Category Archives: Forestry

Forestry

Canada Invests in Wildfire Innovation and Resilience Through New Centre of Excellence

By Natural Resources Canada
Cision Newswire
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

OTTAWA, ON – With wildfires impacting Canadians across the country, the federal government is taking action to prevent wildfires, mitigate their effects and boost resilience. …The Government of Canada announced an investment of $11.7 million;over four years to establish the Wildfire Resilience Consortium of Canada (WRCC). Funded through the Wildfire Resilient Futures Initiative, the WRCC will serve as a national centre of excellence and virtual hub for wildland fire innovation and knowledge exchange. The WRCC will advance many of the actions in the Kananaskis Wildfire Charter, agreed to by the leaders of the G7 this spring in Canada and endorsed by the leaders of Australia, India, Mexico, the Republic of Korea and South Africa. It will bring together domestic and international governments, communities impacted by wildfires, the private sector and individual experts to share knowledge, facilitate collaboration and accelerate the use of cutting-edge science and technology in wildfire prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response.

Read More

It’s time to fight fire with fire in Canada

By the Editorial Board
The Globe and Mail
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Canada’s premiers met June to talk infrastructure but were distracted by the small matter of the forest fires raging across the West at the time. …Six weeks later, the country is well into one of its worst wildfire seasons ever. …“Suppression alone is no longer adequate to address the growing challenges from wildland fire,“ the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers said in a report last year. ”Wildland fire management in Canada needs to be transformed.” That means creating a national regime of prescribed burns – the deliberate setting of fires under controlled circumstances to reduce the number and intensity of forest fires, and to limit damage to property. It’s a practice that Indigenous peoples in Canada and elsewhere used for millennia to manage their lands. But its use is sharply limited in Canada, mostly because politicians are scared to the point of paralysis by the off-chance that a government-sanctioned burn could get out of control.

Read More

More Mount Benson land transferred back to Snuneymuxw First Nation

Nanaimo News Bulletin
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The B.C. government is transferring more than 700 hectares of land in the Mount Benson area back to Snuneymuxw First Nation. The move follows a 212ha transfer of ‘Mount Benson East’ land, in January 2024, according to a press release from provincial government, with the latest 700ha of land known as ‘Mount Benson North,’ or te’tuxwtun North. According to a land transfer agreement, more than 3,000 hectares of land in all will be returned to the First Nation. The land will be held by the Petroglyph Development Group, Snuneymuxw’s economic development group, the press release noted, for forestry use. …Ian Simpson, Petroglyph Development Group CEO, said the move allows Snuneymuxw to reclaim a vital role within its territory and continue “a legacy of sustainable growth.” “[Petroglyph], through a Mount Benson Forestry Limited Partnership, will continue working with the land to build an economic engine that drives prosperity and strengthens self-determination,” he stated in the press release.

Read More

‘Special circumstances’ allow contractor’s appeal notice to be filed

By Bob Mackin
The Penticton Herald
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A contractor’s appeal of a B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) order to pay more than $1.8 million in compensation and penalties will be heard after a May 22 decision by the Forest Appeals Commission. Panel chair Ian Miller found “special circumstances” led to last summer’s two-day delay in filing a notice to appeal and granted the extension to Jaikle Contracting. “The delay was brief, the explanations and reasons are reasonable and credible, and there would be substantial prejudice to the appellant if the right to appeal is denied,” said Miller’s ruling. On July 12, 2024, designated decision maker Laurence Bowdige of BCWS issued a contravention order against Jaikle, under the Wildfire Regulation, for harvesting timber near Mackenzie in August 2021. “Specifically, that the appellant did not keep an adequate fire suppression system at the activity site while carrying out a high-risk activity within 300 metres of forest land,” said the Miller ruling.

Read More

Lone bidder gets contract to remove more trees in Stanley Park

By Mike Howell
Business in Vancouver
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Vancouver park board commissioners voted Monday to keep the same contractor on the job for the continued work required to remove dead and declining trees in Stanley Park that have been damaged by a hemlock looper moth infestation. The board now has to finalize a contract with B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd. for the final phase of mitigation and restoration work in the park. The contract will be worth more than $3 million and fall within a previously approved overall budget of $17.9 million for the project. Although 23 suppliers registered an interest to complete the work, only Blackwell chose to submit a proposal, which was reviewed by the board’s evaluation team comprised of staff from urban forestry and supply chain management. …As for why Blackwell was the only bidder, Joe McLeod, the board’s associate director of urban forestry said, “There are very few forestry professional consulting firms that have the set of unique skill set.”

