Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

Forest Stewardship News & Views

Forest Stewardship Council Canada
March 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

In the March News you’ll find these stories and more:

  • Meet the women driving responsible forestry forward in North America: Monika Patel, Sarah Billig and Sarah Kutulakos share a deep appreciation for preservation, stewardship and conservation – and are today’s leading voices in sustainable forest management.
  • Reflections on the 2025 Indigenous Lands Symposium: hosted by Wahkohtowin Development in Bawating/Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the symposium brought together Indigenous communities and First Nations, knowledge holders, and partners from environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), industry, and government. 
  • We are pleased to invite forestry professionals to the FSC Forest Management Expert Course, designed to equip you with the knowledge and mindset of an FSC auditor. 
  • A sneak peek into FSC Canada’s recent All Staff meeting in Toronto, Canada.

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Okanagan Indian Band spearheads first B.C. wildfire salvage agreement

By Bowen Assman
Parksville Qualicum Beach News
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Funding for a forestry project near Vernon is a positive step towards reducing wildfire risk, according to local MLA Harwinder Sandhu. “This innovative project led by the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) not only helped salvage a wildfire-affected area for safe replanting of trees but also reduced the carbon footprint of the cleanup,” said Sandhu, MLA for Vernon-Lumby. …The OKIB received $89,795 for a fibre recovery project that supported the removal of burned fibre from the first approved Wildfire Salvage Opportunity Agreement in B.C. …Fibre recovery is the process of extracting as much valuable fibre as possible from logs, branches, and other residual materials to ensure sustainable and economical use of forest resources. The project is one of 14 from the provincial government in the Thompson-Okanagan region, where $6.5 million was invested from the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC).

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Resource Works Launches “Innovation Forum” Video Series On Resource and Cleantech Leaders

By Resource Works
Globe Newswire
March 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Resource Works is announcing the official launch of the Innovation Forum video series, an exciting new platform dedicated to showcasing the transformative power of innovation for the benefit of Canada’s natural resource and cleantech sectors. …The program will showcase the stories of innovation leaders and industry experts who are changing the face of resource development and clean technology. …The first season includes over 25 exclusive interviews filmed at premier industry events in early 2025, the BC Natural Resources Forum in Prince George and AME Roundup in Vancouver, with guests sharing insights on energy transition, environmental stewardship, and technological advancements. Interviewees include: Derek Nighbor (Forest Products Association of Canada); Nancy Norris (BC Ministry for Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation); Suzanne Gill (Genome BC); Chamirai Nyabeze (Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation); Jean-Philippe Paiement (VRIFY); Lisa Mueller (Nation2Nation); and Gavin Dew (Member of the BC Legislative Assembly).

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BC town faces economic fallout after sheltering thousands fleeing Alberta wildfire

By Stefan Labbe
Business in Vancouver
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VALEMOUNT, BC — “Everyone in Jasper and Jasper National Park must evacuate now,” warned Alberta emergency officials. On July 22, 2024, 30-kilometre-an-hour winds had swept two small fires into flames up to 50 metres high. Unable to contain the blaze, firefighters pulled back, and soon, thousands of people were sent fleeing. …But Jasper is not the only town suffering from the disaster’s fallout. As the fire approached, many fled west into the neighbouring province of British Columbia. Within hours, the Village of Valemount — BC’s northernmost resort town — ballooned with more than 20,000 people, more than 20 times its normal population. Locals opened their homes and restaurants. The municipal government set up public facilities for evacuees needing a place to sleep and bathe. …“We basically had 20,000 people. Then we had no people,” said Valemount Mayor Owen Torgerson. …By the time most of the displaced had left, Valemount’s August high season had passed.

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Houston residents give input on forest planning project

By Alexander Vaz
Houston Today
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A new Bulkley Valley Lake forest planning project is now in the public input phase. The Bulkley-Morice Forest Landscape Planning (FLP) project is one of five new provincial projects that are shaping a revamped framework for sustainable forest management in B.C. The Province held an open house on Feb. 26 at the Houston Community Hall about its newest forestry project. In addition to the open house in Houston, the province also held open houses in Granisle on Jan. 29 and Smithers on March 6, inviting communities within the Bulkley Valley to get involved in the development of the new FLP project. “What excites me about forest landscape plans is they provide the opportunity to bring the community together, said minister of forests Ravi Parmar.

