Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

Logging, pruning and anxiety in Banff ahead of first summer since Jasper wildfire

By Matthew Scace
Canadian Press in Coast Reporter
May 19, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

BANFF — Looking out over a budding meadow with blackened tree stumps on the edge of Banff National Park, Cliff White points to a dark thicket of trees where the empty plot ends. “The next fire in here is going to be incredible,” says the former Parks Canada fire management co-ordinator, standing in the expansive Carrot Creek fire break. …The Rockies are facing another year of drought conditions. …In the race to mitigate the damage from future fires, stewards of Alberta’s parks have turned to loggers to create fire guards like Carrot Creek. The areas are designed to starve a fire of fuel and create enough empty land for embers to fizzle out on the ground. …Each fire break represents the start of a new ecosystem that Parks Canada will need to maintain.

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Wildsight commends BC Timber Sales promise to protect caribou habitat

By Wildsight
The Castlegar Source
May 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Wildsight is applauding BC Timber Sales for its commitment to pause new development in forests that are critical to the ongoing survival of endangered deep-snow caribou in the Revelstoke-Shuswap region. The decision, which was communicated to Wildsight via email, will help safeguard the future of the Columbia North caribou herd, one of the last remaining southernmost herds in British Columbia. “BC Timber Sales controls important caribou habitat within their tenures in the Revelstoke-Shuswap region,” said Wildsight Conservation Specialist Eddie Petryshen. “This is a significant move and it sets a precedent for other licensees to stop logging core habitat in this region.” Logging poses one of the biggest threats to the future of the Columbia North herd, which has only a third of its core habitat protected despite the draft federal recovery strategy determining that 100% should be protected.

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Alberta’s caribou conundrum

By Mark Bradley
Jasper Local
May 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Is the Alberta government hell-bent on eliminating what remains of the two caribou herds that live in the mountains just north of Jasper National Park? Looking at the province’s recently released draft management plan for the Upper Smoky area, one might think that is the case. Let’s set this up: the motivation behind the sub-regional plan in the first place was to convince the federal government that the province was doing a good job of caribou conservation. Spoiler alert: they haven’t! Meanwhile, I can’t help but think of the irony that… the company which stands to benefit the most is a US-based forestry corporation, Weyerhaeuser. …For decades now, provincial governments have been promising to conserve and rehabilitate caribou habitat. And for decades, those governments have not made good on those promises. As discussed in previous Jasper Local articles, for caribou to have a chance, they need some space.

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BC Timber Sales pauses logging in threatened caribou habitat

By Stefan Labbé
Business in Vancouver
May 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The B.C. government-run corporation responsible for administering a fifth of the province’s annual logging quota says it will pause new operations that overlap with habitat of a threatened caribou herd north of Revelstoke. The pause is expected to last until planning has restarted or government gives BCTS direction, a BCTS planning forester wrote. “We are not operating within caribou core areas,” the email reads. …A statement from the Ministry of Forests said the logging pause was part of a collaboration with First Nations, industry, as well as local and federal governments. …Eddie Petryshen, a conservation specialist with Wildsight, said about 112,000 hectares of BCTS tenure overlap in some way with critical habitat of the Columbia North caribou herd. …Logging has combined with oil and gas exploration to carve up forests across B.C., opening up paths for predators to hunt mountain caribou.

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It could all go up in flames: Why Banff and Bow Valley face mounting wildfire peril

By Bill Kaufmann
Calgary Herald
May 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Cliff White

The agony of last summer’s Jasper wildfire casts a long shadow across the Bow Valley. The blaze left a smouldering $1.23 billion in devastating costs to the Jasper area, while also leaving experts predicting — and residents worrying — that other pristine mountain communities such as Banff and Canmore could be next. …“It’s just so primed to burn, you can’t stop it — I don’t think Banff has time,” Cliff White, a former Parks Canada forestry scientist said last summer. …With the lack of follow-up on tending to prescribed burn areas and other breaks “we are doing about one-fifth of what needs to be done just for maintenance, and given the backlog of biomass accumulated, we are at about one-tenth of what should be done for the next two to three decades,” said the Cliff White.

