Daily News for August 19, 2025

Today’s Takeaway

Rick Doman appointed chair of BC’s Forestry Innovation Investment

The Tree Frog Forestry News
August 19, 2025
Category: Today's Takeaway

Veteran industry leader Rick Doman has been appointed chair of BC’s Forestry Innovation Investment board. In other Business news: BC’s T-MAR Industries unveils the world’s first hybrid-electric logging yarder; US housing starts climb to 5-month high; and builder confidence remains stalled at low levels. Meanwhile: George Brcko departs Wells Gray Community Forest as Casey Macaulay steps in; BC Wood highlights the upcoming Global Buyers Mission, and the Southern Forest Products Association celebrates its largest EXPO since 2000.

In Forestry/Wildfire news: Canada invests $.5M in firefighter training; forecasters say fire activity will extend into the fall; Indigenous leaders stress disproportionate impacts on their communities; and wildfire updates from Vancouver Island, Nova Scotia/New Brunswick, and Spain/Portugal. Meanwhile: BC’s Forest Practices Board announces audit of licence in spotted owl habitat; debate continues on the role of active management in the US West; CAL FIRE commits $5M for workforce training, and Oregon’s timber counties face a funding cliff.

Finally, Forestnet’s Anthony Robinson launches a new podcast series.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor

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Business & Politics

New board chair appointed to Forestry Innovation Investment

By Ministry of Forests
Government of British Columbia
August 18, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

Rick Doman has been appointed to the Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) board as chair. Doman brings more than 40 years of experience in Canada’s forestry industry to the role. Getting his start in the lumber operation and sales department in his family’s forestry business, he eventually moved to managing the sawmill, logging and pulp operations. He then oversaw the North American lumber sales and later the global lumber and pulp operations and sales, where he cut his teeth on global lumber and pulp marketing. From 2001 until 2018, Doman held different positions as chief executive director, chairman and director in several forestry companies, including Western Forest Products and EACOM Timber Corporation, which he founded. In 2021, Doman also co-founded GreenFirst Forest Products, West Kitikmeot Resources and Boreal Carbon Corporation. Doman’s specialized experience with growing global forestry markets and founding and overseeing multiple forestry companies has positioned him to bring a valuable perspective to Forestry Innovation Investment’s board.

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General manager changes for Wells Gray Community Forest

By Monica Lamb-Yorski
The Williams Lake Tribune
August 18, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

George Brcko

Casey Macaulay

George Brcko is leaving his general manager position at the Wells Gray Community Forests to take on a new role with the Ministry of Forests in Kamloops. After an impressive 26-year career in forestry in the North Thompson Valley, George Brcko is concluding his tenure as the Wells Gray Community Forest (WGCF), marking the end of an era for both the organization and the wider North Thompson Valley. …During the 2025  BCCFA annual general meeting and conference, he was given a certificate of recognition that highlighted his dedication to the board, exceptional leadership as manager of the WGCF and his contributions to the sustainability and growth of community forests throughout B.C. …Casey Macaulay will be replacing Brcko as the new general manager of the WGCF. A registered professional forester, Macaulay has worked in forestry since the 1990s, including in the Clearwater area where he lived from 1996 to 2004. 

Related coverage from Wells Gray Community Forest: George Brcko Moving on from General Manager Position with Wells Gray Community Forest and Casey Macaulay Appointed General Manager

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BC manufacturer debuts first hybrid-electric logging yarder

By Robin Grant
Today in BC – Black Press
August 18, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

CAMPBELL RIVER, BC — T-MAR Industries, which has been producing machines for the logging sector for the past 40 years, is developing and building the very first hybrid-electric logging yarder. T-MAR has spent the past five years developing the 7280E Hybrid Electric Drive Yarder, which operates with electric drives that exchange power similar to a hybrid car. “It doesn’t have the mechanical powertrain – engine, transmission, gears, clutches and brakes – in it, so it is more fuel efficient, making it more powerful, and much easier to run and maintain,” explained Tyson Lambert, at T-MAR. The winch operates using five motors that collectively produce 2,900 horsepower, he said. However, the actual energy consumption is expected to be significantly lower. …These days, Lambert said, efficiency is important, along with ease of access. And T-MAR’s hybrid-electric logging yarder has attracted international attention from the US, New Zealand, Germany, and Chile.

