Daily News for September 12, 2025

Today’s Takeaway

US Fed still expected to cut interest rates despite jump in inflation

The Tree Frog Forestry News
September 12, 2025
Category: Today's Takeaway

The US Fed is still expected to cut interest rates next week despite a jump in inflation. In other Business news: the scope of pollution from Washington’s defunct Cosmopolis pulp mill is unknown; Russia’s Segezha Group cuts 350 jobs at its Novoeniseysk sawmill; and EU wood pellet consumption is set to rebound. Meanwhile: FSC US announced its 2025 Leadership Awards, while SFI Canada highlighted funding for Indigenous-led Climate Smart projects.

In BC Forestry news: more on the Pacheedaht First Nation effort to end the Walbran Valley blockade; Williams Lake is hosting a ‘contemplative forestry‘ workshop; Prince George protesters call for an end to glyphosate spraying; and UBC forestry prof Shannon Hagerman on environmental social science in forestry. Elsewhere: Nova Scotia funds projects to save hemlock trees; Ontario clears storm-felled timber from Samuel de Champlain Park; Coulson says Saskatchewan paid too much for its new firefighting planes; the UK opened a new seed bank; and the US decision to issue smoke masks to firefighters doesn’t apply to arduous work.

Finally: a NASA image of an Idaho’s forest chessboard reflects 19th century forest management.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor

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Business & Politics

Sask. government paid $100M too much for new firefighting planes, B.C.-based manufacturer says

By Geoff Leo
CBC News
September 11, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Coulson Aircrane says the Saskatchewan government has agreed to pay more than twice what it should have for four firefighting aircraft — a decision the B.C.-based company says will cost Saskatchewan taxpayers an extra $100 million. Coulson, one of the leading companies in the world for retrofitting planes for firefighting, made the claim last month in an application to the Court of King’s Bench. “We are concerned the government of Saskatchewan has awarded a very large (over $187,000,000) contract for forest fire airplanes, without affording any reasonable opportunity to Coulson or any other competitor to bid on the contract,” says an affidavit filed by company president Britt Coulson. Coulson is asking the court to quash the sale and order a fair, transparent competition. …He says the government failed to hold a proper, competitive tendering process, resulting in Conair making “an immense profit.” …Conair has declined to comment, as the matter is before the courts.

 

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How polluted is Cosmopolis’ defunct pulp mill? We don’t know, Washington state says

By Conrad Swanson
The Seattle Times in the Chronicle
September 11, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

Washington’s Department of Ecology is escalating its cleanup strategy for a once-prosperous pulp mill outside of Aberdeen, while its latest owner continues to push back against regulators. The first order of business is finding out just how bad pollution spread from the Cosmo Specialty Fiber mill, about 100 miles southwest of Seattle, is. State environmental regulators know the place is leaking acid and other toxics, sometimes in residential neighborhoods or into the Chehalis River, but they say the true scope of the contamination remains unknown. …The defunct mill’s current owner, Richard Bassett, has proved a difficult partner for state and federal officials, increasingly defiant as he struggles to reopen the site while arguing about the conditions there. Whether he can reopen the mill or not, Ha Tran, Ecology’s project coordinator for the site, said Bassett and past owners will be expected to clean up the site in Cosmopolis. 

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Segezha Group to cut 350 jobs at Novoeniseysk sawmill in Russia

Lesprom Network
September 11, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

RUSSIA — Segezha Group is reducing the workforce at the Novoeniseysky Wood-Chemical Complex in Lesosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, affecting 350 out of 1,000 employees. …Novoeniseysky is one of three city-forming enterprises in Lesosibirsk and ranks second in the region’s forest industry after Lesosibirsk LDK No. 1, also owned by Segezha Group. Both plants historically focused on exports, and the loss of European markets has dealt a significant blow to operations. …Attempts to redirect exports to Asia have faced challenges, including price pressure from Chinese buyers and severe congestion on the Russian Railways’ Eastern route. Rising logistics costs and transport delays continue to erode profitability, as reported by Russian site Dela. …Segezha Group’s revenue fell by 8% year-on-year. …The group reported an adjusted net loss of 15.9 billion rubles ($182 million), up 68% from the same period last year. Lumber sales declined by 6% to 1.0 million m3, with China accounting for 78% of the total volume. 