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Spruce budworm: Pest’s persistent presence concerns Sundre-area horticulturalist

By Simon Ducatel
The Albertan
May 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

SUNDRE While the persistent, multi-year presence of a destructive pest known as spruce budworm has been noted by Alberta Forestry and Parks, an entomologist for the provincial government said the localized impact is not yet considered an epidemic. “We mapped some minor infestations that are on private land south of the Sundre area,” said Forest Health Specialist Caroline Whitehouse. …“From what we’re seeing from our aerial overview surveys – that’s the primary way that we are doing monitoring for spruce budworm – we’re not seeing what we would call an epidemic at this point,” she said. …Asked whether there are any regions in the province where there might be an epidemic unfolding, she said the department’s data from 2024 does not indicate as much. …Steve Bouchet, owner of Everblue Nursery said he is less worried about his own tree farm. …“But it’s also a forest fire risk.

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Why no one in B.C. knows exactly how many black bears there are

By Chad Pawson
CBC News
May 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

They’re common subjects of news stories and interaction with humans and urban areas. But how common is the black bear in B.C.? Wildlife advocates say the answer is far from clear, and better data is required to help and understand the species, many of whom are destroyed as a result of becoming habituated to human food. “I want some more pressure on the government to address this big knowledge gap that we just don’t know how many we have,” said registered professional biologist Helen Davis with Artemis Wildlife Consultants. “We don’t know if we’re hunting too many, if we’re killing too many through conflict.” …Biologists like Davis, who, along with First Nations, want bear dens in old-growth forests protected with provincewide legislation, say there could be a misconception that a key species with ecological and cultural value is plentiful when the data to support that is outdated or even dubious.

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Whistler confronts wildfire uncertainty with bold new plans and collaborative science

By Liz McDonald
Pique News Magazine
May 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

With fire season arriving earlier and burning longer each year, Whistler is pushing forward with a suite of new wildfire risk mitigation measures—ranging from forest fuel-thinning and emergency planning to updated bylaws and collaborative research. At the heart of the work is a recognition wildfires are no longer rare events, but a growing threat made worse by climate change. “We are acutely aware that the wildfire risk is rising in Whistler and it’s the single biggest climate change related risk and vulnerability for all of us here,” said the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s (RMOW) manager of climate and environment Luisa Burhenne at the May 13 council meeting. The RMOW has treated more than 100 hectares of high-risk forest, representing about one-third of its 2030 target.

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Spruce budworm: Pest’s persistent presence concerns Sundre-area horticulturalist

By Simon Ducatel
The Albertan
May 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

While the persistent, multi-year presence of a destructive pest known as spruce budworm has been noted by Alberta Forestry and Parks, an entomologist for the provincial government said the localized impact is not yet considered an epidemic. “We mapped some minor infestations that are on private land south of the Sundre area,” said Forest Health Specialist Caroline Whitehouse. “That kind of extends along that narrow band of spruce between the public forest and private land all the way west of Diamond Valley,” Whitehouse said. “And then it does peak into the Kananaskis forest area a little bit, but it’s really quite minor in that region”… Steve Bouchet, owner of Everblue Nursery who first established a plantation near Sundre in 1996, said he is less worried about his own tree farm where he can deploy mitigation strategies to attack the aggressive pest but harbours concern about damage trees in the greater area could suffer.

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Seedling Demand Forecasts Show 300-milion/year A Long Way Off—If Ever

By John Betts
Western Forestry Contractors’ Association
May 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BC reforestation sector is not likely to return to the annual seedling demand levels we saw at the beginning of this decade according to recent forecasts produced by the Forest Genetics Council. In 2020 the sector peaked above 300-million seedlings planted. Lately, tree nurseries and planting contractors have seen demand drop by 20% due primarily to the shrinking harvest. It is likely to stay in that range for the foreseeable future based on the Council’s analyses of projected harvests, public reforestation investments, and the effects of climate change on species suitability. …According to information from provincial seedling storage operators, about a third of their tree cartons have been delivered to the field since Interior planting began in April. …Following the launch last March of an online Job board at The Cache,  the industry website has continued to grow with a new “Ask an Expert” section to answer questions posed by workers. 

