Daily News for August 25, 2026

Today’s Takeaway

Thank you for visiting the Tree Frog Forestry News

The Tree Frog Forestry News
August 25, 2026
Category: Today's Takeaway

Hello early bird! We just want you to know that the news team is busy adding stories to this page. Be sure to check back at 9:00 am (PST) for the full line up of articles.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor

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Business & Politics

Canada is no U.S. ‘subsidiary,’ Carney says, urging world to take lesson

By Uday Rana
Global News
August 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Canada will “of course” come to the negotiating table again, but not to be treated like a “subsidiary” of the US, Prime Minister Carney said after US President Trump imposed 50% tariffs and threatened more. “An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the US…  that’s not something we’re going to accept,” Carney said. …“There is a mutually beneficial deal possible here, but it has to be one that respects Canada’s sovereignty, that respects our independence, that uses our complementary strengths to build something better,” Carney added. …Trump on Monday said, “Someone should get these clowns to “fall in line” or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!” …Canada’s forestry sector groups welcomed the federal government’s decision to extend support for businesses affected by Trump’s new tariffs. …The new tariffs could take off between 0.3 to 0.5 per cent off Canada’s GDP, said Deloitte’s Dawn Desjardins. 

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FPAC Calls for Immediate Action as New U.S. Tariffs Hit Canada’s Forest Sector

By Rebecca Rogers
Forest Products Association of Canada
August 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Forest Products Association of Canada is deeply disappointed that new 50 per cent U.S. tariffs now affect a broad range of Canadian forest products following the collapse of the Canada-U.S Trade negotiations. “We appreciate the sustained efforts of Prime Minister Carney, Minister LeBlanc, lead negotiator Janice Charette, and Canada’s negotiating team. Canada was right not to accept terms that failed to provide a fair and reliable path forward. Unfortunately, with the introduction of new Section 338 tariffs, in addition to existing softwood lumber duties and Section 232 tariffs, Canada’s forest sector is among the hardest-hit in the country. We must move swiftly to protect Canadian forest sector employees, businesses, and communities,” said Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada. Canadian forest products are essential to integrated North American housing, construction, manufacturing and consumer-product supply chains. These tariffs will disrupt those supply chains and raise costs on both sides of the border.

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Concerns increase as Port Alberni’s largest employer faces U.S. tariffs

By Dean Stoltz
Chek News
August 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

The Domtar paper mill on the Port Alberni waterfront is the area’s biggest employer, with 350 people making specialized food packaging and food-grade papers. But in the light of a new round of 50% tariffs levied by US President Trump, Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions is worried about the future of those jobs. …In 2020, Domtar spent $13 million to switch production primarily to the food packaging grade paper, an important diversification at the time, but it’s unclear how much of it goes to the U.S. and would be subject to the new tariffs. …Industry analyst David Elstone says the entire BC forestry sector will be hit hard and it comes right after Domtar closed other mills, including at Crofton and Howe Sound. …”A billion dollars worth of BC wood products will now be subject to the new tariffs, including plywood, veneer, paper and packaging products, furniture, MDF and doors. And that’s what these tariffs go after: these value-added products,” said Elstone. 

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B.C. businesses hope Carney counter-tariffs can provide new opportunities for them

By Derrick Penner
The Vancouver Sun
August 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Hundreds of stunned B.C. businesses are scrambling. …Doug Pauze, president of Coastland Wood Industries woke up Saturday to an escalating trade war with a 50% tariff target on the wood veneer that Coastland produces. With about 50% of its product typically exported to the US… that means scaling back production. For now, he’ll will avoid layoffs among his 320 employees. What the industry needs from counter-tariffs, he added, is for Canada to put an equal focus on the same amount of competing wood products coming into Canada, because “there (are) no other market options.” …Prime Minister Carney has vowed to levy counter-tariffs on US imports. BC business owner Baha Naemi hopes his government focuses on markets where Canadians can fill any voids the counter-tariffs create. Naemi’s company, CanCorr, makes corrugated cardboard and boxes in Surrey. …BC imports more corrugated paper products from the US than it exports, creating opportunities for Canadian producers hit by tariffs.

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Trump’s trade war with Canada could rattle economies in states with key Senate races

By Bill Farrow and Patrick Whittle
The Associated Press in Bloomberg
August 25, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

PORTLAND, Maine — US President Trump’s trade war with Canada is escalating as the midterm elections approach, threatening Republican efforts to address voters’ economic concerns in a year when control of the US Senate hinges on states along the border between the US and its northern neighbor. The dispute flared over the weekend after negotiations broke down, leading Trump to raise tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian imports. Canada plans to announce tariffs of its own on Tuesday. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of Democrats’ top targets this year, warned that fallout from Trump’s approach would hurt U.S. businesses and consumers. The issue also puts pressure on Republicans in Michigan, Ohio and Alaska, states where Canada is an important trading partner. …“This is something where we don’t actually expect a huge impact,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters.

