations in the world, we do forestry the best here. It’s time to prioritize local timber and rebuild a robust, sustainable industry right here in Washington. …Fifty percent of our state timberlands have already been placed into conservation. …The recent move to place some timber sales on hold jeopardizes the Department of Natural Resources’ capacity to do this in the future and maintain a steady pace. …Our Pacific Northwest forests are managed under some of the strongest science-based forest protections in the world, ensuring sustainable harvesting practices and safeguarding water quality for people and fish.

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US Forest Service Northern Region announces acting regional forester

NBC Montana
March 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

MISSOULA, Montana — Kristin Bail is being named acting regional forester for the Northern Region on March 31. Bail will temporarily succeed Regional Forester Leanne Marten who has planned to retire after 34 years of service. In her role, Bail will oversee management of nine national forests and one national grassland within Idaho, Montana and North Dakota. The USDA Forest Service sent out the following: USDA Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz today announced Kristin Bail will serve as acting regional forester for the Northern Region, effective March 31, 2025.Bail will temporarily succeed Regional Forester Leanne Marten as she reaches her long-planned retirement date after 34 years of service. …As acting regional forester, Bail will oversee management of nine national forests and one national grassland within Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota.

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Controversial timber sale near Roseburg is the target of protests and lawsuits

By Roman Battaglia
Jefferson Public Radio
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

OREGON — A timber sale near Roseburg and an accompanying protest have been pushed back to April 22, or Earth Day. The protest against the Yellow Panther timber sale was originally set for Tuesday, March 25, but the auction was postponed till late April. This timber sale is part of the Blue and Gold project, a controversial timber harvest plan by the federal Bureau of Land Management approved last year. Madeline Cowen from the environmental non-profit Cascadia Wildlands said this timber harvest was pushed through during the Biden Administration. …She said that this project is particularly important because of how much logging is planned for old-growth forests. …Cowen’s group filed a lawsuit against the BLM regarding this project, and just last month, the BLM agreed to notify the conservation group 30 days in advance of any logging on future projects before a court hearing set for the fall.

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Trump’s logging orders: A win-win or recipe for continued conflict?

By Ted Sickinger
The Chronicle
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

President Trump signed two executive orders aimed at ramping up logging on federal lands. The directives prompted polar and predictable reactions from timber industry advocates and environmental groups in the Pacific Northwest. The former have been advocating for more aggressive “management” of federal forests for decades to increase log supplies for local mills and combat increasing wildfire risks. The latter say the orders will prioritize commercial logging over all other uses of public lands and will inevitably result in protracted litigation. …Somewhere in the middle, however, is a group of organizations who say the executive orders could provide an opportunity to go much bigger on necessary forest restoration projects. But, ironically, they say the potential to make that happen likely will be significantly undermined by Trump’s separate push to slash the federal workforce that would oversee the work.

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Bush crafted blueprint for healthy forests

By Don Brunell, retired president, Association of Washington Business
Tacoma Weekly
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

In August 2002 during one of the worst fire seasons to that point in recent history, President George W. Bush launched the Healthy Forests Initiative aimed at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. It was a solid, common-sense plan intended to remove wood debris which fuels infernos and rehabilitate diseased, dying, and dead forests. It would generate revenue from wood sales to pay for healthier timberlands. …Bush ran into a buzz saw of well-financed opposition which branded it as front for logging in the public forests. It got scorched by endless bureaucratic federal, state, and local appeals and lawsuits. Little happened while wildfire dangers mounted. Then along came the January’s deadly L.A. fires … where 29 people died and more than 12,000 … structures were destroyed. …Hopefully, President Trump will dust off Bush’s blueprint, cut the bureaucratic red tape and reign in lawsuits. It made sense then and is ready to go now.

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Trump’s controversial logging orders: A win-win or recipe for continued conflict?

By Ted Sickinger
The Oregonian
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders aimed at ramping up logging on federal lands. The directives prompted polar and predictable reactions from timber industry advocates and environmental groups in Oregon. The former have been advocating for more aggressive “management” of federal forests for decades to increase log supplies for local mills and combat increasing wildfire risks in forests choked with flammable fuels. The latter say the orders will prioritize commercial logging over all other uses of public lands and will inevitably result in protracted litigation if federal agencies look to fast-track projects by eliminating existing protections for habitat, clean water and endangered species. [A subscription to the Oregonian is required to read full article]

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Burning question: How to save an old-growth forest in Tahoe?