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Finance & Economics

US Housing Starts Rise to Five-Month High, Led by Multifamily

By Max Sexton
Mortgage Professional America Magazine
August 19, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Boosted by a surge in the multifamily sector, US housing starts saw a sizeable jump in July, posting the highest total of starts since February. Housing completions were also up in July, while building permits were down. According to the numbers released by the US Census Bureau on Tuesday, overall housing starts totaled 1.428 million in July, up 5.2% from June and 12.9% above July 2024. It was the highest number of overall starts since February’s 1.490 million. The sector was paced by buildings with five or more units, which had 470,000 starts in July, up from 421,000 in June. This is the highest total of multifamily starts in more than a year. Single-family housing starts were also up, coming in at 939,000 for July. This reflects a 2.8% increase month over month; however, totals are still low compared to most months over the last year. …Odeta Kushi, at First American, said the single-family housing starts numbers are concerning.

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US Builder Confidence Plateaus at Relatively Low Level

By Robert Dietz, Chief Economist
NAHB Eye on Housing
August 18, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Elevated mortgage rates, weak buyer traffic and ongoing supply-side challenges continued to act as a drag on builder confidence in August, as sentiment levels remain in a holding pattern at a low level. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 32 in August, down one point from July, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Builder sentiment has now been in negative territory for 16 consecutive months and has hovered at a relatively low reading between 32 and 34 since May. …In further signs of a soft housing market, the latest HMI survey also revealed that 37% of builders reported cutting prices in August down from 38% in July. This share has remained at 37% or 38% for the past three months. …The HMI index gauging current sales conditions fell one point in August to a level of 35 while the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months held steady at 43. 

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Wood Connections – News for BC’s Wood Products Industry

BC Wood Specialties Group
August 18, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Read the latest newsletter from BC Wood, headlines include:

  • Premier Eby to Open the 22nd Annual Global Buyers Mission: BC Wood is thrilled to announce that Premier David Eby will open the 22nd Annual Global Buyers Mission on Friday, September 5th. His welcome address will set the stage for the opening of the tradeshow.
  • The Tariff Challenge & Market Diversification Panel at the GBM: Minister Ravi Parmar will introduce the panel. Moderator, Mo Amir will lead an in depth discussion with panelists Nick Arkel, Liz Kovach, and Kurt Niquidet.
  • 2025 BC Timber Building Technical Tour: The UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) announced that the British Columbia Timber Building Technical Tour has been rescheduled to October 20–24, 2025
  • Industrial Wood Finishing Certificate Program: CAWP has announced the program for the 2026 Industrial Wood Finishing Certificate Program.
  • BC Wood’s JC Lee will be attending Korea’s largest construction and architectural exhibition ‘KOREA BUILD WEEK 2026’

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Forestry

More wildfire activity expected across Canada, experts say

By Kyle Duncan
CBC News
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Western provinces and the East Coast should remain on alert for the possibility of more wildfire activity throughout the rest of summer, based on the latest federal government update. Wide swaths of B.C. and the prairie provinces are expected to be drier and hotter than normal. Federal government forecasters also see above-average seasonal temperatures for most of the country over the next three months. Typically in the more northern regions, fire activity starts to wind down around September as cooler weather sets in and the days grow shorter. Not this year. Federal bureaucrats said there’s a high likelihood that the large fires currently burning will continue well into the fall amid the higher temperatures. …Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said “it’s been a really hot and dry summer and this has of course contributed to above-normal fire activity in BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.”