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The Best Way to Save Caribou Can’t Just Be Killing Wolves

By Ben Parfitt
The Tyee
March 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The proposed road is called the Anahim Connector and its proponent, British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests, says it would be a “secondary fire-exit route” linking isolated First Nations and rural communities in the remote Anahim Lake area with Vanderhoof and Highway 16 to the northeast. It would slice between the Tweedsmuir and Itcha-Ilgachuz woodland caribou herds… Resource roads are punched into new areas of forest. Logging ensues. For a brief time following logging, the opened areas are attractive foraging grounds for moose and deer. As deer and moose move in, wolves do too. The wolves use the roads to more easily track and kill their prey. Any caribou in the area then fall prey to the wolves as well…

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K’ómoks First Nation ratifies treaty, next steps with provincial and federal governments

By Michael John Lo
The Squamish Chief
March 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

K’ómoks First Nation members have overwhelmingly voted to accept a modern treaty with the B.C. and federal governments that has been in the making since 1994. The treaty ratification vote that concluded on Saturday night saw 81 per cent of votes in favour of ratification. K’ómoks also ratified its constitution, with 83 per cent of voters in favour. …The wide-ranging 308-page treaty, with 584 pages of appendices, would give K’ómoks all the powers of a local government, as well as jurisdiction for some services that previously came under the purview of the province. …The agreement would see 3,460 hectares of land become K’ómoks treaty land, with options for the nation to purchase an additional 1,592 hectares of land currently designated as woodlots from the province in the future. Sandy Island, Seal Islets, Wildwood Forest, Wood Mountain and Williams Beach lands set to be transferred will remain publicly accessible.

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In support of clear-cutting.

By Brian LaPointe, Forestry Consultant
Castanet
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Are clear-cuts in forestry bad? I would say no. Nature demands that there is a mosaic of age classes to support conservation of biodiversity. …Wildfire “clearcuts” following insect invasion, disease, wind or old old trees aging out in many forests. …Logging and tree planting have proven logged clear-cuts are a gentler treatment for refreshing forests when compared to traumatic wildfires. On top of the biodiversity and conservation benefits, we get socioeconomic benefits of forest products and employment and resulting government services and infrastructure. …In certain areas where trees are shade tolerant, such as in Interior Douglas Fir areas, various types of selection may be prescribed to fit the ecology of the site. Biodiversity provides for all species in a mosiac of different types across the landscape. Look outside, it is not one continuous environment.

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UBC Forestry awarded US$790K grant to study cultural burning

By Luke Faulks
Pique News Magazine
March 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

UBC Forestry has been awarded US$790,000 from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to study cultural and prescribed burning in partnership with four B.C. First Nations. Each of the four Nations—Lil’wat, Cheslatta Carrier, Stswecem’c Xget’tem and St̓uxwtéwst Nations—will tackle topics related to their land use and forest management priorities. …The three-year study is wide-ranging; UBC and Lil’wat Forestry Ventures (LFV) will analyze forest conditions, study fire regimes and develop land-use policies that support Indigenous sovereignty and challenge a more colonial approach to forest management. …The project will look at high-risk zones within Lil’wat Nation’s traditional territory, map historical fires—including wildfires and cultural burns—and examine how those fires have impacted the growth and development of plants. All of that will give the research team a map of high-risk areas and a better understanding of where to host future cultural burns.

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12 million more trees to be planted on Tłı̨chǫ lands following $53M investment

By Liny Lamberink
CBC News
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A total of 13 million trees are now expected to be planted on Tłı̨chǫ lands in the N.W.T. in the coming years following a joint investment of $53 million from the federal and Tłı̨chǫ governments. The Tłı̨chǫ government signed an agreement with Tree Canada and Let’s Plant Trees in 2023 to plant one million trees over the course of three years around Behchokǫ̀, with half the money flowing from the federal government and the other half being raised through sponsorships. Work has already been underway since last year to harvest seeds from local tree species and to grow them in nurseries in the South.

