MONTRÉAL – The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Nature marked the 25th anniversary of the Government of Canada’s longest-running species at risk program by announcing up to $5.2 million in funding through the Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP) for Species at Risk. Since 2000, the HSP has invested more than $241 million in over 3,800 conservation projects that protect and recover species at risk and their habitats, helping Canada advance its biodiversity and conservation priorities. For the 2025-2026 funding cycle, this $5.2 million investment will support 31 conservation projects across Canada, empowering communities, individuals, and non-governmental organizations to take action to safeguard at-risk species in their regions. The stewardship projects supported through this investment demonstrate the diversity of conservation work happening nationwide.
The Rainbow, Jordan and Frisby valleys in British Columbia’s rare inland temperate rainforest are home to endangered species and ancient trees. Two logging companies hold licences to log in the old-growth valleys, while the government agency BC Timber Sales has operating areas there. A 2019 proposal to permanently protect 10,500 hectares in the three valleys as a provincial park has gained renewed interest as Revelstoke city council announced in February that it supports increased conservation of the critically endangered inland temperate rainforest.
Prince George is once again surpassing expectations with the sale of two commercial thinning areas in the region, says BC’s forests minister. The sales were made to Freya Logging, a contractor based in Prince George. The total volume between the two sales is 14,005 cubic metres in the West Lake and Greg Creek area. Freya Logging will undertake commercial thinning, a forest management process that removes a portion of trees in a 35-year-old or older stand to create space and provide more light and nutrients for younger trees in the area, while older trees are cut down and sold. The process is also known to decrease the risk of forest fires by reducing fuel loads and increasing forest resilience against pests. BC Forest Minister Ravi Parmar has been a strong advocate for commercial thinning in the province and considers these two sales a milestone for forestry in BC.
The Alberta government has released a new wildfire mitigation strategy aimed at reducing wildfire risk and protecting communities, forests and critical infrastructure across the province. The Alberta Wildfire Mitigation Strategy outlines measures to improve preparedness and strengthen prevention efforts as wildfire seasons become more frequent and severe. Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said the strategy is intended to help communities better prepare for wildfire and reduce potential damage. …The strategy outlines six focus areas: improving knowledge of wildfire risks, strengthening community and Indigenous partnerships, reviewing legislation and policy, expanding the use of technology and innovation, integrating wildfire mitigation into landscape planning and prioritizing hazardous fuels management.
Members of the public are invited to an open house to learn about the development of a Xwulqw’selu (Koksilah) Watershed and Water Sustainability Plan, and provide input to help guide long-term approaches to water supply and ecosystem health in the area. The open house will take place on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, from 3-6 p.m. at The Hub at Cowichan Station, 2375 Koksilah Road in the Cowichan Valley. The B.C. government and Cowichan Tribes are leading the development of the plan, building on several years of engagement with community members, farmers and industry through local advisory tables, such as the Cowichan Tribes Guidance Group and the Community Collaborative Advisory Table.
North Cowichan wants the province to expedite increases to water licences for the Cowichan and Chemainus aquifers. Council authorized Mayor Rob Douglas to write a letter to Randene Neill, B.C.’s Minister of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, asking the government to accelerate the licence process at its meeting on Feb. 18. The request came after a presentation by North Cowichan’s engineering director Clay Reitsma on key infrastructure constraints in the municipality. Reitsma said that increased growth and development demands, provincial housing targets, and the recent closure of the Crofton pulp mill have combined to create significant constraints and impacts on North Cowichan’s limited water and sewer servicing, and water-licensing limits. He pointed out that most of Crofton’s water currently comes from the now closed Domtar mill… Domtar has committed to keep the water flowing from the mill’s water systems to Crofton until the end of 2026, but no promises have been made beyond that.
Canada’s drinking water can remain at risk long after wildfires burn out, according to a 
PRINCE GEORGE – Recent shifts in the global wood pellet industry have started a debate in BC about forestry, climate impacts, and local jobs. Drax, a UK-based energy company, plans to stop using wood pellets from BC at its power plant in England. Environmental groups believe this move will not affect BC much, but the province’s Forest Minister disagrees. Ravi Parmar, BC’s forests minister, says critics are spreading fear and insists the industry uses byproducts from forestry, not old-growth trees. Michelle Connolly from Conservation North says that although Drax stopping shipments to the UK seems important, the situation in BC is actually much more complex. …Forest Minister Ravi Parmar says BC uses some of the world’s strongest sustainable harvesting practices. He adds that pellet plants use leftover byproducts from logging, not valuable logs from primary forests. 