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One in seven First Nations impacted as Canada battles raging wildfires

By Xonal Gupta
National Observer
August 19, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

As wildfires scorch Canada amid its second-worst wildfire season on record, Indigenous leaders and experts say the country’s approach remains reactive — leaving Indigenous communities disproportionately vulnerable. At a Monday press conference, federal officials reported that 707 wildfires are currently active nationwide. The extreme fire activity has strained firefighting resources, prompting Canada to deploy over 560 international firefighters from six countries alongside Canadian personnel. This situation is particularly dire for Indigenous communities. Jen Baron, a postdoctoral researcher and incoming assistant professor at the University of BC’s Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, said… Many First Nations communities are “overexposed and underserved.” Remote, fly-in communities with minimal access routes face significant risks in evacuation and recovery. The infrastructure gaps make an already dangerous situation much worse, Baron said. Some federal investments have targeted these gaps. This week, officials announced a $540,000 commitment to two wildfire training programs.

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Canada Invests $540,300 in Firefighting Training

Natural Resources Canada
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

OTTAWA — Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced an investment of $540,300 for two projects through the Government of Canada’s Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate Program (FMWCC) – Training Fund. The funding includes: $335,000 to Yorkton Tribal Council in Yorkton, Saskatchewan… [and] $204,800 to the Rural Municipality of Piney, Manitoba. Through this investment, community members in Manitoba and Saskatchewan — two provinces that have faced severe wildfire conditions this year — will receive wildland firefighting training to enhance their communities’ capacity to prepare and respond to wildfires. …The addition of these 95 trainees has us on track to train over 2,800 wildland firefighters in Canada, greatly surpassing our original target of training over 1,000 community members.

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Forests Canada and Cariboo Carbon to plant 2.3 million trees in areas devastated by wildfires

By Forests Canada
Cision Newswire
August 19, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

BARRIE, ON – As Canada faces rampant wildfires, non-profit charity Forests Canada and forestry consulting firm Cariboo Carbon Solutions are partnering to help private landowners and First Nations communities restore their forests. They supported the planting of 100,000 trees in North Shuswap and Criss Creek, British Columbia in response to the 2023 Bush Creek East wildfire and will plant 2.2 million in other areas of the province over the next five years. “Canada is facing a devastating wildfire crisis,” Elizabeth Jarrett, Chief Operating Officer, Forests Canada, says. “This new partnership will enable us to support restoration efforts.” In regions across British Columbia, Cariboo Carbon Solutions is providing private landowners and First Nations communities that have been devastated by wildfires with professional reforestation services for their properties. After the successful planting of 100,000 trees in North Shuswap and Criss Creek this spring, the organization is looking to support other communities in BC.

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BC Forest Practices Board to audit forestry operations near Pemberton

BC Forest Practices Board
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will conduct an audit of Tsetspa7 Forestry Limited Partnership’s Forest Licence A83924 in the Sea to Sky Natural Resource District. Beginning Aug. 25, 2025 it will examine forestry activities carried out under the licence from Aug. 1, 2023… [The licence] covers an operating area of about 115,000 hectares centred on the lower Lillooet River … 50 kilometres southeast of Pemberton. The licence is jointly held by the Skatin, Samahquam and Xa’xtsa (Douglas) First Nations, and Lizzie Bay Logging Ltd. The tenure is managed by Chartwell Resource Group Ltd. Tsetspa7 … manages an allowable annual cut of about 45,000 cubic metres. The audit area is rich in cultural, historical, ecological and recreational values, with high recreational use for fishing, hot springs, hiking, kayaking and camping. It provides critical habitat for the endangered northern spotted owl and contains First Nations cultural places and cultural management areas designated under the Sea-to-Sky Land and Resource Management Plan.