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Weather conditions expected to fuel active wildfire season in southern Alberta

By Brendan Coulter
CBC News
May 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Heavy rainfall this week has brought down the immediate wildfire risk in southern Alberta, but dangerous conditions are still expected in the months ahead. Environment and Climate Change Canada is forecasting above-normal temperatures across the entire province through October. And while much of northern Alberta is expected to welcome above-average precipitation, below-average precipitation is predicted across much of southern Alberta. “If that forecast is correct, we could have fire problems,” said Thompson Rivers University fire management expert Mike Flannigan, adding it doesn’t take long after rain for the fire danger to pick up again. “I have a saying, ‘Give me a week of warm, dry, windy weather. I can give you a raging inferno,'” he said. Most of the Alberta wildfires sparked so far in 2025 have occurred north of Edmonton, according to the province’s wildfire status dashboard. But Natural Resources Canada predicts the fire danger will shift to southern Alberta by August.

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B.C. forecast for drought and wildfire is bleak, but don’t panic yet, say officials

By Andrew Kurjata
CBC News
May 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

B.C. is already reporting some areas of extreme drought, which could spell bad news for the summer ahead. In the province’s first drought update of 2025, a few areas have been highlighted as regions of concern, including the Fort Nelson, North Peace and East Peace regions which have been recorded as having moderate to severe drought conditions. Most of the province has yet to be assessed but Vancouver Island is also reported as having level three drought conditions, on a scale of zero to five. Dave Campbell of the River Forecast Centre says while conditions are not as dry as they were in 2024, they are still concerning. The northeast, in particular, he said is now entering its third year of a multi-year drought where there are “long-term precipitation deficits” that contribute to dangerous conditions overall, such as wildfires. …Natural Resources Canada forecasts shows the potential for yet another active wildfire season across Western Canada…

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Mosaic seeks public input on recreational use of private forestry lands

By Hilary Angus
Victoria Times Colonist
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Mosaic Forest Management is gathering public feedback through a survey on outdoor recreation on its property, including its use of gates on its private forestry lands. Mosaic manages 550,000 hectares of privately owned land between Victoria, Sooke and Campbell River, or roughly 18 per cent of Vancouver Island’s total land mass. Olivia Lyle, Mosaic’s communications manager, said Mosaic wants the public’s input on topics related to recreation to inform their action and strategies. Key themes and trends from the survey will be compiled into a report that will be shared on their website in the near future. …Mosaic limits access to the land, according to its website, “to ensure the safety of workers and the public, to reduce the risk of wildfires, to protect sensitive plant ecosystems, and to protect wildlife habitat.” …The survey takes about eight minutes to complete and is available on Mosaic’s website until May 23.

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West Fraser hosts open house for West Bragg Creek logging project

By Hannah Lepine and Alesia Fieldberg
The Canadian Press in CTV News
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Canada’s largest logging company is hosting an open house to review its plans to harvest trees in the West Bragg Creek and Moose Mountain areas. West Fraser (formally Spray Lake Sawmills) plans to clearcut 268 hectares near West Bragg Creek and another 288 hectares in the Moose Mountain Trail Networks. The total harvest planned for both areas west of Calgary, slated to start in October 2026, is set for 556 hectares, a 37 per cent reduction than what the company initially planned. “We made sure to minimize and work together to come up with the best plan for both groups,” said Tyler Steneker, woodlands manager with West Fraser. The company also altered the placement of a logging road. “That road will turn into a trail when they’re done, so it’s been a very collaborative process. Very pleased with what has transpired so far,” said Mike Duszynski, executive director of the Bragg Creek Trails Association.

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Downton Lake wildfire investigation finds BC Wildfire Service compliant

BC Forest Practices Board
May 13, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board has released the results of its investigation into a complaint about the BC Wildfire Service’s (BCWS) use of planned ignitions during the 2023 Downton Lake wildfire near Gun Lake. A planned ignition is a deliberate use of fire in an emergency to remove unburned fuel from an area, typically between a control line and the wildfire. Burning this fuel can help contain the wildfire and make fire suppression efforts more efficient. The complaint, submitted by three Gun Lake residents, raised concerns that a planned ignition conducted by BCWS on Aug. 1, 2023, contributed to the destruction of more than 40 homes on the west side of the lake. The board assessed whether BCWS complied with the Wildfire Act and if its decision to use a planned ignition near the complainants’ properties was reasonable, given the conditions at the time. The board found BCWS complied with the Wildfire Act and BCWS’s decision to conduct the ignition in this emergency situation was based on sound forest practices and a reasonable assessment of the wildfire threat.