Read More

Regrowing Alberta’s Forests

By Natural Resources Canada
Government of Canada
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Corey Hogan and Mike Toffan

The Government of Canada, together with Indigenous communities, private and non-profit sector leaders, and provincial partners, is taking action to regenerate Alberta’s forests — protecting clean air and preserving the province’s vast natural landscapes for generations to come. Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced, in collaboration with Project Forest, The Carbon Farmer and FIND Biomass Inc, a joint investment of over $125 million for four projects that will plant 12 million trees and restore critical habitat for species at risk throughout Alberta, such as caribou. Investments will help to create and restore biodiverse forests and wildlife habitat and sequester carbon while creating seasonal and full-time jobs for surrounding communities in Alberta. We are not just planting trees — we are building a stronger, healthier and more-resilient Canada.

Additional coverage in Global News, by Bill Graveland: Unproductive Alberta farmland to be converted back to forest

Read More

Woodlots BC to Lead Province-Wide Wildfire Risk Reduction Efforts on Woodlots

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Kamloops, B.C.– The Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) recently approved up to $1.7 million to the Woodlot Product Development Council (Woodlots BC) to carry out wildfire risk reduction treatments over a 2-year fiscal period. Treatments will be conducted on woodlots throughout British Columbia, each located within a Wildland Urban Interface, endorsed by the local Forestry District and following BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) wildfire risk reduction standards. Through this work, Woodlots BC looks forward to building capacity across the forest sector and helping promote innovative ways to complete treatment of wildfire risk reduction projects to reduce combustible forest fuel loading, thereby better protecting communities. “Woodlots are vital to B.C.’s forestry sector as they support local jobs, keep our forests healthy, and help reduce wildfire risk where it matters most: right where people live,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. 

Read More

“Fires, Closures, and Loss” with Kim Haakstad + Jess Ketchum

Hotel Pacifico
YouTube
July 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Mike McDonald and Geoff Meggs welcome Kim Haakstad, president and CEO of the Council of Forest Industries, to Hotel Pacifico. They discuss the troubling state of the industry, impacts of government policy, low harvest levels, and other factors leading to job losses and mill closures. Haakstad prescribes measures that will help get forestry on the comeback trail. In the Strategy Suite, Mike and Geoff are joined by longtime public affairs advisor and media commentator Jess Ketchum. The trio touch on forestry, summer to do list for Premier Eby and John Rustad, crime and addiction, the politics of measles, and how one industry association is leaving no Stone unturned.

Read More

Vancouver Islanders call for better access and environmental oversight of private forest lands

By Claire Palmer
CBC News
July 19, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Dave Weaver

A survey by a private forest management company on Vancouver Island shows thousands of outdoor enthusiasts want better access to forest land — but an alliance of wilderness advocates is also raising concerns about environmental accountability. Mosaic Forest Management, which oversees roughly 550,000 hectares of privately owned forest land between Victoria, Sooke and Campbell River, reports that the survey received over 7,600 responses and the feedback was clear: open the gates. …Steve Mjaaland, Mosaic’s manager of forest protection, says the company would like to enhance recreational access, but gate closures are often necessary for safety and to prevent wildfires. “It’s a working forest. There are a lot of high-risk hazards, especially hauling on the roads, which would probably be the biggest risk with traffic,” he said. …Jenn Holland, who chairs the Vancouver Island Private Managed Forest Land Action Alliance says, “It’s not just access for recreation, but it’s access for accountability that’s missing.”

Read More

Alberta Premier Smith demands apology from fire-stricken Jasper for critical report

By Jack Farrell
The Canadian Press in the Coast Reporter
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith demanded Friday the fire-stricken town of Jasper apologize and retract a report criticizing her government for its role in last summer’s devastating blaze. Smith, speaking at an unrelated press conference in Edmonton, instead blamed the federal government for failing in the fire response by not asking sooner for provincial help and for not clearing out dead trees that provided fuel for the flames. …Smith also criticized the report for not accurately conveying Alberta’s contributions to the ordeal, including, she said, timely deployment of firefighters and equipment and $181 million worth of support in disaster recovery funding. …Bill Given, Jasper’s chief administrator, said in an interview before Smith’s news conference that the report wasn’t to lay blame. It should be considered a chapter in an overall look at the fire response — a chapter that focuses solely on municipal improvements, he said.