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Community engagement, sustainability at the heart of Three Rivers Community Forest

By Austin Kelly
The Quesnel Cariboo Observer
March 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Nick Pickles and Allie Affleck

The Three Rivers Community Forest is a project the City of Quesnel is working towards along with First Nations partners in the area. Nicholas Pickles and Allie Affleck are two of the people who will be managing the community forest. Pickles is the general manager and Affleck is the forestry manager. “One of the great things about the community forest, there’s so many different ways that we can work with the various community stakeholders and identify what we all want out of the community forest,” Pickles said. “It’s really about community engagement and getting that input, which is a really exciting part of it all.” …One of the advantages of a community forest is that it exists solely to serve the community. …Any trees that are harvested will be a source of revenue for the community forest and therefore the community as local contractors will do the harvesting and then the community forest will sell lumber.

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Canada and Manitoba collaborating to advance nature protection and climate adaptation

By Environment and Climate Change Canada
Cision Newswire
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

WINNIPEG, MB – Conserving nature and halting biodiversity loss is necessary and requires innovation and collaboration. To this end, the governments of Canada and Manitoba are committed to working together and—in partnership with Indigenous peoples—to protect nature across the province. Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Manitoba that sets the stage for the development of a nature agreement to advance nature conservation and protection across the province. …the Government of Canada has committed up to $2 million over the next year, with the support of Manitoba, to enable Indigenous participation in the development of the nature agreement. This unique collaboration will support coming together to make ambitious progress on shared nature priorities, including Indigenous leadership in conservation, as well as advancing progress on Protected and Conserved Areas …

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Spel’kúmtn Community Forest sets out goals for 2025 after record profits

By Luke Faulks
Pique News Magazine
March 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Spel’kúmtn Community Forest (SCF) is coming into 2025 with record net income from the previous year. After five years in operation, the SCF reported an estimated $1.5 million in profits from the sale of 17,743 cubic metres of harvested timber last year. But during a March 4 report to the Village of Pemberton (VOP), the SCF’s executive director, Andrea Blaikie, flagged challenges in the years ahead that warrant a more conservative approach to planning and harvesting in the tenured forest. The SCF consists of 17,727 hectares of forest land and was incorporated in 2019 as a partnership between the VOP and Lil’wat Nation. According to the Community Forest Agreement (CFA) signed by Mayor Mike Richman and Lil’wat Nation Chief Dean Nelson in 2020, the collaboration is meant to promote reconciliation, increase community benefits from local resources and amplify local voices on forest management.

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Evans Lake Forest Education Society Online Auction

By Brad Techy
Evans Lake Forest Education Society
March 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Evans Lake Forest Education Society’s online silent auction starts Wednesday, March 5th at 12:00 pm and runs until Sunday, March 9th at 7:00pm.  We are raising money for our Campership Program to send underprivileged children and youth to our camp!  This gives them a positive experience in their lives that they will carry into adulthood. There are 65 great items to bid on from our fantastic donors.  The items represent one for every year that the society has existed starting back in 1960! You can view all of the great items on our auction link. If you would like to bid on any of them, please register as a participant.  All we need is your name and an email address to get a hold of you should you be the successful bidder!

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Ministry of Forests allocates $2.85M for Kootenay wildfire prevention

The Rossland News
March 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

B.C.’s Ministry of Forests will pump $28 million into 74 wildfire-prevention projects across all eight of the province’s natural resource regions, an investment applauded by NDP MLAs given its nearly $3-million investment in Kootenay communities. Through the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), 43 new and expanded fibre-recovery projects and 31 new and expanded wildfire-mitigation projects will receive the funding, with all 74 projects expected to be complete by end of March. …In the Kootenay natural resource region, some $2,854,000 is supporting seven projects. These include $1.6 million for Nk’Mip Forestry in Castlegar; $593,000 for the Slocan Integral Foresty Cooperative; $396,000 and $46,500 for the Nakusp and Area Community Forest in Nakusp and New Denver, respectively; $101,000 for the Harrop-Procter Community Co-operative; $96,500 for the West Kootenay Woodlot Association in Nelson; and $21,000 for the Creston Valley Forest Corporation.

