Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

Leaders promise support for northern Ontario forestry industry

By Randy Thoms
CKDR News
February 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The party leaders put a northern lens to their platforms during a debate held in North Bay on Friday. Forestry was among the topics raised. PC leader Doug Ford is promising protection to northern Ontario industries, suggesting the forest sector is at ground zero of his fight against the U.S. trade tariffs. He outlined investments of over $400 million in the sector that has created over 3,500 new jobs. “When it comes to the forestry sector, we’re going to support the forestry sector,” says Ford. “We’re going to protect them against Donald Trump’s tariffs. We’re going to protect their families, their jobs and their communities.” The opposition was critical of the Ford government’s support, drawing attention to mills in Terrace Bay, Espanola and Thessalon that closed or have been idled.

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Land Trust’s third phase adds almost 30K acres to working forest

By Flora Martin Gibson
Columbia Gorge News
February 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Another 29,800 acres of timberland just got conserved under easement as working forest, the third phase in Columbia Land Trust’s project of protecting about 75,000 acres, sold by SDS lumber company in 2021. Columbia Land Trust hopes to conserve almost everything except the mill itself, buying the most important 15,000 acres of habitat outright. They hope to put the other 60,000 under conservation easements. In this case, Washington’s Department of Natural Resources will hold some of the rights over the 29,800 acres of land. It can be sold, but never developed; it must always remain working forest. This is the trust’s biggest project to date… SDS Lumber was the last family-owned, vertically-integrated (meaning it owned and operated most stages of its own supply chain) timber company in this part of the Northwest.

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Opinion: Furor over Forest Park power line a glimpse of climate tradeoffs ahead

By Angus Duncan, Guest Columnist
Oregon Live
February 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A small but important drama is playing out now in a city of Portland land use decision involving power lines, Portland General Electric and five acres of Douglas Fir at the north end of Forest Park… The land-use fight obliges us to confront uncomfortable tradeoffs. Carbon from burning fossil fuels in power plants and automobile engines drives climate change. Shifting to zero-carbon wind and solar electricity drives down climate risk – including the risk of wildfire. Connecting new wind and solar to Portland will require upgraded and new transmission lines across many prairie and forestlands. Where we can avoid impacts to community, cultural and natural values, we should. But it is a vexing fact of our climate-altered world that where we can’t, we have to make these tradeoffs.

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The fire paradox: Tree-ring data shows wildfire activity has declined, not increased

By Elena Lopez
University of Arizona
February 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Contrary to what people might think, North American forests are burning less, not more, according to new data. A study published in Nature Communications reveals how this trend may be causing more aggressive fires… Using a fire scar dataset known as the North American Tree-Ring Fire Scar Network, which originated from work done at the University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, researchers were able to compile a clearer picture of historical fire geography and frequency. This allowed them to compare recent seemingly extreme wildfire events – such as the California August Complex Fire and the Arizona Bighorn Fire of 2020 – with events from the past… The fire scar data used in the study was collected from more than 1,800 sites across North America, spanning diverse forest types.

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Trees might need our help to survive climate change, study finds

By James DeLoss
Colorado State University
February 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A new Colorado State University study of the interior U.S. West has found that tree ranges are generally contracting in response to climate change but not expanding into cooler, wetter climates – suggesting that forests are not regenerating fast enough to keep pace with climate change, wildfire, insects and disease. As the climate becomes too warm for trees in certain places, tree ranges have been expected to shift toward more ideal conditions. The study analyzed national forest inventory data for more than 25,000 plots in the U.S. West, excluding coastal states, and found that trees were not regenerating in the hottest portions of their ranges – an expected outcome. More surprising to the researchers was that most of the 15 common tree species studied were not gaining any ground in areas where conditions were more favourable, indicating that most tree species likely will not be able to move to more accommodating climates without assistance.