Additional coverage from Canadian Press in Times Colonist: Planned ignitions in 2023 wildfires were ‘reasonable,’ Forest Practices Board rules

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Deer Park Wildfire Brigade receives certification

By Deer Park Recreation Society
Nelson Star
May 13, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

In response to the growing threat of wildfires in rural areas, 22 members of the Deer Park Recreation Society (DPRS) achieved certification at the Deer Park Fire Hall on May 4 after meeting the BC Wildfire Service Pilot Project For Rural Communities criteria requirements. DPRS formed 27 years ago to provide fire protection services for its communities due to the area’s drier, warmer micro climate and substantially increased risk of wildfires. Following several recent wildfires in the area, including three very large forest fires, the society took charge and applied for grant funding to attain brigade validation by providing additional training, increased wildfire equipment and upgraded personal protective equipment (PPE) for its communities. …The pilot project enables BCWS to assign the Deer Park Wildfire Brigade to assist during wildfire emergencies in their area.

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Osoyoos Indian Band revitalizing traditional harvesting practices

By Alexander Vaz
Comox Valley Record
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Non-timber forest products (NTFP) provide a wealth of natural resources for the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB). …OIB wants to build a path forward for the sustainable use and commercialization of NTFP through a project supported by the BC Indigenous Forest Bioeconomy Program. The project started as a feasibility study into the commercial potential of NTFP and turned into an initiative once community members wanted to grow their connection with the land and traditional practices, according to Vincent Dufour, a registered professional forester with Silviculture and Private Managed Forest, and Siya Forestry. …One of the main goals of the project is to develop a full inventory of NTFP across the OIB traditional territory in the South Okanagan to the West Kootenays and surrounding regions. …Dufour works alongside local community members and experts in mapping the abundance and availability of species such as mushrooms, soapberries, blackcap raspberries, wild mint, juniper and wild roses.

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Indigenous groups send eviction notice to Quebec forestry companies

Canadian Press in Citynews Montreal
May 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Two Indigenous organizations have issued eviction notices to a number of Quebec forestry companies in the province’s Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Mauricie and Côte-Nord regions. The Mamo alliance and the Association des Gardiens du territoire Nehirowisiw Aski sent the notices to 11 companies. The notices ordered the companies to immediately remove their workers and equipment from unceded Indigenous territory. The letters are a response to the Quebec government’s proposed forestry reform, which has drawn opposition from environmentalists and First Nations. The reform would include creating so-called “priority forest management zones” set aside for the logging industry.

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Wildfire response training should be made available to more civilians, experts say

By Britnei Bilhete
CBC News
May 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

As wildfire season begins in Ontario, some experts say more civilians in northern and remote regions should be given training and opportunities to become wildfires response volunteers, despite liability concerns. The province saw over 475 fires last year that scorched 90,000 hectares, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. …Fighting wildfires is usually done by firefighters hired or contracted by Ontario or other provincial governments — and in worse cases the Canadian Armed Forces help out. But giving residents the capacity to respond as well is something that could reduce the impact of wildfires, says Jason Thistlethwaite, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo’s school of environment. …The problem is that responders and municipalities have issued advice against it because of the liability concerns, he said.

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Work Progressing on Atlantic Wildfire Centre as Forest Fire Season Comes into Effect in Labrador

By Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
May 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Forest fire season begins in Labrador today, May 15. Fire season on the Island of Newfoundland began April 24 and is now in effect throughout the entire province until September 30. A burn permit is required to burn vegetation, wood and paper products during forest fire season. …Trained and dedicated wildland firefighters and aerial resources including water bombers and helicopters are strategically located throughout the province and ready to respond to wildfires. …Budget 2025 allocates $4.2 million towards the Atlantic Wildfire Centre, with a total federal-provincial commitment of $32 million until 2030 to increase resources, enhance training and strengthen the province’s ability to tackle wildfires at home and away. Work on the Atlantic Wildfire Centre is well underway. …More than 60 wildfires have been recorded on the Island of Newfoundland so far this season. One fire has been reported in Labrador to date. 