Read More

Wildfire, tornado researchers look for answers in Jasper’s charred forest

By Matthew Scace
The Canadian Press in the Prince George Citizen
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Lori Daniels

ALBERTA — Lori Daniels and a team of researchers plan to let a hand-held GPS guide them to more than 100 spots in the charred forest around Jasper, Alberta. At each location… they’ll be asking: how bad was the fire? …”I’ve seen a lot of devastating fires across BC in the last decade. I’ve spent a lot of time in burnt forest,” said Daniels, a professor and co-director at the University of BC’s Centre for Wildfire Coexistence. “And I have to say, there are parts of the Jasper fire that were absolutely shocking.” …The researchers want to know whether more than 20 years of forest management affected the fire’s behaviour as it barrelled toward the townsite. Parks Canada had done extensive work to thin the overgrown forest surrounding the town during that two-decade period, said Daniels. She said she believes much of Jasper is still standing because of Parks Canada’s efforts, including prescribed burns and trimming trees.

Related coverage in The Albertan: Jasper, Parks Canada officials giving tours, remarks ahead of wildfire anniversary 

Read More

Vancouver Park Board staff seeks approval to advance Stanley Park tree removal

By Akshay Kulkarni
CBC News
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Vancouver Park Board staff are seeking commissioners’ approval to proceed with the next phase of a tree removal project in Stanley Park due to an extensive looper moth infestation. Work has been underway to cut down thousands of trees in Vancouver’s biggest park since the summer of 2023, due to fire and public safety risks posed by dead and dying trees. …While the tree removal plan has faced sharp criticism staff say they have a plan that will see the least number of trees removed. “This aims to balance key public safety risks resulting from the hemlock looper outbreak while leaving a moderate extent of internal forest areas to undergo natural forest stand regeneration,” the staff motion says of its preferred approach. If commissioners approve of the staff plan, planning for tree removal and mitigation work would begin later this year and conclude in the first quarter of 2027.

Read More

‘BC is Burning’ documentary looks to spur conversations around forest management

By Michael Reeve
CFJC Today Everything Kamloops
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Murray Wilson

KAMLOOPS — A new documentary is debuting across British Columbia this month looking into devastating wildfires in the province, while advocating for change. Called BC is Burning, the 45-minute long film investigates how forest management and policy reforms can help reduce the fire risk in our province. It debuts in Kamloops next Tuesday (July 22) at Thompson Rivers University. The documentary features 16 area experts, including four from Kamloops as well as its producer from Vernon. “I’m hoping that the film will untimely drive some change because there are solutions to wildfires and one of our best opportunities is to increase forest management in the province so we can address the fires before they start, reduce the chances of the fires happening,” said Murray Wilson. “We will always have fires, but we can reduce them by active forest management.”

Read More

Woodlots BC is seeking board members

Woodlots BC
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Woodlots BC is looking for people who are passionate about the woodlot program in BC, and have a keen interest in guiding it into the future as a Woodlots BC Board Director. The Board consists of: Seven voting Directors who are all woodlot licence holders and one government appointed non-voting representative (from BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food). Who qualifies: Any woodlot licensee in BC, or in the case of a woodlot licence that is held by a corporation or group (ie: First Nation Bands, communities, school district, non-profit society), a single person approved/appointed by the group representing that woodlot. This person can only represent one woodlot at a time. The WPDC Board aims to: advocate for and ensure the woodlots of BC have a voice and are able to promote themselves … and, guide and govern the WPDC operations team to work for the needs of woodlots in BC.

Read More

Clear-cutting linked to 18-fold rise in extreme floods, UBC study finds

EurekAlert!
July 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Clear-cutting can make catastrophic floods 18 times more frequent with effects lasting more than 40 years, according to a new UBC study. In one watershed, these extreme floods also became more than twice as large, turning a once-in-70-years event into something that now happens every nine. “This research challenges conventional thinking about forest management’s impact on flooding,” said senior author Dr. Younes Alila, a hydrologist in the UBC faculty of forestry. “We hope the industry and policymakers will take note of the findings, which show that it matters not only how much forest you remove but also where, how and under what conditions.” The UBC-led study draws on one of the world’s longest-running forest experiments at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina and is published in the Journal of Hydrology. The research team analyzed two adjacent watersheds, one north-facing, the other south-facing, that were both clear-cut in the late 1950s.