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Arbor Day Foundation Invests in New Technology to Make Trees Grow Faster

By Jeff Salem
The Arbor Day Foundation
February 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

LINCOLN, Nebraska — The Arbor Day Foundation is investing in technology to help trees grow faster. This investment aims to draw millions of tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the next decade, while restoring microbial biodiversity to thousands of acres of forests. Arbor Day’s Impact Fund … is supporting Funga PBC. The startup utilizes DNA sequencing and advanced data analysis to identify growth-promoting, native fungal communities that used to be present and have been degraded over time by land management practices and other factors. Funga then inoculates seedlings with these fungal communities at the nursery, so that these fungi will be established on the tree’s roots at the time of planting. Early results have shown that Funga’s inoculants can increase survival rates and boost tree growth by an average of 30%. This process not only restores and protects belowground biodiversity, but it also enables forests to pull more carbon out of the atmosphere.

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Trump funding freeze halts wildfire prevention work

By Nichola Groom
The Straits Times
February 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The Trump administration has halted funding for federal programs to reduce wildfire risk in western U.S. states and has frozen hiring of seasonal firefighters as part of broad cuts to government spending, according to organizations impacted by the moves. The reduction in resources for wildfire prevention after devastating blazes in Los Angeles …with some expecting losses as high as $35 billion. The Oregon-based non-profit Lomakatsi Restoration Project said its contracts with the federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to reduce hazardous fuels in Oregon, California and Idaho, have been frozen. …The American Loggers Council, a logging industry group, said the funding freeze has also stopped work under the $20 million Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance program, which pays for removing dead wood from forests …calling on the administration to exempt forest management programs from the suspension in federal funding.

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Gov. Mike Braun joins Indiana locals in long-held opposition against proposed forest project

By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle
February 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

A recent letter penned by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun urged federal officials to “immediately withdraw” a controversial plan to log and burn nearly 20,000 acres of The Hoosier National Forest. The Buffalo Springs Restoration Project, proposed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), seeks to log 5,000 acres and burn 15,500 acres of the national forest land in southern Indiana.  Although USFS originally estimated a decision on the project would come in January — and that work could begin early this year — a final determination is still pending. When proposed in 2021, it was pitched as a way to improve sustainability of the forest’s oak-wood ecosystem. The removal of non-native pine trees would also regenerate native hardwood communities and “improve overall forest health and wildlife habitat,” according to the federal agency. But in a letter sent last week to USFS Chief Randy Moore, Braun pointed to increasing pushback from Indiana residents, and said the project could threaten the drinking water for more than 100,000 Hoosiers.

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Texas A&M Forest Service Awards $951,000 To Landowners For Prescribed Fire

Brownwood News
February 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Texas A&M Forest Service awarded over $951,000 to 168 landowners to conduct prescribed fires this year. This funding will treat 35,138 acres. Prescribed fire is a strategic land management tool that uses low-intensity fire on a specific area of land to achieve set goals. Prescribed fire is the most effective and efficient land management tool for decreasing the risk of catastrophic wildfires by reducing hazardous fuels. “Over the past 10 years, our prescribed fire grants have treated over 100,000 acres helping reduce the risk of wildfire,” said Karen Stafford, Texas A&M Forest Service Community Resiliency Coordinator. “Our prescribed fire grants prioritize wildfire mitigation and emphasize protecting homes, communities and natural ecosystems.”.. Following the burn, management goals and the ecosystem are monitored by Stafford and her team.

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Trailblazing apprenticeship programme for forestry sector reopens

By the Forestry Commission
Government of the United Kingdom
February 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The Professional Forester Apprenticeship programme offers an exciting career pathway into the forestry sector for people from all backgrounds. A new call for foresters of the future has gone out for the next cohort of the innovative Professional Forester Apprenticeship programme. The forestry and timber sector plays a key role in ensuring our precious woods and forests are healthy and continue to flourish for generations to come, helping the country meet its net zero and environment targets, supporting economic growth, and providing multiple social benefits. The three-year, paid development opportunity is open to school leavers, graduates or anyone looking for a change in career direction and a rewarding job in the natural environment – with no day the same.

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