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Takeover bid offers lifeline to Fibre Excellence pulp mill in Saint-Gaudens, France

La Dépêche
August 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

SAINT-GAUDENS, France — A consortium backed by the Occitanie Region has submitted a takeover offer for Fibre Excellence’s Saint-Gaudens pulp mill, providing a potential lifeline for the troubled French producer. The proposal, which includes building-products group Soprema and other industrial partners, calls for €90 million in investment and would preserve approximately 270 jobs. The regional government’s investment agency, ARIS, submitted the bid while participating companies finalize their commitments. One European industrial group is expected to operate the pulp business, while Soprema plans to develop additional activities at the site. Fibre Excellence entered insolvency proceedings in April after its Indonesian shareholder declined further investment. The proposal can be refined until September 3, with the Toulouse Commercial Court scheduled to consider it September 8. [English translation by AI. The full story on La Dépêche is in French only]

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Trump’s tariffs on Canadian plywood and laminated wood panels just went into effect. What does it mean for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry?

By Daniel Jonas Roche
The Architect’s Newspaper
August 24, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, United States

“Tariffs on Canadian plywood will exacerbate the pressures already weighing on the entire construction sector, with the housing market poised to bear the heaviest burden,” AIA’s chief economist Richard Branch said. “For some time now,” Branch added, “a series of destabilizing factors has clouded the road ahead, making it difficult for developers and architecture firm leaders to plan future projects with confidence. When leaders in construction can’t make informed decisions, momentum stalls—and construction activity slows further.” …Thirty-six different types of plywood are impacted by Section 338 duties. The NAHB said the tariffs will increase housing costs and slow down construction. According to BC Wood, coniferous wood used for moldings, doors, floors, and more, particle board, medium-density fiberboard, and other products have been tariffed. …The Decorative Hardwood Association, Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association, and Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood are in favour of the tariffs.

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Forestry

Five ways Canada could grow out of the wildfire problem

By Vince Rutter
Northern Ontario Business
August 24, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Vince Rutter

Forest fire season in Canada is coming to a close. It will soon be replaced with the long and cold “forget about forest fire season” season that extends until late June of the following year. Late forest fire season is marked by a proliferation of the usual messaging… Did you know that climate change is making forest fire season worse? Shocking. …I’d like to celebrate the closing of the 2026 forest fire season with five solutions that we can begin to apply immediately that will actually progress towards solving the problem. 

  • Build bioenergy projects in every community within the boreal forest to consume the overabundance of forest fire fuel
  • Invest in cultural burning practices close to our communities
  • Use more wood
  • Update forest management frameworks to a post-rupture era
  • Create a national forest fire strategy and start a national Forestry youth corps.

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Georgia Forestry Foundation Partners with Huber Engineered Woods to Name Les Bateson the 2026 Georgia Forestry Teacher of the Year

By the Georgia Forestry Foundation
PR Newswire
August 24, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US East

Les Bateson (centre)

FORSYTH, Ga.,  — The Georgia Forestry Foundation (GFF), in partnership with Huber Engineered Woods, is proud to recognize 15-year agriculture education veteran Les Bateson of Wheeler County High School in Alamo, Georgia, as the 2026 Georgia Forestry Teacher of the Year. The award honors a Georgia classroom educator who goes above and beyond to teach students why the state’s forests matter to the environment, the economy and Georgia’s heritage. This prestigious award honors a Georgia classroom educator who has demonstrated exceptional dedication in teaching students about the importance of Georgia’s forests to our environment, economy and our heritage. …Bateson has built a forestry program at Wheeler County High School that gives students hands-on experience in tree identification, forest measurement, reforestation, prescribed burning and timber stand improvement by working with partners like the Georgia Forestry Commission. 

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Forest Fires

B.C. wildfires: Evacuation alert rescinded for Lions Bay residents

By Stephanie Ip
Vancouver Sun
August 24, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

An evacuation alert for 30 Lions Bay properties due to a nearby wildfire has been rescinded. The Village of Lions Bay issued the alert Sunday evening at 9 p.m. due to the Lone Tree Creek Wildfire but it was later rescinded on Monday after crews were able to hold the fire. A total of 30 homes, including properties on Oceanview Road and Kelvin Grove Road, had been told to prepare their things and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice should the alert be upgraded to an order. Those same residents were being notified directly on Monday that the alert had been cancelled. “While this is very positive news, response activities are continuing,” read a statement from the Village of Lions Bay.

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Firefighters make progress against a Nevada wildfire that’s destroyed more than 30 homes

By Haven Daly and John Seewer
Associated Press
August 24, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West

©InciWeb

RENO, Nevada — Crews have started to contain a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Reno, Nevada, that destroyed more than 30 homes as it spread perilously close to dense neighborhoods, officials said Monday. Containment reached 27% and there was no new growth of the Hawk Fire, which has held steady at about 23 square miles (60 square kilometers) since it burned out of control on Sunday, authorities said at an afternoon news briefing. “We are making progress,” said U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Matt Zumstein. The number of residents under evacuation orders and warnings was reduced to about 63,000, down from more than 90,000 people when the blaze mushroomed over the weekend. While winds have eased, there’s still concern that gusts could push the flames through dry brush into newly developed neighborhoods in Nevada’s largest city outside of metro Las Vegas.

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