Read More

Burlington recognized for the third time as a world wide forestry leader

The Burlington Gazette
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

BURLINGTON, Ontario — Burlington has once again been recognized as a tree city by the World Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This marks the third consecutive year that the city has received this honor, highlighting Burlington continued leadership in urban forestry and our commitment to protecting and enhancing tree canopy. Director of Roads, Parks and Forestry, Enrico Scalera, said… “These standards demonstrate a commitment to urban forestry and sustainable practices, which our forestry group exemplifies each and every day for our city. We also invest in our urban forestry and tree canopy: this year’s total forestry budget is $5.48 million.” …Rico Scaleri: : “We’ve embraced innovation such as the Middle Way conversion project along the Crosstown trail, and have a partnership with the University of Toronto to monitor forest health using drone technology.”

Read More

Why are forest fires getting more frequent, intense in northern Ontario?

By Faith Greco
CBC News
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

As wildfires become more frequent and intense across Canada, fire officials are seeing stark differences between northwestern and northeastern Ontario. They say it all comes down to what’s burning, how it burns, and where. More than 2.2 million hectares have burned in Ontario’s northwest since 2015, compared with around 287,000 hectares in the northeast. “The three things that we need to consider are the weather, the fuels and the topography,” said Chelene Hanes, a wildland fire research scientist at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. Northwestern Ontario typically gets a minimal amount of rain, whereas the northeast has a wetter climate and vast peatlands, she explained. …”On the [northwest] side of the province, and moving into the prairies, they’ve experienced a bit more drought, which is influencing the moisture of the fuels. So that is causing more ignitions to happen as well, because it’s drier,” Hanes said.

Read More

Canada Partners With Trees For Life to Grow Southern Ontario’s Urban and Suburban Canopy

Natural Resources Canada
July 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

WHITBY, Ontario — Ryan Turnbull, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance… highlighted a $4-million federal investment for tree-planting projects in urban and suburban areas in southern Ontario. Trees For Life will collaborate with planting partners to plant an average of 24,000 trees annually over five years, for a total of 120,000 trees in communities across southern Ontario. The collaboration with Trees For Life is already ahead of target, supporting the planting of 83,000 trees in southern Ontario with 35,000 trees planted in 2024 and 48,000 trees planted across 40 projects in 2025 to date. This project builds on a successful regional model piloted in the Durham Region. 

Read More

Trump admin plans ‘sprint’ on lifting logging bans

By Marc Heller
E&E News
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

The Trump administration aims to end the prohibition on logging on tens of millions of acres of roadless areas in national forests by the end of next year, according to a draft schedule at the Forest Service. The draft timeline… sets a schedule for drafting the new policy, conducting public comment sessions and consulting with tribes before making a final decision in November or December of 2026. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has already said she’s decided to rescind the roadless-area protections, which have blocked road construction, timber harvesting. The rule applies on 58.5 million of the forest system’s 193 million acres, with Alaska’s Tongass National Forest having the most in any one place. In a June 23 statement, Rollins said, “Once again, President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule.” [to access the full story an E&E News subscription is required]

Read More

Potential Repeal of Roadless Rule Could Permanently Damage Midwest National Forests

By Sarah Mattalian
Inside Climate News
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Brooke Rollins

Following the US Department of Agriculture’s rescission of a longstanding rule that protects thousands of acres of national forests against logging, experts say that the repeal would not only damage natural beauty, but also ignores the interests of Midwest residents and industries. …“This rollback of the rule harms all of the other uses of the national forests besides timber. It’s going to result in less wildlife habitat, less recreational opportunities for the American people, more sediment loading to surface waters. It’s just harmful all the way around, unless you’re in the logging industry or forest products industry,” said Andy Olsen, senior policy advocate at the Environmental Law and Policy Center. The rule still has to go through administrative procedures such as a public comment period and congressional hearings before it is officially repealed.