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Finance & Economics

US inflation rises ahead of key interest rate decision

By Danielle Kaye
BBC News
September 11, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

US inflation rose in August at the fastest pace since the beginning of the year ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting where it will decide whether to cut or hold interest rates. Consumer prices increased 2.9% in the year to August, up from 2.7% the previous month. The US central bank has kept interest rates unchanged since last year as policymakers continued to monitor the effect of President Trump’s import tariffs on consumer prices. …The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates next week. The new data is unlikely to derail those forecasts but the uptick in inflation is poised to keep policymakers cautious as they weigh rate cuts in the months ahead. …As well as inflation, the Fed has become increasingly focused on job market weakness. …And on Thursday, the Labor Department reported a jump in weekly unemployment filings to 263,000 – the highest level in nearly four years.

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EU Wood Pellets Consumption Expected To Expand In 2025

By Erin Krueger
Biomass Magazine
September 11, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, International

Wood pellet consumption in the European Union is expected to begin to rebound this year, reaching 23.45 million metric tons with increases for both residential and industrial use, according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network. According to report, EU consumption of wood pellets declined in 2023 and 2024 due to a mild winter, high stocks, lower power prices and power plant outages. Increased consumption in 2025 is also expected to push imports higher. The EU is expected to produce 20.5 million metric tons of wood pellets in 2025, up from 19.9 million in 2024 and 19.97 million in 2023. Imports are expected to reach 4.68 million metric tons this year, up from 4.48 million metric tons last year and 4.9 million metric tons in 2023. Exports are expected to reach 1.7 million metric tons in 2025, up from 1.66 million metric tons in 2024 and 1.17 million metric tons in 2023. 

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Forestry

Sustainable Forestry Initiative Announces Funded Support for Indigenous-Led Climate Smart Forestry in Canada

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Ottawa, ON—The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is proud to announce funding for eight Indigenous organizations and their projects to advance Climate Smart Forestry (CSF) in Canada. SFI is supporting Indigenous-led projects to implement strategies that improve forest resiliency to a changing climate, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support Indigenous values. “The SFI Climate Smart Forestry Initiative is fostering new models of learning and collaboration, and we are committed to elevating Indigenous-led projects that can help us scale forest-based climate solutions across broader landscapes,” said Kathy Abusow, CEO and President of SFI. In 2024, SFI received a grant from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) which includes support for implementation of nature-based climate solutions. …In March of 2025, SFI issued a call for Expressions of Interest to support Indigenous-led CSF projects, awarding funds to eight Indigenous communities and Indigenous-owned entities. …The project is part of the SFI Climate Smart Forestry Initiative…

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B.C. First Nations and logging firm want Walbran Valley old-growth blockade to end

By Darryl Greer
The Canadian Press in the Victoria Times Colonist
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Supreme Court is set to rule on an injunction to halt a blockade against old-growth logging in the Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island, but a lawyer for one of the blockaders says the law is evolving and in need of a “course correction.” The Pacheedaht First Nation has decried the blockade on its traditional territory near Port Renfrew, B.C., claiming it is undermining its authority and should disband. The First Nation said in a statement that forestry is a “cornerstone” of its economy, and is calling for the blockaders to “stand down and leave.” The statement came after Tsawak-qin Forestry Inc., a firm co-owned by the Huu-ay-aht First Nations and Western Forest Products Inc., filed a lawsuit last week in B.C. Supreme Court alleging that “a group of largely unknown individuals” began the blockade of a road on Aug. 25.