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Bill 97: Unifor Quebec denounces a failed reform and calls for a fair, sustainable, and inclusive forestry regime

Unifor
May 13, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Unifor joined a press conference with a broad coalition of key stakeholders in Quebec’s forestry sector opposed to Bill 97, tabled by the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. Although long awaited, this bill in its current form is doomed to failure. It neglects to address the environmental challenges facing the entire forestry industry, as well as the sector’s pressing economic and social needs. “Despite the minister’s claims, this bill fails to protect jobs and will only add fuel to existing tensions with many partners in the forestry sector,” said Daniel Cloutier, Quebec Director of Unifor. …Unifor is calling for a forestry reform tied to a new industrial strategy that ensures a reliable supply of timber, revitalizes local processing, and strengthens protection of natural ecosystems. The future of our jobs, our communities, and our public forests depends on it.

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Trump plans to merge wildland firefighting efforts into one agency, but ex-officials warn of chaos

By Matthew Brown
Associated Press in Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

BILLINGS, Mont. — President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to merge the government’s wildland firefighting efforts into a single agency, a move some former federal officials warn could increase the risk of catastrophic blazes and ultimately cost billions of dollars. …Budget documents do not disclose how much the change could cost or save. …The Trump administration in its first months temporarily cut off money for wildfire mitigation work and sharply reduced the ranks of federal government firefighters through layoffs and retirement. …But organizations representing firefighters and former Forest Service officials say it would be costly to restructure firefighting efforts and cause major disruptions in the midst of fire season. …“You will not suppress your way to success in dealing with catastrophic fires. ….” said Steve Ellis, the chairman of the forest service retirees group and a former wildfire incident commander.

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Republican megabill targets money for forest owners

By Marc Heller
E&E News by Politico
May 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Programs to stave off wildfires and maintain timber production on privately owned forests are in line for steep cuts in the big Republican tax and spending bill. In the fine print of the agriculture portion of the budget reconciliation bill, lawmakers included a provision to claw back as much as $190 million from the Forest Legacy Program and the Forest Landowner Support Program, relatively small initiatives that nonetheless are priorities for groups representing small forest owners. The cuts — drawn from unobligated Inflation Reduction Act funds — come as state and private forestry efforts at the Agriculture Department are already in a fight for survival, shunned in unfolding Forest Service reorganization plans and targeted for sharp budget reductions by the Trump administration. At issue are two programs that received a big infusion of cash from the IRA, and showcase debate about how much the Forest Service should support work on land that isn’t part of the national forest system. [This publication requires a subscription for full access]

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Will increased logging help ease Southern Utah’s wildfire crisis or exacerbate the issue?

By Alysha Lundgren
St. George News
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The Trump Administration aims to increase lumber production in the U.S. while simultaneously reducing wildfire risk on federal lands across the country, including Dixie National Forest. However, some are concerned the president’s decision could make matters worse. On March 1, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, the Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production, to streamline permitting processes. It directs the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to use the Endangered Species Act’s emergency regulations to the maximum extent possible to “facilitate the Nation’s timber production.” Additionally, the order directs federal members of the Endangered Species Committee to develop and submit a report to the president identifying “obstacles to domestic timber production infrastructures specifically deriving from implementation of the ESA and recommends procedural, regulatory, and interagency improvements.” …According to the Center for Biological Diversity, there are over 400 federally listed species that depend on national forest lands, such as grizzly bears, spotted owls and wild salmon.

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Transferring public land to private ownership will unleash America’s abundant natural resources

By Frank Garrison
Pacific Legal Foundation
May 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Last week, the House Natural Resources Committee included a provision in the budget reconciliation package allowing federal public land sales in Nevada and Utah. Yet the proposed provision has sparked pushback from some members of Congress and environmental activists. It shouldn’t: The provision represents a vital step toward restoring Americans’ ability to use their abundant natural resources to advance freedom, and it would represent a welcome challenge to the executive branch public lands abuse. For decades, federal property ownership has resulted in the erosion of Americans’ ability to harness the abundant natural resources with which our nation has been blessed. The United States possesses the world’s largest combined reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal. Our forests could sustainably produce timber for generations. …Yet these resources remain largely inaccessible under a federal management regime that is increasingly divorced from congressional intent and constitutional limits.