Read More

US faces alarming shortage of firefighters during peak wildfire season, data reveals

By Gabrielle Canon
The Guardian
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

More than a quarter of firefighting positions at the United States Forest Service (USFS) remain vacant, according to internal data reviewed by the Guardian, creating staffing shortages as extreme conditions fuel dozens of blazes across the US. The data paints a dangerously different picture than the one offered by Tom Schultz, the chief of the USFS, who has repeatedly assured lawmakers and the public that the agency is fully prepared for the onslaught in fire activity expected through this year. It’s already been busy. So far this year there have been more than 41,000 wildfires – an amount nearly 31% higher than the ten-year average. “In terms of firefighting capacity we are there,” Schultz said during a Senate committee hearing on 10 July, claiming the USFS had hit 99% of hiring goals. He repeated the claim multiple times.

Read More

The Longleaf Alliance seeks areas to harvest pine cone crops

By Jennifer Allen
Coastal Review – North Carolina Coastal Federation
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

©NC Forest Service

The U.S. Forest Service estimates that the cone crop for longleaf pines in the Southeast will be “poor for 2025,” according to the “Longleaf Pine Cone Prospects for 2025”. Because of the anticipated seed shortage … the Longleaf Alliance is scouting for locations to harvest in the fall. Based on observations collected earlier this year … researchers estimate the average for seed-producing cones is 12.4 per tree this fall. The study …defines a good crop as 50 to 99 green cones per tree, a fair crop as 25 to 49, poor as 10 to 24, and a failed crop as less than 10 seed-bearing cones per tree. Once plentiful, the longleaf pine could be found on an estimated 90 million acres in the coastal plains between southeast Virginia to eastern Texas. … [but] demand grew exponentially when the turpentine industry took off, nearly stripping the ecosystem of the native pine. Today, its estimated that there’s around 5 million acres remaining. 

Read More

Colorado state forester, fire chiefs raise alarm about further federal cuts that would impact fire preparedness

By Ryan Spencer
The Summit Daily
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Brad White

Colorado Fire Chief Brad White, of Grand Fire Protection District No. 1, says he’s worried “there’s not a lot of extra help to be had this summer.” Mass layoffs and voluntary resignation programs under the Trump administration have reshaped federal agencies, like the U.S. Forest Service, that typically work in close coordination with local and state officials to not only battle wildfires but prepare for and protect against them. Colorado is made up of vast swathes of federal land. The U.S. Forest Service alone owns about one-fifth of the state’s land, with most of that in the mountains, where the federal government is the largest landowner in many counties. But federal land management agencies have shed thousands of employees in just six months. …Colorado officials are concerned that these cuts could disrupt years of wildfire preparedness and make the state more vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires.

Read More

Repairing a watershed: Local control is a path toward healthier forest

By Riley Yuan
The Chinook Observer
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

After months of deliberation, a years-old vision to restore local control of some of Pacific and Wahkiakum counties’ most productive timberlands is a step closer to becoming a reality. Last Tuesday, representatives from the Columbia Land Trust presented to both sets of commissioners a near-complete draft of the charter for the Upper Grays River Community Forest. The document lays out the legal framework and governance structure for a working forest in the upper Grays River watershed, which will straddle the boundary between the two counties. “The purpose… is to provide a legal entity… to undertake, assist with and otherwise facilitate the acquisition, ownership, maintenance, harvest, and management of a community forest or forests within Pacific County and Wahkiakum County to provide economic, environmental and community benefits to the public,” the charter’s fourth article reads.

Read More

Will Increased Timber Harvesting on Federal Lands Reduce Growing Wildfire Hazards?

By Matthew Wibbenmeyer and David N. Wear
Resources for the Future – Report
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

On March 1, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to develop plans to increase timber production on federal lands. The order was motivated by two stated priorities: expanding the timber supply and addressing rising wildfire risks. The US Forest Service has responded with a goal of increasing timber offered for sale by 25 percent over the next four to five years. This report puts the Trump administration’s actions into context by reviewing the history of harvest from federal lands and evaluating current forest inventories and treatment needs. It asks: What would be the effect on wildfire risk if federal land management agencies increased harvests by 25 percent? Opportunities for harvests that successfully mitigate risk may be limited by the absence of active timber markets, the availability of a qualified workforce, and the economics of fuel removals.