Additional coverage by the Canadian Press in Business in Vancouver: Forestry audit scheduled for B.C. licence for land covering spotted owl habitat

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Old forests, new fires, and a scientific standoff over active management

By John Cannon
Mongabay
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Photographs of forests in the western U.S. from the mid-1800s show a starkly different reality compared to today, says Paul Hessburg, an ecologist at the University of Washington. …Today, many of these forests are overgrown and dominated by younger trees. Back then, they were typically more open — “park-like”. …Fire played an integral role — perhaps the integral role — in shaping these ecosystems. …Hessburg and others see the rejection of active management in part as a response to the “legacy” of commercial, industrial-scale logging of natural forests. Those rampant harvests often took the oldest and largest trees in the U.S., before a mix of science, policy and advocacy for species like the northern spotted owl caused a shift away from the practice in the 1990s. …“We created a climate that’s hostile to people and health and forests,” he says. What’s critical now is finding ways to adjust, for both ourselves and our forests. 

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Forest Products EXPO 2025 Largest Show Since 2000

Southern Forest Products Association
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

EXPO 2025: Fine Tune Your Strategy. That was the agenda for the 38th Forest Products Machinery & Equipment EXPO from August 6-8, 2025, at the Music City Center in Nashville, and early feedback shows exhibitors and attendees alike were able to successfully collaborate to drive their operations forward. “The Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) hosting the Forest Products EXPO in Nashville for a second time continued to far surpass our expectations,” said Eric Gee, SFPA’s executive director. “I’m beyond proud of our exhibiting companies, whose creativity and hard work transformed the exhibit hall into an outstanding hub of innovation, connection, and opportunity.” The event boasted 243 exhibiting companies and a record number of exhibitors since 2000, representing 185 product categories, and nearly 1,000 attendees, including 60 first-time exhibitors. Early survey responses from attendees were positive, with many lauding the location and Music City Center, the opportunities for networking with industry colleagues and meeting new vendors, and the variety of exhibits.

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CAL FIRE invests $5M to expand biomass use and train forestry workers

By Debbie Sklar
Times of San Diego
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has awarded $5 million in grant funding to eight projects aimed at creating jobs, training future forestry workers, and helping small businesses expand their role in protecting forests and communities from wildfire. The funding comes through CAL FIRE’s Business and Workforce Development Grant program, which supports innovative approaches to reducing wildfire risk and promoting rural economic growth. Since its launch in 2022, the program has awarded over $100 million to more than 100 projects statewide. “From hands-on training for young adults to new mass timber production right here in California, these projects are helping build a more resilient future for our forests and our communities,” said Assistant Chief John McCarthy of CAL FIRE’s Wood Products & Bioenergy Team.

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Oregon timber counties flail, awaiting Congress to renew key funding

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
August 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A budget crisis a century in the making is coming to a head as Oregon’s rural counties. The crisis originates with a compromise from the era of President Teddy Roosevelt and was prolonged by piecemeal solutions made during the Timber Wars of the 1990s. Now the president’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill removes a key funding source for Oregon’s timber counties. If nothing is done, rural counties could find themselves with no money to pay for sheriff’s departments or other essential needs. …Many rural Oregon counties once relied on a portion of revenue from trees logged on federal lands to cover the costs of essential services. That federal land doesn’t generate local property taxes… So the federal government started sharing a portion of its logging revenues with those counties. When those declined, federal lawmakers came up with the Secure Rural Schools program. …But Congress needs to regularly re-authorize the program.

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Victoria invests $10M in plantations to secure timber supply for manufacturing

By Kate B.
Australian Manufacturing
August 19, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

AUSTRALIA — The Victorian Government has announced new funding to accelerate the establishment of timber plantations across the state, aiming to boost supply for construction and manufacturing while creating regional jobs. Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence said the government will provide $10 million under the Victorian Plantation Support Program to establish long-rotation timber plantations. …“Victoria is already home to the nation’s largest plantation estate, and this funding will continue to strengthen our thriving and resilient timber industry.” Under the program, Victorian growers developing new plantations can receive up to $1,000 per hectare, with combined Commonwealth and state funding allowing up to $3,000 per hectare for projects of 20 hectares or more. …The government said the plantations sector is critical to regional economies, providing long-term resource security for housing, infrastructure, paper, packaging, and other manufacturing needs.