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Over 1.1 million acres of Colorado forests have been treated for health, wildfire management since 2000

Glenwood Springs Post Independent
May 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Over one-third of Colorado is forested acreage — 24 million acres of the state’s 66.48 million acres — managed by a variety of local, state and federal entities.  The Colorado State Forest Service and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, both part of Colorado State University, launched a new online tool to better track completed forest management activities in the state. The Colorado Forest Tracker provides information on where and when forest projects occurred, how projects were funded and what agency oversaw the work. It includes projects between 2000 and 2023 that altered forest vegetation in some way, including cutting trees or bushes, prescribed fire and reforestation efforts. In the 23 years, the tool cataloged over 25,000 forest management projects on 1.1 million acres of Colorado forest. The majority — 900,577 acres — were on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The federal agency oversees the largest segment of Colorado forest.

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Logging protest continues with climber in tree

By Emma Maple
Peninsula Daily News
May 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A tree-sit protest, which has blocked logging access to state Department of Natural Resources parcels, is now two weeks old. An injunction hearing regarding the parcels has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday in Clallam County Superior Court. If a 90-day injunction is issued, the tree climber will remove themselves from the tree. If the decision is not in favor of the environmentalists, the climber likely will stay up there indefinitely. “It’s going to be crunch time,” activist Peter Stedman said. The tree sit began about 5:30 a.m. May 7, when an unidentified professional tree climber attached themselves to a dunk tank platform 50 to 100 feet up in a tree. That platform was then attached to debris piled in the middle of a logging road. If the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) attempts to remove the debris to gain access to those parcels, the tree climber’s platform will drop.

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Legal Intervention Defends Northern Spotted Owl Habitat

The Center for Biological Diversity
May 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

PORTLAND, Oregon— Conservation groups intervened in a lawsuit brought by the timber industry and counties seeking to strip northern spotted owls of protections for their critical habitat across millions of acres of forests in California, Oregon and Washington. The industry lawsuit attempts to reinstate a critical habitat rollback issued in the final weeks of the first Trump administration that removed nearly 3.5 million acres from the 9.6 million acres that were protected for spotted owls in 2012. “The forests these precious owls depend on also provide all of us with benefits like clean water, recreation, jobs and climate resiliency,” said Chelsea Stewart-Fusek, an endangered species attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Given Trump’s relentless assaults on our most cherished wildlife and public lands, it’s no surprise that corporate timber interests are resurrecting their attacks on northern spotted owls and the places they live in the name of short-term profit.”

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State forestry officials face backlash over Astoria timber sales, board member resigns in wake

By Alex Baumhardt
Oregon Public Broadcasting
May 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

A year-long communication breakdown between concerned residents and state forestry leaders required investigation and halted one state timber sale. Last February, Denise Moore got a letter from the Oregon Department of Forestry that “immediately sent up red flags.” Cullen Bangs, a forest roads manager in the department’s Astoria district office, wrote that surveyors would be around her property in the weeks ahead to review boundaries between the Clatsop State Forest and nearby private property. …But the letter from Bangs became the first of several communications, and miscommunications, between the forestry department and its Astoria office about two planned timber sales to concerned neighbors over the course of a year. The communication breakdown would send those residents, along with community and environmental groups, into a frenzy, eventually leading one timber sale to be paused indefinitely and a Board of Forestry member to resign.

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Fix Our Forests Act would destroy forests without protecting communities

By Rocky Smith
Colorado News Online
May 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Forests are extremely valuable for watersheds, wildlife, carbon storage, recreation and so much more. The deceptively named Fix Our Forests Act, or FOFA, does nothing to conserve forests to retain these values. Instead, it would emphasize logging and otherwise manipulating forests at a scale we haven’t seen on public lands for many decades, if ever. The misguided bill has already passed the House, and its Senate version was recently introduced by Colorado’s own U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and other Western senators. FOFA encourages the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management…, to avoid a careful examination of impacts from logging and ways to reduce harms under the National Environmental Policy Act. Under FOFA, projects up to 10,000 acres — over 15 square miles — would be excluded from consideration of possible impacts. What’s more, the public would have only one chance to provide input for logging projects and could only object in court.