Read More

A plan to shoot 450,000 owls — to save a different owl — could be in jeopardy

By Lila Seidman
The LA Times
July 19, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

An unusual alliance of Republican lawmakers and animal rights advocates, together with others, is creating storm clouds for a plan to protect one threatened owl by killing a more common one. Last August, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a plan to shoot roughly 450,000 barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington over three decades. The barred owls have been out-competing imperiled northern spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest, as well as California spotted owls, pushing them out of their territory. Supporters of the approach — including conservation groups and prominent scientists — believe the cull is necessary to avert disastrous consequences for the spotted owls. Last month, The Times has found, federal officials canceled three owl-related grants to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife totaling roughly $1.1 million, including one study that would remove barred owls from over 192,000 acres in Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

Read More

Climate Change Is Making Fire Weather Worse for World’s Forests

By Rebecca Dzombak
The New York Times
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

In 2023 and 2024, the hottest years on record, more than 78 million acres of forests burned around the globe. The fires sent veils of smoke and several billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, subjecting millions of people to poor air quality. Extreme forest-fire years are becoming more common because of climate change, new research suggests. Boreal forests lost more than two times the canopy area in 2023-24 compared with the period between 2002 and 2022, the study found. Tropical forests saw three times as much loss, and North American forests lost nearly four times as much canopy, mostly because of Canada’s wildfires. Significant losses were in remote forests, far from human activities. That isolation suggests fires are increasing primarily because of climate change, said Calum Cunningham, a fire geographer at the University of Tasmania who was not involved with the study. “Chronic changes in climate are making these forests more conducive to burning,” Dr. Cunningham said. [a paid subscription is required to read this article]

Read More

Threads of the Tongass: Building a sustainable future

By Jasz Garrett
The Juneau Empire
July 19, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The days of clear-cutting the Tongass National Forest are over, with little chance of reviving the past. The Alaska Forest Association, tribal members, and environmentalists say a new future must be charted. Since the Clinton administration implemented the Roadless Rule in 2001, construction of new roads in wild areas of most national forests has been blocked. With no more roads being built and few companies willing to barge out the wood, it is difficult to imagine the return of mass logging. Timber operators expected to harvest 46 million board feet per year, a mix of young and old-growth, based on the 2016 Tongass Land and Resource Management plan. Viking Lumber Company in Klawock and Alcan Timber in Ketchikan acknowledge the time needed to transition to young-growth harvesting. “Threads of the Tongass” is a series of stories that explore how lives in Southeast Alaska are interwoven with the Tongass National Forest during a time of political, cultural and environmental change.

Read More

Groups sue US Fish and Wildlife Service over protections for red tree vole on Oregon Coast

By Rose Shimberg
The Salem Statesman Journal
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

Conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 17 for denying Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections to the north Oregon Coast population of red tree voles. The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Bird Alliance of Oregon, Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands, claims the USFWS’ February 2024 decision that the population was not warranted for ESA protections deprives it of critical protections necessary to ensure its survival. “Red tree voles have graced Oregon’s coastal old-growth forests for thousands of years, but we could lose them forever if they don’t get Endangered Species Act protections soon,” said Ryan Shannon, a senior attorney in the Center for Biological Diversity’s endangered species program. …Due to decades of logging, this population has been eliminated from most of its historic range. It also faces an existential threat from wildfire that is worsening under climate change, according to the lawsuit. 

Read More

New burn technology to be tested in Skyline Forest west of Bend

By Michael Kohn
The Bend Bulletin
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

The Oregon Department of Forestry is teaming up with the owner of 33,000 acres of private timberland west of Bend to test a new technology that reduces the amount of smoke produced during pile burning activities, and reduces wildfire risk. A pilot project is set to be held in October on Shanda Asset Management’s Skyline Forest, a vast swath of timberland that has long been the target of conservation efforts. The project entails using an air curtain burner — a container-sized unit that burns wood slash from thinning projects. Instead of releasing particulate matter into the atmosphere, these units capture smoke and produce biochar. It also reduces the risk of a wildfire caused by embers escaping from burning piles. Another advantage is limiting the spread of tree disease and insects — air curtain burners have proven to be better than pile burning when containment is needed.