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Thunder Bay recognized as a 2024 Tree City of the World

By Nicky Shaw
Tbnewswatch.com
March 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Arbor Day Foundation have recognized the City of Thunder Bay as a 2024 Tree City of the World. This international designation honours cities excelling in urban tree care and planning. “The City of Thunder Bay is honoured to receive this recognition as a 2024 Tree City of the World,” said Cory Halvorsen, the manager of the City of Thunder Bay’s parks and open spaces, in a written statement. “Our commitment to urban forestry is reflected in our dedication to preserving and expanding our tree canopy. Trees play a vital role in our city’s environmental and social well-being and we will continue to invest in sustainable initiatives that enhance the quality of life for our residents.”

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Canada and Quebec sign historic agreement to protect and conserve nature

By Environment and Climate Change Canada
Cision Newswire
March 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

QUÉBEC – The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change announced the signing of a Canada-Quebec agreement to advance the protection and conservation of nature throughout Quebec. The Government of Canada will invest up to $100 million between now and 2027 to support the objectives of Quebec’s 2030 Nature Plan and Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy. This nature agreement reflects both governments’ commitment to implementing the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework and establishes a series of objectives to achieve this: Create and expand protected and conserved areas, and accelerate the conservation of natural environments on private land in southern Quebec, including through the implementation of urban park projects; Take action to address threats to biodiversity, better protect threatened or vulnerable species, and foster the recovery of at-risk species; Control invasive alien species; and Support Indigenous leadership in biodiversity conservation.

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US Department of Agriculture hires back all 6,000 fired workers from past month, including public land employees

By Hunter Bassler
Wildfire Today
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The United States Department of Agriculture on Tuesday announced each of the 6,000 probationary employees it had terminated since Feb. 13 now has their job back, the department said in a press release. “By Wednesday, March 12, the Department will place all terminated probationary employees in pay status and provide each with back pay, from the date of termination,” USDA’s statement said. “The Department will work quickly to develop a phased plan for return-to-duty, and while those plans materialize, all probationary employees will be paid.” The Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent federal court that focuses on government employee complaints, issued a stay order against the USDA on March 5. The Board ordered the reinstatement of every position terminated within the department since Feb. 13 to be reinstated for at least 45 days, on the grounds that USDA’s mass and indiscriminate termination was likely unlawful. March 12 was the deadline for the USDA to submit proof it had complied with the Board’s order.

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Map Reveals How America’s Forests Have Changed Over Time

By Marth McHardy
Newsweek
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Over the past four centuries, the United States has undergone a dramatic transformation, with vast stretches of forestland giving way to agriculture, urban development, and industry. Once covering a significant portion of the country, forests have been steadily shrinking since the 1600s as human settlement expanded westward. New research by Earth System Science Data reveals the extent of this decline, showing how once-dense woodlands have been replaced by croplands, pastures, and sprawling cities. The research comes as Donald Trump signed a new executive order this month to decrease U.S. reliance on foreign lumber. The order could result in the felling of millions of trees in the U.S. …Since the early 1600s, the U.S. has experienced a net loss of approximately 258 million acres of forest. …To replace the volume of lumber imported from Canada, about 17 million mature pine trees—each 80 feet tall and with a 2-foot diameter—would need to be harvested from U.S. forests.

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Trump’s plan to cut down more trees faces a host of problems

By Elizabeth Weise Terry Collins Zach Urness Joel Shannon
USA Today Network
March 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The Trump administration touted logging as the next frontier in job creation and wildfire prevention, but those goals will face confounding challenges. Trump issued two executive orders on March 1: the first to boost timber production on federal land and the second to address wood product imports. The moves were cheered by the timber industry. “These are common sense directives,” said Travis Joseph, president of the American Forest Resource Council, a timber industry trade group. “Our federal forests have been mismanaged for decades and Americans have paid the price in almost every way – lost jobs, lost manufacturing, and infrastructure.” Timber groups and rural lawmakers also said the orders could help manage overstocked forests and reduce the threat of wildfire. But conservation groups and forestry experts say cutting down more trees doesn’t inherently reduce wildfire risk and can actually increase it. The plan also faces pushback about environmental concerns and economics.