By Kat Kerlin, University of California, Davis
The Mountain Democrat
March 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

On the shores of Lake Tahoe at Emerald Bay State Park grows what some consider to be the most iconic old-growth forest in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Giant ponderosa pines — some of the last remaining in the area — share space with at least 13 other tree species. Yet despite its high conservation value and proximity to severely burned forests, the Emerald Point stand has not been managed to reduce its risk to drought or catastrophic wildfire. The fire-adapted forest has also not experienced fire for at least 120 years. This has led to massive increases in forest density, fuels, and insect- and drought-driven mortality. A fire modeling study conducted by the University of California, Davis, and the University of Nevada, Reno, found that forest thinning followed by a prescribed burn could greatly improve the stand’s resistance to catastrophic fire. 

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Freeze on climate-smart forestry funding risks logging jobs in Maine

By Peter McGuire
Maine Public
March 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Millions of federal dollars promised to Maine woodland to improve harvest practices has been stalled for months without explanation. Landowners and logging companies are increasingly anxious about the funding blockade, and will have to make tough decisions if the money doesn’t come through. Baskahegan Co. Vice President Kyle Burdick said it was banking on federal reimbursements to sustain logging operations on its Down East timberland this year. But if the money doesn’t come through, it will have to potentially lay off logging contractors. Baskahegan was one of six Maine landowners that last year agreed to try out forestry practices that thin out woodlands to encourage bigger tree growth. The pilot project, funded through a $32 million climate smart commodities grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was intended to store more carbon and generate valuable wood products in the future. The funding has been blocked since President Donald Trump put money …under review.

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‘Completely and utterly ignored’: Rural US workers crushed by logging export freeze

By Rachel Quackenbush
Catholic Vote
March 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

A quiet collapse is sweeping through America’s hardwood log export industry, completely devastating working families in rural communities who’ve been left behind as trade battles play out far above their heads. On March 4, China abruptly banned imports of U.S. hardwood logs, citing pest concerns — though industry insiders believe it was thinly veiled economic retaliation to the Trump administration’s recent tariffs. The impact was immediate and massive: China is the dominant buyer of U.S. logs, importing the vast majority of what America exports. Without that market, the entire industry lost its economic lifeline, according to Seth Riggio, a 35-year-old log broker based in Greenville, South Carolina. The move set off a chain reaction that has pushed loggers, exporters, truckers, and rural communities across the country into financial ruin. …These aren’t corporations with reserves. Most loggers don’t have savings accounts or college degrees. What they have are contracts, equipment, and a forest to work. 

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Raising weight limits is crucial for industry survival, economic stability

Letter by Nicholas Askew, log truck driver
The Wetumpka Herald
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

As a log truck driver, I want to share my perspective on the proposed increase in truck weight limits in Alabama. This issue is critical to the livelihoods of many hardworking people and to the… state’s forestry sector. The challenges of operating a log truck have grown significantly in recent years. Insurance premiums keep rising, fuel prices fluctuate unpredictably, and truck maintenance costs have soared due to the increasing price of parts and repairs. Despite these mounting expenses, the rates paid to haul raw wood remain relatively stagnant because of supply and demand constraints. Timber is so plentiful that mills often hit capacity before the end of the workweek, forcing them to impose quotas and stop purchases early. These restrictions directly impact our ability to make a living and keep our businesses afloat. …If weight limits are not raised, the future of Alabama’s log trucking industry — and by extension, the forestry sector — remains uncertain.

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Georgia jury orders Monsanto parent to pay nearly $2.1 billion in Roundup weedkiller lawsuit

By Wyatte Grantham-Philips
The Associated Press
March 23, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

NEW YORK — A jury in Georgia has ordered Monsanto parent Bayer to pay nearly $2.1 billion in damages to a man who says the company’s Roundup weed killer caused his cancer. The verdict marks the latest in a long-running series of court battles Monsanto has faced over its Roundup herbicide. The agrochemical giant says it will appeal the verdict. The penalties awarded include $65 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages. That marks one of the largest legal settlements reached in a Roundup-related case to date. …Germany-based Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, has continued to dispute claims that Roundup causes cancer. But the company has been hit with more than 177,000 lawsuits involving the weedkiller and set aside $16 billion to settle cases. Monsanto said Friday’s verdict “conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and the consensus of regulatory bodies and their scientific assessments worldwide.” 