Read More

Agreement Reached to Preserve Mature Ponderosa Pines in Southwest Colorado

The Center for Biological Diversity
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

DOLORES, Colo.— Forest health advocates have finalized an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service that will preserve tens of thousands of the largest, oldest ponderosa pine trees in Colorado’s San Juan National Forest. “Large, mature trees are critical for climate resilience, habitat and forest health” said John Rader, public lands program director for the San Juan Citizens Alliance. “We are pleased to reach a common-sense agreement that helps safeguard our forests from climate change and biodiversity loss.” In June 2023 San Juan Citizens Alliance and the Center for Biological Diversity sued the Forest Service in federal court over its approval of a nearly 23,000-acre timber project in the Dolores District of the San Juan National Forest. The project area is a watershed for the Dolores River and provides important habitat for elk, mule deer and raptor, including imperiled goshawks. It was extensively logged throughout the 1900s, and few mature ponderosa pines remain.

Read More

Wildfire that consumed North Rim ignites tragic debate

By Peterr Aleshire
Payson Roundup
July 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

©NationalParkService

ARIZONA — The dawning debate about the wildfire that jumped containment lines and destroyed the iconic, Grand Canyon Lodge underscores the trap that has frozen forest management efforts for half a century. The slow-moving Dragon Bravo fire sudden flared into a monster illustrates the extreme difficulty of restoring forest health after a century of clear cutting. …The National Park Service initially released reassuring bulletins suggesting fire crews would develop fire lines to contain the fire. …Then everything changed, as winds gusting to 40 miles an hour ushered in stormfronts. By July 12, the Dragon Fire had jumped containment lines. …The pattern Is all too familiar to fire ecology experts like ASU professor Stephen Pyne. He argues that… all-out fire suppression had increased tree densities across millions of acres of Northern Arizona from about 50 per acre to more like 1,000 per acre. …Moreover, construction of homes and towns in the most fire-prone landscapes has exploded.

Read More

Governor Evers urges Trump to reverse course on cuts to staff, programs affecting Wisconsin’s forestry industry

WisPolitics
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Tony Evers

MADISON — Governor Tony Evers sent a letter to US Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and the Trump Administration urging immediate action to reverse the administration’s misguided cuts to key investments and staff at the USDA that will negatively impact Wisconsin’s forestry industry. The letter is the second in recent months that Gov. Evers has sent to the Trump Administration. …Gov. Evers strongly opposed reported reductions in US Forest Service programs that support states in order to cover the costs of purging USDA of its expert workforce. The letter comes after Wisconsin officials were recently warned by USFS officials to expect less funding from the Urban and Community Forestry grant program. …The move represents a twofold blow for states like Wisconsin that depend heavily on forests for economic success.

Read More

A Sequoia Forest Grows in Detroit

By Michaela Haas
Reasons to be Cheerful
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Behind David Milarch’s desk in a large warehouse in rural Michigan grows the future of climate change solutions. Thousands of sequoias, coastal redwoods, oaks and a hundred other tree species form the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive (AATA), a living library of the world’s mightiest trees. These are not just any saplings — they all are descendants of so-called champion trees. …At 75, David Milarch is trying to save the world’s last old-growth forests from extinction — by using their DNA to help reverse climate change. …Cloning these giants is challenging. It involves scaling the trees to the high points where the newest growth sprouts, snipping off the most vital tips, and then coaxing them to root in a mix of soil and specialized hormones. While arborists believed it was impossible to clone redwoods older than 80 years because of their diminished vitality, Milarch proved them wrong.

Read More

USDA, Bighorn National Forest reexamining roadless areas

By Alex Hargrave
The Buffalo Bulletin
July 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

WYOMING — The future of roadless areas in the Bighorn National Forest and other national forest system lands is uncertain after the Trump administration announced that it would rescind the 2001 roadless rule. …Of the Bighorn National Forest’s 1.1 million acres, 600,000 acres are managed as inventoried roadless areas. In these areas, road construction and reconstruction and timber harvesting are prohibited. Rollins’ action will require environmental analysis, compliance with the Endangered Species Act, tribal consultation and coordination with affected states, according to the U.S. Forest Service. So, at this point, how the proposal will impact forest management is uncertain. …Bighorn National Forest Supervisor Andrew Johnson said he planned to seek a technical correction to the forest’s roadless boundaries from Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. Johnson said that roughly 50% of the forest’s suitable timber base is located in areas designated as roadless.