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Trump order: Logging can skirt Endangered Species Act, environmental study

By Joshua Murdock
Longview News-Journal
March 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

President Donald Trump took action last weekend to increase domestic logging by circumventing environmental protections and to staunch the flow of imported lumber products primarily from Canada. A pair of executive orders — one addressing timber and wood product imports, the other addressing logging on federal lands — drew praise from the logging industry, condemnation from environmental and wildlife groups, and concern from the construction industry over higher prices. The order rolls back the degree to which the agencies have to comply with the Endangered Species Act or consider negative impacts of logging. …[making] it easier for environmentally damaging clear-cut logging to be approved. …The executive order on timber production … can exempt projects from complying with the landmark law. …allowing projects to proceed even if they will harm a protected species or result in extinction. Historically, the committee has been used to aid recovery from natural disasters, not to expedite resource extraction.

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Bayer may halt U.S. Roundup sales without legal Bayer tells US it could halt Roundup weedkiller sales over legal risks

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger
Reuters
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, International

FRANKFURT – Bayer has told U.S. lawmakers it could stop selling Roundup weedkiller unless they can strengthen legal protection against product liability litigation, according to a financial analyst and a person close to the matter. Bayer has paid about $10 billion to settle disputed claims that Roundup, based on the herbicide glyphosate, causes cancer. About 67,000 further cases are pending for which the group has set aside $5.9 billion in legal provisions. The German company has said plaintiffs should not be able to take Bayer to court by invoking U.S. state rules given the federal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly labelled the product as safe to use, as have regulators in other parts of the world. “Without regulatory clarity (Bayer) will need to exit the business. Bayer have been clear with legislators and farmer groups on this,” analysts at brokerage Jefferies said in a note on Thursday, citing guidance Bayer’s leadership provided in a meeting.

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Oregon wildfire bills offer some financial protections to utility companies

By April Ehrlich
Herald and News
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Oregon lawmakers are considering a legislative package that would provide some protection to utility companies whose equipment sparks wildfires. House Bill 3917, introduced Tuesday by Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, would create a fund to help people who lose homes or businesses to utility-caused wildfires — as long as they agree not to sue utility companies for that damage. Marsh is also sponsoring a complementary bill, House Bill 3666, which would allow the Oregon Public Utility Commission to grant a safety certificate to utilities it deems are “acting reasonably with regard to wildfire safety practices.” The wildfire assistance fund created by HB 3917 would be seeded by utility companies that are regulated by the state’s Public Utility Commission, including Pacific Power and Portland General Electric. Half of their their seed contribution could come from ratepayer dollars, and the other half would come from the share of rates designated for profits.

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Acoustic monitoring network for birds enhances forest management

By Kathi Borgmann
The Cornell Chronicle
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A new study using the largest network of microphones to track birds in the United States is providing crucial insights for managing and restoring fire-prone forests across California’s Sierra Nevada region. The research, published March 11 in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, demonstrates how emerging bioacoustics technology can enhance wildlife monitoring and forest management… The team focused on 10 important bird species, including spotted owls and woodpeckers, that can provide information about the forest’s health… This information is particularly valuable now, as forest managers face tough decisions about preventing destructive wildfires while protecting wildlife. The study creates detailed maps showing where different birds are likely to live, helping managers make better-informed decisions about where to thin forests or conduct controlled burns.

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Lawmakers urge Trump administration to cancel owl-killing plan, say it would cost too much

By Matthew Brown
The Columbian
March 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Monday urged the Trump administration to scrap plans to kill more than 450,000 invasive barred owls in West Coast forests as part of efforts to stop the birds from crowding out a smaller type of owl that’s facing potential extinction. The 19 lawmakers claimed the killings would be “grossly expensive” and cost $3,000 per bird. They questioned if the shootings would help native populations of northern spotted owls, which have long been controversial because of logging restrictions in the birds’ forest habitat beginning in the 1990s, and the closely related California spotted owl. Barred owls are native to eastern North America and started appearing in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s. They’ve quickly displaced many spotted owls, which are smaller birds that need larger territories to breed.

