January isn’t typically the time people talk about wildfires. But the devastating fires in Los Angeles have put this issue back into the headlines. Just six months ago, a similar disaster unfolded on a smaller scale north of the border in the Rocky Mountains, capturing global attention. This past summer’s wildfire in Jasper, Alberta, delivered a stark warning: Canada must urgently step up planning and prevention efforts to address the growing threat of wildfires. …As in L.A., the wildfire in Jasper didn’t come out of the blue. Experts have long warned of high and growing wildfire risk in the Jasper area, exacerbated by accumulated fuel from historical fire suppression and dead trees from pine beetle infestations. Eliminating wildfire risk entirely may not be possible for many communities, but it can be significantly reduced. Governments can use a range of tools and approaches to step up wildfire adaptation efforts.
The B.C. government has tasked new Forest Minister Ravi Parmar with reviewing its lead timber agency, B.C. Timber Sales. The Jan. 15 news release announcing the review, and Premier David Eby’s mandate letter to Parmar, both downplay the environment in favour of the business side of forestry… There is no mention of watersheds, biodiversity, wildlife, and climate change in either the news release announcing the review or in the mandate letter, which mentions old growth once in passing. Asked why it is not mentioned in the above six reasons for the BCTS review, or in Eby’s mandate letter, Parmar said, “I’m fully committed to fulfilling my obligations on the old growth action plan. … Biodiversity, taking care of our lands, being good stewards of our land, is critical to me, and it’s going to be a huge part of this review.”
In British Columbia, wood remains the primary framing material, remarks Anthony Marks, who constructs fire resistant modular homes, but the fire resistant modular homes his company constructs are framed with steel. They also use wood sheathing coated with a fire retardant and fibrous cement board products for exterior cladding. …Anabela Bonada, manager and research associate at the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation says there are solutions at hand to reduce the risk of fire to homes — Canada just hasn’t demanded they be taken yet. …Canada’s National Building Code is geared toward protecting buildings and homes in cities and doesn’t refer to wildfires. …Most Canadian communities are lagging in responding to wildfire threats, Bonada said. …Referring to the National Research Council of Canada’s guide for wildland-urban interface fires, she said programs like 
Colorado wildlife officials say the capture of 15 grey wolves in British Columbia and their release in the U.S. state is complete, an operation they say led to unspecified threats against staff. The operation that began in B.C. on Jan. 10 and wrapped up on Saturday follows Colorado voters’ approval of a 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce grey wolves to the state, where the animals are listed as endangered. But the program has stirred opposition, and a statement from Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Sunday says its staff have been threatened over the relocations. It says its officers were “watched” and were targeted by threatening phone calls and social media posts. The department says it did not share details while the wolf release was underway due to the “safety risk and security needs of our staff and the animals.” It adds that two of the 10 wolves reintroduced in Colorado in 2023 have been illegally shot.
The provincial government is injecting cash into early-stage planning for a potential forestry project by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and its economic development arm, Nch’Kay Development Corporation, it was announced last week. With $50,000 from the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, the Nation will conduct pre-construction engineering and site assessments to determine the potential for a future capital project… Though details of the project haven’t been finalized, it represents a larger push in the forestry sector to use resources more efficiently, shift away from old-growth timber reliance, and invest in high-value manufacturing. The BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund is partnering with forestry companies throughout the province to grow and stabilize their operations and get the most out of our fibre supply, while producing more made-in-B.C. engineered wood products.
A lumber producer in Thessalon, Ont. that has been active for more than seven decades quietly shuttered its operations late last month — resulting in the layoff of roughly 40 employees in the weeks leading up to its impending closure. Midway Lumber Mills Ltd. first notified employees of plans to shut down the mill and lay off its workforce in October of last year, the soon-to-be former chair of USW Local 8748 told SooToday on Monday. “We got nine weeks advance notice that it was going to happen,” said Derrick Bookman, who has worked in a number of roles at the mill over the years. “They went above and beyond.”
President Donald Trump signed executive order aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska. While state political leaders cheer, environmental groups see it as worrying. …”It means a timber industry in the Tongass National Forest can once again take place. It means Alaska can begin the process [of] finally getting its remain[ing] acreage of land from the federal government”, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said on X about the executive orders. …It also aims to reverse restrictions on logging and road-building in a temperate rainforest. …Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Associated Press that the president “just can’t wave a magic wand and make these things happen. Environmental laws and rules must be followed… We’re ready and looking forward to the fight of our lives to keep Alaska great, wild and abundant”.
For the second time this decade, Weyerhaeuser Co.’s Longview lumber mill has been hit with a serious state fine for violating state stormwater control regulations. On Monday, the state Department of Ecology announced it has fined the company $145,000 for 36 stormwater discharge violations, 15 monitoring requirements violations, and 16 reporting requirement violations, all of which occurred between July 2022 and May 2024… “We believe strongly in permit compliance and invest significant time and resources to ensure we are meeting all environmental standards,” Weyerhaeuser Co. spokeswoman Mary Catherine McAleer said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. The latest penalty follows another related to stormwater that Ecology issued to Weyerhaeuser‘s Longview lumber mill in 2022, when the agency fined the facility $40,000 for repeated water quality violations.
Nearly half of the global boreal forests — spanning Canada, Alaska and Siberia — are undergoing major transitions due to climate change, making them increasingly vulnerable to forest fires and altering their role as a key carbon sink, a new study has revealed. These forests are vast and found in the cold, northern regions. However, they are warming four times faster than the global average and are expected to shift into a new ecological regime. This transformation could impact global climate regulation by triggering biome shifts and changes in tree cover dynamics, according to the study published in the journal