The February 2026 FGC eNewsletter highlights several key developments in forest genetics across British Columbia and beyond. It introduces Dan Nadir, RPF, as the new Executive Secretariat for FGC, succeeding Brian Barber, and outlines his forestry background and experience. The newsletter promotes an upcoming BC Seed Orchard Association webinar on March 12, featuring presentations on seed extraction and orchard management from Quebec and New Brunswick. Recent events where forest genetics featured prominently are covered, including presentations on seed planning in a changing climate at the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association conference and FGC’s participation at the Forest Professionals BC conference. The update also highlights a new national report identifying challenges and solutions for improving Canada’s tree seed supply chain. Finally, it lists upcoming meetings and conferences in 2026, such as tree improvement workshops and international seed orchard conferences, encouraging engagement and continued professional development.
In this newsletter you will find:
The City of Ottawa says program cuts at Algonquin College could make it harder to recruit workers. An internal city analysis reviewed roughly 30 programs the college was thinking of suspending and ultimately did cancel after a unanimous board of governors vote on Monday. The city found that the elimination of nine programs would affect its ability to hire staff in the future. The programs flagged include: Nursery Operator – Forestry Services, Public Works and Nursery Worker – Forestry Services, Public Works. …The forestry services branch within the city’s public works department relies on graduates from Algonquin’s horticultural industries program to fill nursery operator and nursery worker roles. It also depends on design foundations program graduates for its traffic services branch, which hires sign designers, fabricators and supervisors.
OREGON — The Pacific Northwest isn’t known as maple syrup country, but a burgeoning syrup industry in Oregon and Washington is trying to change that perception, one gallon of sap at a time. The Northwest’s more temperate climate and more watery maple sap make it harder to make syrup at a commercial scale. Producers can invest in technology, much of it developed in Canada, to improve their harvests, but that means steeper initial investments for farmers, and it doesn’t solve the fact that making bigleaf maple syrup still requires long, grueling hours that producers say can be a barrier to entry. Because of that, the Northwest maple syrup industry has required more effort to get off the ground. But those passionate about local syrup say the delicious, boutique product is well worth the trouble.
The Trump administration is turning to rarely used laws to circumvent environmental restrictions and expand logging in certain Pacific Northwest forests, legal analysts and advocates say. In plans announced in February to expand logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest and on federal land in western Oregon … administration is using the 1990 Tongass Timber Reform Act to prioritize logging in the largest national forest in the US, and BLM is citing a 1937 law, the Oregon and California Revested Railroad Lands Act, to do so on its land in western Oregon. Both apply only to specific forests and envision logging as a primary use of those lands. The agencies are using federal laws that “privilege timber harvesting and will use that argument to short circuit environmental protections,” especially at the expense of endangered species, said Andrew Mergen, a Harvard Law School professor who was previously a lawyer at the Justice Department’s Environment & Natural Resources Division.
Across the Front Range, century-old, iconic ponderosa pines span thousands of acres …But over the past three years, that landscape has noticeably shifted. More hillsides are now marked by … signs of a growing pine beetle outbreak, according to the state’s Forest Service lead entomologist, Dan West. “The ability for these small, little insects to work in concert to all attack one tree all at the same time and to overcome the tree’s defenses that have been there for a century is truly staggering,” West said. It only took a few years for these tiny insects, no bigger than a grain of rice, to explode across the Front Range and impact more than 7,000 acres of forested land. Now, Gov. Jared Polis has launched an aggressive response. …Whether the state’s new task force can slow the outbreak remains to be seen. 
OREGON — A historic state-tribal collaboration in Oregon has stalled after a charitable foundation pulled out of a potential land deal. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was preparing to purchase 11,438 acres of private timberland using a federal grant. The area is about 10 miles southwest of La Grande in the Blue Mountains. The agency planned to manage the land alongside the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — the first such collaboration in Oregon. But the landowner, the Harry A. Merlo Foundation, has withdrawn from the deal “for undisclosed reasons,” according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The state wildlife department and tribes had secured $22 million in federal funding to acquire and co-manage the land. …The plan was to restore this swath of forests and meadows for elk and salmon habitat.
The US Forest Service is proposing a massive project in a national forest in Michigan that would log land roughly the size of Detroit, expand gravel mining and build roads. The Silver Branch Vegetation Management Project would span about 40 miles from north to south on the eastern edge of the Ottawa National Forest. The area includes habitat for the endangered northern long-eared bat, one of several reasons environmental groups have raised alarms. The proposal includes a wild rice seeding project, improvements to campgrounds and lake access and attempts to bolster habitat for the protected Kirtland’s warbler. The whole thing is projected to last around 30 years, with periodic reviews. …national forests serve multiple purposes [including] recreation, wildlife habitat and timber. Ottawa National Forest officials say the Silver Branch project is not primarily about logging, it’s about getting the right tree mix for forest maintenance and health. However, the project has drawn concerns from a wide range of groups.