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Branchlines: The Critical Role of Environmental Social Science in Forestry – Q&A with Prof. Shannon Hagerman

Branchlines UBC Faculty of Forestry
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Shannon Hagerman

In July 2024, Shannon Hagerman, UBC Forestry Professor and Dean and Vice-Provost pro tem in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, received the prestigious International Union of Forest Research Organizations Scientific Achievement Award for her work on human dimensions of forestry. Shannon is an environmental social scientist and an internationally recognized scholar in the interdisciplinary field of social-ecological systems. Her research focuses on policy and governance dimensions of novel approaches for conservation and resource management in response to climate change. … Most people working in forestry today would agree that addressing complex environmental challenges requires thoughtful engagement with people and communities. But the field of human dimensions goes further than engagement. It encompasses a diverse body of scholarship that examines how people interact with forests and the environment, and how these interactions are shaped by deeper social, political and cultural factors.

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Workshop in Williams Lake meets forestry approaches in the middle

By Andie Mollins
The Williams Lake Tribune
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The Cariboo Wood Innovation Training Hub (CWITH) is inviting people to bring their ideas and opinions to an upcoming workshop on contemplative forestry. The workshop will be facilitated by Jason Brown, an affiliate forest professional with Forest Professionals British Columbia, on Saturday, Sept. 20. Participants will explore the concept of contemplative forestry, an approach which meets two extreme views on forestry in the middle. …Stephanie Huska, project lead with CWITH, said the workshop is a way to open the door to conversations which historically have not been included in natural resource management discussions based on western worldviews. …A contemplative approach to forest management values manual work as a form of spiritual practice, allows forests to ‘speak’ for themselves, admits there are some aspects of life we don’t have the language for and sees forestry as a mutually beneficial, place-based vocation.

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Protesters demand better forestry practices outside of Prince George office

By Tommy Osborne
CKPG Today
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

James Steidle

PRINCE GEORGE – A protest was held outside of the Prince George Ministry of Forests Office, demanding the province stops sparing forests with glyphosate, which is a herbicide. “We are utterly destroying our forests. And the issue is that people think about forests, and all they’re thinking about is the two by fours that the forest produces. They don’t think about any of the other things, so then they’re managed in terms of making more two by fours, literally at the expense of every other value,” said Gerd Erasmus, one of several who attended the protest. Organized by the “Stop the Spray BC,” group, this group has been protesting against glyphosate in forests for years. And according to the group’s founder James Steidle, one of the biggest concerns is that this practice actually creates more fire risks.

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Eye on BC’s Forests

BC Forest Practices Board
September 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

As summer winds down, I’m pleased to welcome you to this special edition of the Forest Practices Board’s newsletter. This season marks a significant milestone for us—our 30th anniversary. For three decades, the Board has worked diligently to provide independent oversight of forest and range practices in British Columbia, helping to ensure that our natural resources are managed sustainably and in the public interest. …This issue highlights some of the conversations, initiatives, audits, investigations and special reports the Board is involved in as we embark on this anniversary year.

Issue #29 – Summer 2025

  • The Board
  • Audit Program Update
  • Complaint Investigation Program Update
  • Special Projects Update
  • Appeals Program Update
  • Out in the Community
  • People
  • Farewells

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Glyphosate: The hidden fuel in Nova Scotia’s forest fire crisis

By Geoffrey Hurley, retired fisheries and environmental consultant
PNI Atlantic News
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

As Nova Scotia grapples with one of its most severe wildfire seasons, a controversial decision by the provincial government has flown under the radar: the approval of aerial glyphosate spraying on 3,577 acres of drought-stricken, fire-prone forest. This move not only risks human health and ecosystems but also exacerbates the very wildfires it claims to mitigate. …Glyphosate-based herbicides are used in forestry to kill deciduous plants and shrubs that compete with commercial softwood species. However, this practice replaces diverse, resilient forests with flammable monocultures. By inhibiting plant growth and causing vegetation to wilt and die, glyphosate leaves behind dry, combustible biomass — effectively turning forests into tinderboxes. In a province already parched by drought and under travel bans due to fire risks, adding fuel to the fire is nothing short of reckless.