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Virginia’s logging and lumber industry looks to Trump, new markets for help

By Brad Kutner
WTVF Public Radio
March 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Virginia loggers hope steps taken by President Donald Trump will breathe new life into parts of the Commonwealth they feel have long been abandoned. …Canada is the largest exporter of lumber into the US. The lumber industry in the United State has a long history and has been financially rocky in recent decades. Unregulated cutting up to the 1980s damaged land and water systems. Regulations followed. Then international trade agreements saw production shipped overseas, further denting an industry that literally built America. But loggers in Virginia have stuck with it. Among them is Vance Wright. …Trump’s shortest-term impact on logging may be with tariffs. But logging and timber have long been subject to different international trade deals. And while those international markets arguably killed Virginia’s manufacturing, think Martinsville’s now-shuttered furniture factories, it also opened doors to new opportunities.

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War ignited record-breaking wildfires in Ukraine last year, scientists say

By Kate Abnett
Reuters
March 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Last year was Ukraine’s worst year for wildfires in more than three decades of record-keeping, as shelling along front lines in the war with Russia triggered an unprecedented number of blazes, scientists said. Forest fires in Ukraine in 2024 burnt more than twice the area destroyed by fire in the entire 27-country European Union in 2024. Satellite data showed nearly 9,000 fires torched a total of 965,000 hectares in Ukraine in 2024. Ukraine has around 10 million hectares, or 100,000 sq km (38,610 sq miles), of forest. Around a third of the area burned last year was farmland… Maksym Matsala, a forest researcher at Sweden’s University of Agricultural Sciences, said the main cause was artillery and falling shells igniting fires. He said the jump in fires last year was partly because of a large build-up of dead and damaged trees since Russia’s invasion in 2022, which had created plentiful fuel for fires during extremely dry weather in 2024.

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Universities sign UK-Borneo strategic forestry research partnership

University of Birmingham
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The University of Birmingham and the University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF) have forged ties to create new opportunities exploring how forest ecosystems will behave in in the future as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise. Professor Robin Mason, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) at the University of Birmingham joined UCSF Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Rafiq Idris by video link to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU will see Birmingham climate change experts working with their counterparts in Borneo to explore the potential for major forest experiments and to investigate how the island’s forests respond to pressures cause by climate change – particularly in relation to biodiversity. The partners will explore opportunities to develop a global research and education centre around forestry management and biodiversity focussed on the needs of the people and nature of Sabah State and beyond.

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‘This is the way to protect forestry’ says Highlands’ rural affairs secretary

By Tom Ramage
The Northern Times
March 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

SCOTLAND — Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon has said “doing nothing is not an option” when it comes to securing the future of Scotland’s forests from the effects of climate change. With recent examples of violent storms, increasing temperatures, droughts, wildfires and more tree pests and diseases, a new ‘routemap’ has been published by Scottish Forestry which will provide the direction needed for building resilient forests. The routemap, the first of its kind in the UK, outlines a number of key actions to help the nation’s woodlands resist, adapt, respond and recover from the various current climate related threats. The resilience actions cover both immediate and long-term priorities over the next 10 years. …Actions in the plan are wide ranging and include using scenario planning, use of new technologies like AI, eDNA and satellite data, more use of ‘smart silviculture’ and better monitoring and surveillance for ecosystems.

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UK Government to plant first National Forest in 30 years

By Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Government of the United Kingdom
March 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A new national forest stretching from the Cotswolds to the Mendips is set to be created, the government has announced today. The Western Forest will see 20 million trees set to be planted across the West of England in the coming decades, creating at least 2,500 hectares of new woodland. …The forest will serve over 2.5 million residents, bringing trees and woodlands closer to where people live, including in urban centres such as Bristol, Gloucester and Swindon. The Western Forest will be spearheaded by the Forest of Avon, one of England’s Community Forests supported by up to £7.5 million of government funding over five years alongside accelerating tree-planting in local areas. The project will work to revitalise existing woodlands and other important habitats to create a forest network for people and wildlife at a truly landscape scale. The forest will help the drive to net zero …as part of the Government’s Plan for Change. 

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Forests, crucial ecosystems for food security — International Day of Forests

United Nations
March 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Forests, pillars of global food security and nutrition, are the livelihoods of millions of families. They provide essential foods such as fruits, seeds, roots and wild meat, fundamental resources for indigenous and rural communities. But its function goes far beyond. Forests are a vital source of energy, providing wood for cooking, playing a key role in agriculture by hosting pollinators and acting in soil enrichment, climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. In addition, forested watersheds supply freshwater to more than 85% of the world’s major cities. In crisis situations, forests become an economic and food lifeline, providing up to 20% of family income in rural areas, guaranteeing healthy diets. But these ecosystems are in danger. …Join the cause and defend the theme of International Day of Forests 2025: “Forests and Food”. The future of food begins in the forests!

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