Read More

Kansas could get stiffed by the White House for this year’s firefighting and forestry programs

By Celia Llopis-Jepsen
KCUR
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

©Kansas Forest Service

The money lets Kansas train more than 1,500 firefighters per year across the state and helps get trucks, generators and hand-tools for rural fire departments. Most of the Kansas Forest Service’s budget for this fiscal year might simply not show up. That’s the fear — with just 2.5 months left in the federal fiscal year — as the Trump administration continues to withhold federal money that states and tribal governments use for forestry and for preventing and combating wildfires. “One of the main things we do with this funding is provide training, response resources, response assistance” for wildfires, State Forester Jason Hartman said. …Rural departments are the vital, frontline responders when it comes to the kind of fires that the Kansas Forest Service focuses on preventing and combating — wildfires that sweep across the state’s prairies and woodlands. …Kansas sees about 4,000 wildfires each year.

Read More

How Lightning Is Quietly Reshaping Forests

By Technical University of Munich
ScienceBlog
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

@Wikipedia

Lightning may strike in an instant, but its ecological toll lingers for years. According to a new global study published in Global Change Biology, lightning directly kills approximately 320 million trees each year — a number that rivals other major causes of forest disturbance but has gone largely unrecognized. These deaths release an estimated 0.21–0.30 gigatons of carbon annually, underscoring lightning’s surprising role in shaping forest structure and the global carbon cycle. While lightning has long been associated with wildfires, its direct impact on tree mortality has rarely been quantified. To address this gap, researchers at the Technical University of Munich integrated lightning mortality into a dynamic global vegetation model known as LPJ-GUESS. …Most of this mortality occurs in tropical Africa, where both lightning density and the prevalence of tall, vulnerable trees are high. However, the study also found that as climate change intensifies thunderstorms, lightning-induced tree deaths could increase in temperate and boreal forests.

Read More

In Ukraine’s bombed out reservoir a huge forest has grown – is it a return to life or a toxic timebomb?

By Vincent Mundy
The Guardian
July 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

At the southern tip of Europe’s largest river island, the ground falls away into a vast and unexpected vista. From a high, rocky ledge on Khortytsia Island, the view opens on to a sea of swaying young willows and mirrored lagoons. Some of the trees are already many metres tall, but this is a young forest. Just a few years ago, all of it was under water. “This is Velykyi Luh – the Great Meadow,” says Valeriy Babko, a retired history teacher and army veteran, standing on the former reservoir shoreline at Malokaterynivka village. For him, this extraordinary new-old environment represents more than nature alone. “It is an ancient, mythic terrain, woven through Ukrainian folklore,” he says. “Think of all those Cossacks galloping through its valleys of forests so dense the sun barely pierced them.”

Read More

A nation mobilized: Türkiye’s relentless battle against forest fires

The Daily Sabah
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The General Directorate of Forestry (OGM) under Türkiye’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has issued a stark warning, urging extreme caution as temperatures are forecast to rise by 6 to 12 degrees Celsius between July 19 and 25. As record-breaking summer heat and dry winds sweep across the Mediterranean basin, Türkiye is once again on the front lines of a growing global crisis: forest fires. Citing meteorological data, the OGM emphasized that a combination of soaring heat, low humidity and wind can create a dangerous trifecta, fueling wildfires that spread rapidly and with devastating intensity. “Even a moment of carelessness can ignite a fire of catastrophic scale,” the statement read. Citizens are urged not to burn brush, discard cigarette butts, light open fires or leave glass bottles in nature during this critical period. With 86% of wildfires caused by human activity, the risk is real and preventable.

Read More

Interview with FSC’s Subhra Bhattacharjee

By Hans Nicholas Jong
Mongabay
July 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Subhra Bhattacharjee

The Forestry Stewardship Council, a voluntary global certification was established in 1993 by environmentalists, Indigenous groups, human rights advocates and the timber industry to help ensure sustainable forestry practices. A recent report has raised alarm over the implementation of the remedy framework, which allows companies to reclaim certification if they redress past environmental and social harms. Mongabay interviewed FSC’s new director-general, Subhra Bhattacharjee, who stressed Indonesia’s role in how the remedy framework will be implemented worldwide. “When you think of Indonesia, you think of these lush natural tropical forests. You think of the breadth of the biodiversity … sometimes it takes my breath away, the kind of biodiversity we have. The world depends on these natural tropical forests,” she says.

Read More