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Why there won’t be significant logging in the Tongass

By Rodger Painter
The Alaska Beacon
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Industrial-scale logging in the Tongass National Forest was due to monopolies created by the federal government and taxpayer subsidies… A study by the Southeast Conservation Council calculated the federal government spent $386 million for preparation and sale of Tongass timber while collecting only $32 million in stumpage fees from 1982 to 1988. While the heyday of the timber industry supported about 4,000 jobs, many were nonresidents or recent arrivals who left when the pulp mills closed. Most of my former colleagues at the Sitka mill went “back home” to Washington when the mill ceased operation. The pulp mills closed primarily because of tree farms in warmer climates such as South Africa, where forests grow much faster than the Tongass. Many fruit and vegetable farms in the southern U.S. converted to tree farms… So, are there enough standing old-growth trees to support a vibrant timber industry in the Tongass? It depends upon who you ask.

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An architect of Oregon’s wildfire map on why he now supports repealing it

By Courtney Sherwood
Oregon Public Broadcasting
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

After Oregon’s devastating 2020 Labor Day fires, the Legislature passed a bill that was supposed to lead to more wildfire awareness and resilience. Among other things, Senate Bill 762 created a map of areas at high risk of fire. But that map led to a huge backlash from property owners — a backlash so strong that a few weeks ago, the state Senate voted unanimously to eliminate it. Jeff Golden is a Democratic state senator from the Rogue Valley. He voted to create the map in 2021, now he’s voted to get rid of it. …“We delegated to Oregon State University, which has credentials — among the best in the world in terms of maps like this — and gave them almost no direction, just said, ‘We need a map to fulfill this purpose. Let us have it within the next 18 months.’” At the time, very few lawmakers were worried about what would come next.

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‘Forests of Gasoline’

By Kathleene Parker
Santa Fe Reporter
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

With the passing of the 25th anniversary of the 2000 Cerro Grande Fire on May 10—during yet another bone-dry spring of the Modern Megadrought—we should consider a wildfire variation of the adage, “Those who don’t learn from (fire and forestry) history are doomed to relive it.” In the 1990s, Los Alamos and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) were warned, repeatedly, that they were vulnerable to wildfire. Today, Los Alamos and New Mexico in general, despite Cerro Grande and other fires, have not acknowledged or addressed the dangerous reality of today’s forests. As a correspondent for the Santa Fe New Mexican in the 1990s, I authored multiple stories featuring foresters and wildland firefighters who saw Los Alamos’ peril. I also witnessed, firsthand, the power and destruction of wildfires—Cerro Grande, Dome, Missionary Ridge, Los Conchas—in places I love. …Instead, it’s time to demand municipal, county, state, and federal leaders who acknowledge and aggressively address the wildfire threat.

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Registration Now Open for Forest Products EXPO 2025

The Southern Forest Products Association
May 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Haven’t been to the Forest Products Machinery & Equipment EXPO before, or if you have, has it been a while? You’re missing out! But you can change that now that registration and housing reservations in the official hotel block for the 38th Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition (EXPO 2025), presented by the Southern Forest Products Association, are now open! The three-day biannual tradeshow, to be held August 6-8, 2025, at the Music City Center in Nashville, will provide you with solutions for nearly every stage of manufacturing for softwood and hardwood operations. From raw material handling to crane operations; metal detection and scanning technologies; log optimization, drying, grading, sorting, packaging, and distribution, there’s an exhibiting company representative on site to explore these solutions with you face to face. EXPO 2025 will be one of the best yet with: 220+ exhibitors from 34 states and 9 countries showcasing products from 168 different categories across nearly 60,000 square feet.

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Michigan State University researcher receives $500K grant to study tree species suited to future Michigan climates

By Cameron Rudolph
Michigan State University
May 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US East

Jeremy Johnson

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University researcher has received a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to explore assisted tree migration as a way to protect the future productivity of Michigan forests. …The project is led by Jeremy Johnson, an assistant professor of forest genetics in the MSU Department of Forestry. He said that many of Michigan’s most important tree species, such as red pine, are at the southern end of their native ranges. As temperatures increase and precipitation becomes more unpredictable, these species may struggle to adjust. …Johnson and his team will monitor how climate and soil type affect tree growth using a common garden model in which several tree species are grown together under the same conditions. Six conifer species and American Chestnut were identified for planting at nine common gardens across Michigan. In the seed collection process, 50 families will be represented for each species.