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Trump order strikes a cord with timber industry

By Lee Bloomquist
Mesabi Tribune
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Northeastern Minnesota loggers and the nation’s forest products industry could get a lift under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. New guidance or updates to facilitate increased timber production, sound forest management, reduced timber delivery time, and decreased timber supply uncertainty, are by the end of March to be issued by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, and U.S. Forest Service chief, under Trump’s “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production,” order. National and Minnesota timber products officials say Trump’s order is a positive step toward boosting American timber production. “We’ve had nearly 150 mills close across the U.S. in the past 24 months,” Scott Dane, American Loggers Council (ALC) executive director said. “We need to turn the dismantling of the American timber industry around before it is too late. President Trump’s “immediate” increase in lumber production is the beginning of that turnaround.”

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Northwest Forest Plan advisers told their committee will be disbanded

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Federal officials are preparing to disband an advisory committee tasked with guiding policies for millions of acres of national forests in the Pacific Northwest. …The 21 members of the Northwest Forest Plan federal advisory committee… have been meeting since summer 2023, hashing out how to tackle wildfires, pests and diseases across nearly 25 million acres of national forests in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. On Thursday, officials with the US Forest Service told committee members the agency was likely to dissolve the group in the coming weeks. Some members said they had been expecting this news. …The Forest Service pulled the committee together to help amend the decades-old Northwest Forest Plan, a set of policies that came out of the timber wars of the 1980s and ’90s. …The committee delivered its recommendations to the Forest Service last year.

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If Forest Service hadn’t messed up then, Arizona homes might be cheaper now

By Joanna Allhands
AZCentral
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

…in the early 2000s, a group of scientists and businessmen began arguing that forest thinning was too much for the government to take on. If Arizona had any hope of decreasing the risk of catastrophic forest fire, private industry would have to play a part. From this debate emerged Arizona Forest Restoration Products, a company that had planned to make oriented strand board from the low-dollar trees. …But …the Forest Service unexpectedly awarded the contract in 2012 to Pioneer Associates, a group it favored, even if they were arguably less qualified and had gathered almost no funding for their proposal. …Pioneer quickly went defunct, and the company that took over its contract, Good Earth, only thinned a fraction of what it promised. …And a cautionary tale as we fall into a pattern of on-again, off-again federal infrastructure funding cuts and threatened tariffs, which were enacted and then delayed on Canada and Mexico until April.

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Oregon state forest logging targets proposed to improve certainty

By Mateusz Perkowski
Capital Press
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

SALEM — Annual logging targets would be established for Oregon’s state forests under a bill meant to provide more certainty for timber companies and county governments. However, opponents of House Bill 3103 argue the proposal would constrain the authority of state forestry officials and undermine environmental protections. The bill’s supporters counter that state and federal regulations would be factored into the “sustainable timber harvest level” calculated by the Oregon Department of Forestry. …Under the latest version of HB 3103, the ODF would estimate the volume of planned timber harvest from state forests at least once a decade, separated into annual increments. If the actual amount of logging falls below those targets, the ODF would have to make up that volume later, unless the shortfall is due to wildfires, diseases or winter storms. …The bill would also allow lawsuits seeking to compel the agency to establish logging targets and abide by harvest volumes if it doesn’t comply with those requirements.

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Trump’s timber directives could sway Oregon forest policy, but market effects remain unclear

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
March 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Republican-led policy directives could rewrite forest policies that affect public lands in Oregon and the rest of the West. New executive orders from the Trump administration call on federal agencies to fast-track logging projects by circumventing endangered species laws, and to investigate whether lumber imports threaten national security. …Some experts say it’s too soon to tell how these directives will affect Oregon’s timber market, particularly Trump’s order on fast-tracking timber sales to benefit logging companies and mills. Mindy Crandall, associate professor of forest policy at Oregon State University, said Canadian imports make up a large chunk of the U.S.‘s softwood lumber supply. Oregon also leads the nation as the top softwood lumber-producing state — so in some ways, limiting Canadian imports could benefit Oregon softwood growers. Still, Crandall suspects any policy changes will likely result in only short-term windfalls for Oregon mills and forest owners.