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Province Supports Work to Save Hemlock Trees From Invasive Species

By Environment and Climate Change
The Government of Nova Scotia
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The government is supporting two projects to help save Nova Scotia’s hemlock trees from the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that attacks and kills the trees. Timothy Halman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced funding for: Acadia University’s hemlock woolly adelgid biocontrol facility; $356,214, including $156,214 from the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund and $200,000 from the federal Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund; and the Town of Bridgewater’s hemlock preservation project; $255,500 from the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund. “The hemlock is one of Nova Scotia’s most special and beautiful trees,” said Minister Halman. “Across the province, Nova Scotians, community groups, the Mi’kmaq and all three levels of government are working together with fierce determination to save hemlock trees and forests. This funding will support that vital work.” Hemlock trees are one of Nova Scotia’s largest and longest-living tree species and are an important part of old-growth forests. 

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‘It is a clear-cut operation’: Trees cleared out for lumber at provincial park hit by summer storm

By Jonathan Migneault
CBC News
September 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Northeastern Ontario’s Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park has transformed into a temporary logging operation due to a storm that knocked down thousands of trees in June. “It is a clear-cut operation,” said Bill Steer, general manager of the Canadian Ecology Centre, which is located inside the park that is just west of Mattawa. On June 21, powerful winds from a downburst hit the park. It downed thousands of trees, which destroyed some trailers and vehicles in the park. Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson with Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, said the ministry has been working with the Algonquin Forestry Authority on cleanup and salvage operations in the park. The forestry authority has hired local contractors to process the fallen trees. Wheeler said some have been turned into hydro poles and others will be assessed for lumber.

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Forest Stewardship Council U.S. Names Chestnut Carbon as the 2025 FSC President’s Award Winner

By Forest Stewardship Council – US
EIN Presswire
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

St. Louis, Missouri  — Forest Stewardship Council U.S. President Sarah Billig announced the second annual President’s Award at the organization’s 2025 Stewardship in Action Conference on Sept. 10 in St. Louis, Missouri. Chestnut Carbon, a leading developer of nature-based carbon removal projects, was selected as the winner. The President’s Award gives top-level recognition to this outstanding organization at the forefront of sustainable afforestation and improved forest management. The FSC U.S. President’s Award is the highest honor of the broader Leadership Awards program, which recognizes excellence in the use of FSC-certified products, materials, and commitment to responsible forest management across industries, as well as in advocacy, conservation and individual leadership in the FSC community. …Chestnut builds long-term projects that offset carbon emissions by cultivating biodiverse forest ecosystems, improving air and water quality, and supporting local communities. 

Additional coverage in News Channel Nebraska: Forest Stewardship Council US Announces 2025 Leadership Awards

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Private timber lands restrict access due to vandalism and littering concerns

By Bobby Corser
KATU News
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

LINCOLN COUNTY, Oregon — Travelers exploring private timber lands along the Oregon Coast may encounter locked gates or restricted access, but this is not due to a desire to keep citizens off the property, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said. The closures are a response to increasing incidents of littering, vehicle abandonment, theft of forest products, and criminal mischief. Common acts of vandalism include property destruction by 4x4s and ATVs in unauthorized areas and damage to road access gates, officials said. These actions not only destroy the natural beauty of the forests but also incur costs for cleanup and repairs, which are paid by private timber companies and taxpayers.

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Future of British forests rests in new seed bank

By Paul Burnell
BBC News
September 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The UK’s largest and most advanced seed centre has opened in Cheshire. The store near Delamere Forest will process four tonnes of seeds every year, which Forestry England said was enough to grow millions of trees for decades to come. It added the centre was “a significant milestone in protecting the future resilience of our forests”. Forestry Minister Mary Creagh said the building was “nationally significant” because it was “part of our climate resilience”.  Creagh added: “We are the largest wood importer in the world, and in a climate-constrained future we are going to have to grow more of our own.” The centre, funded through the Nature for Climate Fund and Forestry England, aims to provide seeds to grow climate-adapted trees. …Tristram Hilborn, chief operating officer of Forestry England, said: “What we need to consider for 100 a years’ time is the sort of trees that will thrive in that sort of climate.”