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First-ever National Forest biomass risk assessment receives interim approval.

US Endowment for Forestry and Communities
May 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US East

The first-ever Regional Risk Assessment (RRA) for National Forest System lands under the Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) has been completed and approved for use by biomass producers, providing a comprehensive framework for sustainable biomass sourcing across all forests administered by the USDA Forest Service (USFS) in the contiguous U.S. SBP-endorsed RRAs are crucial for identifying and mitigating risks associated with the sustainable sourcing of feedstock for biomass and woodchip production, opening significant opportunities in markets with strict sustainability requirements, such as Europe and Asia. By expanding access to these markets, this interim risk assessment provides a unique opportunity that balances conservation goals with economic and renewable energy development. Typically, RRAs analyze specific geographic regions, provinces or states. This RRA is unique in that it took the innovative approach of considering the vast and unique network of National Forests in the United States as one region, providing a targeted and specific review.   

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How a worm perpetuated wildfires in northern Minnesota

By Kyeland Jackson
The Minnesota Star Tribune
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Wildfires are burning through thousands of acres of forest in Northern Minnesota damaging buildings and forcing residents to evacuate their homes. The yet-to-be-contained Camp House fire, Jenkins Creek fire and Munger Shaw fire have a small accomplice to thank for their continued destruction: spruce budworms, a well-known pest that has terrorized Minnesota forests for at least half a century, killing trees and making them more susceptible to fire. The fires’ other helper? Humans. “Spruce budworm’s largest impact, in my opinion, is that it can help perpetuate dense stands of balsam fir on the landscape that are fire prone,” said Mike Reinikainen, a silviculture program consultant with the state’s Department of Natural Resources’ forestry division. Much of the area was infected by spruce budworms, whose infestations worsened the Greenwood fire near Isabella, Minn. in 2021.

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Zinke and Neguse Introduce Bill to Extend Successful Forest Management Program

By the Office of Ryan Zinke
Montana Outdoor
May 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US East

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representatives Ryan Zinke (R-MT-01) and Joe Neguse (D-CO-02) introduced the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program Reauthorization Act of 2025, which would extend and expand a successful program focused on reducing wildfire risk, restoring forest health, and supporting rural economies through proven, locally driven strategies. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Originally authorized in 2009, the CFLR program is a model of how communities, industry partners, landowners, and local governments can work together to improve forest conditions and prevent catastrophic wildfires. In its first decade, CFLR projects treated and restored 5.7 million acres of forest, improved 1,000 miles of trails, and maintained over 25,000 miles of forest roads helping keep public lands open and safe.

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Wildfires push forest destruction to 20-year high just as EU delays anti-deforestation rules

By Louise Guillot
Politico
May 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

BRUSSELS — Tropical forest loss rocketed to a 20-year high in 2024 as climate change-fueled wildfires tore through some of the planet’s most important natural carbon sinks. Close to 7 million hectares of primary tropical forests were destroyed last year, with nearly half of that due to fire, said a report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the University of Maryland published Wednesday. Wildfires also swept through boreal forests — in particular in Russia and Canada — leading to 30 million hectares of trees being lost globally in 2024, and resulting in an estimated 4.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions. It came as the European Union decided to delay anti-deforestation rules and wind back other environmental protections in a bid to boost economic competitiveness. “This is a dangerous feedback loop we cannot afford to trigger further,” warned Peter Potapov, research professor at the University of Maryland. 

Additional coverage in Euro News by Rosie Frost: World lost a record-shattering amount of forest in 2024, fuelled by climate change-driven wildfires

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Australia’s oldest prehistoric tree frog hops 22 million years back in time

University of New South Wales
May 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Scientists have discovered the oldest ancestor for all Australian tree frogs, with distant links to the tree frogs of South America. Newly discovered evidence of Australia’s earliest species of tree frog challenges what we know about when Australian and South American frogs parted ways on the evolutionary tree. Previously, scientists believed Australian and South American tree frogs separated from each other about 33 million years ago. But in a study published today in Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, palaeontologists from UNSW Sydney say the new species, Litoria tylerantiqua, is now at about 55 million years old, the earliest known member of the pelodryadid family of Australian tree frogs.

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