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Northwest Forest Plan has left a lasting legacy, despite falling short

By Roman Battaglia
Jefferson Public Radio
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Northwest Forest Plan lays out how to manage millions of acres across Washington, Oregon and Northern California. But the scientists behind the plan say it hasn’t been very successful. It cost thousands of timber industry jobs and failed to protect vulnerable species. Now that the government is reconsidering it, the scientists reflect on what was considered the best option 31 years ago. In the early 20th century, clearcutting huge swaths of ancient trees in the Pacific Northwest was routine. That was great for loggers, but it wasn’t great for biodiversity. In the 1990s, the northern spotted owl took center stage in a looming fight over old-growth forests. After researchers began studying the owl, they realized it could pose a challenge to the timber industry. …Norm Johnson, who worked for the College of Forestry at Oregon State University during the plan’s development and the other scientists agree that the plan wasn’t very successful. 

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Jackson named director of School of Ag Sciences & Forestry

By Applied and Natural Sciences
Louisiana Tech University News
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Paul Jackson

Louisiana Tech University has named Dr. Paul Jackson the new director of the School of Agricultural Sciences and Forestry. Jackson, a faculty member with more than 12 years of experience at the University, brings a wealth of knowledge, passion, and leadership to his new role. A native of Hargis, Louisiana, Jackson has made significant contributions in both the classroom and the community. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Northwestern State University, a Master of Science in Environmental Biology from Louisiana Tech, and a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Auburn University. Jackson has taught several plant science courses at Tech, including greenhouse management, pest management, landscape plants, and landscape design and contracting. His research focuses on tree seedling nursery management, with the goal of improving seedling quality and survival rates for successful planting.

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South Carolina Forestry Commission says it’s ‘too early to know’ projected price of fighting Carolina Forest fire

By Caleb McCusker
WBTW News 13
March 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

HORRY COUNTY, S.C.  — As the Covington Drive fire in Carolina Forest reaches Day 11, the South Carolina Forestry Commission told News13 the agency will cover all its costs associated with fighting the blaze but that it’s “too early to know” what the actual price will be. “We will cover all our costs associated with the fire — personnel, food, lodging, equipment, etc,” the agency said. “Since the Southeast Compact was activated, we will reimburse the Florida IMT for their costs — personnel, food, lodging, equipment. As with all large incidents of this type, there will be expenses we don’t even know about yet that we will have to pay for.” The forestry commission said since the fire management assistance grant was approved, FEMA will reimburse agencies and fire departments for 75% of approved costs. 

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Politicians can demand more logging in the Black Hills, but they can’t make trees grow faster

By Dave Mertz
South Dakata Searchlight
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Does the Black Hills need a viable timber industry to help manage its forests? Absolutely. Recently, U.S. Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden have been pressuring U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to increase timber harvesting in the Black Hills National Forest. Paradoxically, this may lead to the demise of the Black Hills timber industry. The quantity of trees suitable for logging — known as the standing timber inventory — in the Black Hills National Forest has been in contention for at least 10 years. …If the amount of timber harvested in the Black Hills returns to levels that are not sustainable, the timber industry could cut itself out of business. The forest already has few options for finding more timber.

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Strengthening Vermont’s logging & forestry community

Vermont Business Magazine
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

On Thursday in a joint statement, the Vermont Woodlands Association (VWA) and Vermont Loggers Education to Advance Professionalism (LEAP) announced they are merging. “As many of you know, VWA and LEAP have always shared a common goal—supporting responsible forest stewardship and the professionals who implement the practices that keep our forests healthy, productive, and resilient. With the upcoming retirement of David Birdsall as Executive Director of LEAP, VWA and LEAP are working to bring LEAP under the VWA umbrella as a continued program.” …Bringing VWA and LEAP under one roof will better support Vermont’s forest stewards, landowners, forestry professionals, and loggers and strengthen our collective commitment to forest stewardship and professionalism. We are excited about this new chapter and the opportunity to continue supporting Vermont’s woodland community together.