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

The weak land carbon sink hypothesis

By James Anderson, Yue Li, Weiwei Fu, et al
Science Advances
September 10, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

In the Northern Hemisphere, the more than twofold difference between the atmospheric inversion and remote sensing–derived estimate of the net land carbon sink is an unresolved puzzle that challenges our fundamental understanding of the global carbon cycle. We provide several lines of evidence that much of this discrepancy can be resolved by a weak net land carbon sink that is distributed mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, together with a relatively small reduction in the magnitude of fossil fuel emissions and a small increase in ocean uptake. …A strong land carbon sink, as identified in past research, has often been used to support the potential of nature-based climate solutions in meeting climate stabilization targets. However, if the weak land sink hypothesis is correct, then the role of CO2 fertilization in enhancing forest carbon stocks might be overestimated. At the same time, projections of carbon accumulation in reforestation and afforestation projects may be optimistic too. 

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Health & Safety

U.S. Forest Service reverses course, issues masks to wildland firefighters but keeps ban in place

By Fedor Zarkhin
Fire Rescue 1
September 11, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States

The US Forest Service will begin providing wildfire crews with masks to protect against smoke, reversing a decades-long policy banning protective gear after The NY Times spotlighted severe health impacts from smoke exposure. For decades, federal wildland firefighters were not given masks, even as researchers and labor groups warned of the long-term risks, the Times found. The Forest Service said masks could cause firefighters to overheat. …The agency now recommends masks for light use, though still bans it for arduous work. …FireRescue1 readers respond: “The policy is preposterous. No one makes such excuses for structural firefighting, where the heat load is much, much greater.” …“Heat stress is a short-term condition that can be immediately remedied by mandatory rest and work cycle adjustment. Lung issues usually last forever. A better respirator that is slimmer, lighter and maintainable needs to be created and the forest service needs to use them.

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Forest Fires

Wildfire near Lynn Lake started at mining site after burn piles weren’t properly extinguished: court docs

By Kristin Annable
CBC News
September 11, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

Provincial investigators looking into the cause of this spring’s wildfire near Lynn Lake, Man., allege it started at the nearby Alamos Gold Inc. mining site and that the company was negligent because it didn’t use water to extinguish its burn piles, according to search warrant documents obtained by CBC News. Manitoba Conservation investigators allege the fire, which eventually grew to over 85,000 hectares, started on May 7 after a burn pile reignited at the Toronto-based gold producer’s MacLellan mine site, about 7.5 kilometres northeast of Lynn Lake. By late May, the fire had come within five kilometres of Lynn Lake and forced the evacuation of the nearly 600 residents of the town… Dozens of properties in the area were destroyed. …The investigators asked Alamos Gold staff how they ensured the burn piles were extinguished. The workers said they stirred the piles and installed a fire guard around them, according to the documents. 

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Forest History & Archives

This Remote Forest in Idaho Looks Like a Giant “Chessboard”

By Harry Baker
NASA in Live Science
September 9, 2025
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States

IDAHO — A bizarre checkerboard pattern etched into the forests of northern Idaho has captured global attention after an astronaut aboard the International Space Station snapped a striking image of the area from space. The photo reveals an enormous grid of dark and light squares surrounding the Priest River, forming a vast natural “chessboard” that spans several miles. The geometric arrangement is the result of a land management strategy dating back nearly two centuries, intended to balance timber harvesting with forest regeneration. …The image was taken on January 4, 2017, by an unnamed astronaut with the NASA/ISS program. …The origins of the chessboard pattern date back to a forest management initiative developed in the 1800s. Timber was selectively harvested from alternating squares, leaving the others untouched to maintain ecological balance and promote regeneration.

 

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