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Forestnet Media launches podcast series

By Anthony Robinson
LinkedIn
August 15, 2025
Category: Forestry

Our First Podcast Episode Is Live. In our very first Forestnet Media Inc. Podcast, I sat down with Sam Noster in my Sunshine Coast workshop to share my journey — from tree planting and mill work to running Logging & Sawmilling Journal and TimberWest Magazine. We dig into: How forestry has shaped my career and perspective; Innovation and leadership in today’s industry; Why forestry has one of the most compelling sustainability stories out there; and The challenges and opportunities ahead for the sector. This is the start of something new for us — a place to have real conversations with people who make forestry happen. Please like, subscribe, and check out our channel for more stories. If you have a great topic or guest idea, get in touch about joining Sam and I on a future episode.

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Forest Fires

Wildfire season’s ‘not slowing down’: emergency management minister

By Kyle Duggan
Canadian Press in Victoria Times Colonist
August 18, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada

OTTAWA — Western provinces and the East Coast should remain on alert for the possibility of more wildfire activity throughout the rest of summer, based on the latest federal government update. Wide swaths of B.C. and the prairie provinces are expected to be drier and hotter than normal. Federal government forecasters also see above-average seasonal temperatures for most of the country over the next three months. Typically in the more northern regions, fire activity starts to wind down around September as cooler weather sets in and the days grow shorter. Not this year. Federal bureaucrats said there’s a high likelihood that the large fires currently burning will continue well into the fall amid the higher temperatures. “Wildfire season’s not slowing down,” Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said at a virtual press conference in Ottawa on Monday.

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Mount Underwood wildfire less intense but still burning out of control

By Hannah Link
Canadian Press in the Victoria Times Colonist
August 18, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

©BCWildfireService

The B.C. Wildfire Service said about 36 millimetres of rain has fallen on the Vancouver Island blaze since Thursday, and the fire is not expected to return to intensity levels seen last week, although warmer and drier weather is on the way mid-week. Weather forecasts show cloudy skies, moderate temperatures and possible rain, which should help keep fire activity in check, the service said. The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District says on Facebook it has closed its clean air relief centre for local residents as smoke levels from the Mount Underwood fire drop, but power and cellphone services remain out for residents of Bamfield, and the main road access to the community remains closed. The regional district says Telus is sending a mobile cell tower to the area. It’s scheduled to arrive later this week to restore telecom services in Bamfield. About 3,671 hectares have been burned in the fire.

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Unhelpful weather conditions add fuel to wildfires in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

The Canadian Press in the Financial Post
August 18, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

©NovaScotiaGovt

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says the weather is not co-operating in his province’s fight against a major wildfire burning out of control in the Annapolis Valley. “Unfortunately, the weather this weekend was not in our favour. The dry conditions continued. The heat continued. The wind was blowing the wrong way. All terrible news when you’re facing a fire,” Houston told reporters on Monday. Of the six wildfires burning across the province, the Long Lake fire in Annapolis County was causing the most trouble. …Triggered by lightning, the wildfire has grown to more than 32 square kilometres, officials said. Earlier in the day, they had estimated the fire was 20 square kilometres, but improved visibility in the afternoon permitted officials to get a more precise measurement. Officials declared a state of emergency in Annapolis County on Saturday. About 100 homes were evacuated in the heavily wooded West Dalhousie area, about 125 kilometres west of Halifax.

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Spain and Portugal fires kill two more as Spanish troops battle blazes

By Danai Nesta Kupemba
BBC News
August 18, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

Spain has sent 500 more troops to fight raging wildfires, bringing the total deployed to 1,900, as the death toll from the blazes has risen to four. On Sunday, a firefighter died after an accident during firefighting efforts when his truck fell down a steep hill, the Castile and León regional government said. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed “sadness” and “desolation” on X at the latest death. In neighbouring Portugal, where fires are also blazing, another firefighter was killed on Sunday in a “tragic” traffic accident, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said. Fires have also broken out in Greece, France, Turkey and the Balkans as a heatwave has scorched swathes of southern Europe. Several large fires are still burning in the northwest and west of Spain, where 27,000 residents are currently evacuated from their homes.

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