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New bill would cripple Alabama roads and bridges, endanger public safety

By Alabama Department of Transportation
Gulf Coast Media
March 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Legislation introduced by the Alabama Forestry Association would significantly worsen the condition of local and state roads and bridges, as well as hinder safety inspections of commercial vehicles. “The legislation is to allow significantly heavier axle weights to be hauled by large trucks — a move that is difficult to comprehend when the truckers already complain of sky-high liability insurance rates and serve as the primary target of advertising by personal injury law firms,” said Alabama Department of Transportation Deputy Director George Conner… “The math is simple: heavier truck axle weights are exceptionally dangerous and destroy roads and bridges; even heavier axle weights will be more dangerous and will destroy roads and bridges even more quickly.” …The Forestry Association’s proposal would increase the legal limit for a single axle from 20,000 pounds to 22,000 pounds while increasing the legal limit for two axles (tandem axles) from 34,000 pounds to 44,000 pounds.

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Forest management ambitions in Brazilian Amazon aim to make up for lost time

By Jenny Gonzales
Mongabay
March 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

In 2006, Brazilian President Lula da Silva’s government passed the Public Forest Management Law, implementing a forest concession scheme designed to regulate and legalize logging activities in Brazil’s forest — in particular, the Amazon. Forest management consists of removing a small number of trees whose species are valued in the market. After that, the area can only be explored again in 30 to 40 years, following its regeneration cycle. Behind on its concessions targets, the current government wants to almost quadruple the current area of federal concessions by 2026. Even though it is different from deforestation, timber management has never been seen as a way to conserve the forest by traditional peoples.

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Logging and prescribed burning do not make Australian forests more flammable

By Dr. Tony Bartlett
Forestry Australia
March 1, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The views of Australian academics Professor David Lindenmayer and Associate Professor Philip Zylstra, as reproduced in recent CFA Newsletters, that logging and prescribed burning are making Australian native forests more flammable are highly contested by many Australian forest scientists and fire management practitioners. These academic scientists advocate that timber harvesting in native forests should cease, prescribed burning should be confined to areas close to high value assets and that when fire is excluded for more than 40 years the native forests do not burn at high intensity, because the vertical connectivity of the forest structure is reduced through natural ecological processes… None of the claims made by Lindenmayer and Zylstra about the impact of prescribed burning on forest flammability are supported by evidence from long-term monitoring of replicated trials where prescribed burning has been conducted.

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The European union deforestation regulation may boost low-deforestation countries like Canada and the United States

By Craig Johnston, Jinggang Guo and Jeffrey Prestemon
Science Direct
March 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) aims to prevent deforestation-linked products from entering the EU market. This study assesses the potential impacts of the EUDR on global forest product markets using the FOrest Resource Outlook Model (FOROM). We simulate two scenarios: the baseline EUDR, focused on commodity-driven deforestation and urbanization, and an extended EUDR+ scenario, which includes shifting agriculture. The results indicate that high-deforestation countries, such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are expected to face significant reductions in roundwood production and exports, with downstream effects on sawnwood and panel prices. In contrast, low-deforestation countries like Canada and the United States may experience slight increases in production to meet EU demand, but their impact is limited by moderate deforestation rates. The study also highlights the potential for market leakage, where deforestation-linked products may shift to non-EU markets, potentially undermining global environmental goals. 

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Kootenay community that helped fight wildfires concerned by provincial response

By Bill Metcalfe
Black Press in the Creston Valley Advance
March 7, 2025
Category: Forestry

Deb Borsos & Rik Valentine

…Rik Valentine of Argenta drove around to the Lardeau side of the lake in the very early morning so he could look across the water and take stock of the situation. He saw three fires, and immediately got in radio contact with the crew and dispatchers of the community’s fire brigade, also known as the Argenta Safety and Preparedness Society (ASAP), of which he is the crew leader. …This action by Valentine and crew came at a time when some new questions are being asked in B.C. about who is allowed to fight a forest fire, who can train fire fighters and supervise them. At least three regional district boards, including the Regional District of Central Kootenay, in letters to Forest Minister Ravi Parmar, have objected to some aspects of new provincial initiative intended to give more fire response roles to community members.

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