April 27, 2026 HFHC News Round Up
Padilla, Curtis: We still aren’t doing enough to prevent the next devastating wildfire (The Hill)
At the start of last year, ash and smoke consumed the skies over Los Angeles. Homes, businesses and entire neighborhoods went up in flames, and 31 lives were tragically lost. It’s been over a year since we promised to never forget the victims or the lives uprooted, yet families are still fighting every day to recover from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires. This isn’t a tragedy confined by state lines; it’s a crisis across the entire American West, as fire seasons continue to lengthen and intensify. In 2025, Utah faced its highest fire activity since 2020, with nearly 165,000 acres of land scorched — a staggering number that exceeds the 2022, 2023 and 2024 fire seasons combined.
Environmentalists push to block road access in Montana grizzly, trout habitat (Courthouse News Service)
Environmental groups on Thursday urged a federal judge to toss the U.S. Forest Service’s amendment to a forest plan which they claim allows the agency an unconstrained ability to construct roads through grizzly bear and bull trout habitat. “There is no question that forest roads harm grizzly bears and bull trout,” argued Patton Dycus, Earthjustice attorney representing the plaintiffs. The Forest Service approved a programmatic amendment to the Bitterroot Forest Plan in 2023, removing a 1987 standard restricting road density and motorized access. The Bitterroot National Forest spans over 1.5 million acres of public land in west-central Montana and east-central Idaho. It encompasses the Sapphire and Bitterroot Mountains.
Forest Service proposal aims to boost timber economies (Montana Public Radio)
The U.S. Forest Service wants to reserve timber harvests from three national forests in Montana for processing at local lumber mills. It’s relying on an 80-year-old law to do so. That’s according to new reporting from Montana Free Press’ Amanda Eggert. The proposal is for a so-called “sustained yield.” The Forest Service would annually designate 35 million board feet of timber from the Helena-Lewis and Clark, Custer Gallatin and Beaverhead-Deerlodge national forests for the mills. Eggert says the government has pitched the policy as a way to bolster the state’s wood products industry, which has suffered setbacks in recent years. “So they’re pointing to things like the closure of the Pyramid Mountain mill in Seeley Lake and the closure of the Roseburg wood products facility in the Missoula area and saying that we really need to give those businesses more certainty and stability in their wood supply,” Eggert says.
Custer Gallatin National Forest proposes timber and fuels treatments at Chalk Buttes (Ekalaka Eagle)
The Sioux Ranger District of the Custer Gallatin National Forest is proposing a series of vegetation management treatments on approximately 4,354 acres in the Chalk Buttes area of Carter County, about 10 miles southwest of Ekalaka. The project area is bordered by Powderville Road to the north and Chalk Buttes Road to the southeast. The Chalk Buttes Project aims to manage the area’s fire-adapted ecosystem, restoring and improving overall ecosystem resiliency using a variety of management tools while providing timber products to support local industry. Proposed treatments include commercial timber harvest, non-commercial mechanical and hand-thinning treatments, and prescribed fire. Secondary prescribed fire or noncommercial treatments would be conducted five to 15 years later to maintain the benefits of the initial work.
Forest Service seeks input on Twin Mountain II Timber Sale Project (USDA Forest Service)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service will publish a notice of availability in the Federal Register tomorrow for the Twin Mountain II Timber Sale Project draft environmental impact statement. The project is located on Prince of Wales Island in the Tongass National Forest. This notice initiates a 45-day public comment period, giving stakeholders an opportunity to review the analysis and provide input on proposed activities. “The Twin Mountain II Timber Sale Project will provide valuable resources toward supporting a viable timber industry in southeast Alaska and providing jobs and opportunities for Alaskans,” said Tongass National Forest Supervisor Monique Nelson. “Providing a supply of timber to the American people is a central part of the Forest Service’s mission and we continue to fulfill that obligation as part of our agency’s multiple-use mandate.”
Farmers, Ranchers, and Resource-Based Communities — Take Note (The Daily World)
I am deeply disappointed by efforts to portray Washington’s new non-fish stream (Np) buffer rule as a straightforward triumph of science, law, and consensus. This rule carries with it over $1 billion in costs to the state of Washington with no discernible benefit to fish. Let that sink in for a moment. I was a timber caucus representative who actively negotiated Forests and Fish — the agreement that became the foundation of a 50-year Habitat Conservation Plan that brought together tribes and forest landowners in support of salmon recovery and a viable forest industry. The stakeholders who helped build that agreement should be especially troubled by what this process became. No one disputes the importance of clean water, healthy streams, and salmon recovery. Private forest landowners have contributed thousands of acres of riparian habitat, restored hundreds of miles of fish spawning grounds, and operated for decades under one of the most comprehensive forest practices systems in the country — because those goals matter.
Trump canceled the National Nature Assessment first announced in Seattle. Scientists will publish it anyway (OPB)
On Earth Day in 2022, President Biden spoke in Seattle, announcing an executive order that created the first-ever national assessment of nature. Two and a half years later, President Trump rescinded the effort on his first day in office. But the team that had started the work — led by a professor at the University of Washington — refused to give it up. Now, an 868-hundred page draft of the assessment is out for public comment, with plans for publication by the end of this year.
Chief Schultz- Arbor Day: Roots of conservation (USDA Forest Service)
Every year on the last Friday in April, Arbor Day invites us to plant trees and reflect on the importance of our collective efforts across all landscapes. As an agency, the Forest Service is uniquely positioned to support and celebrate this observance. Arbor Day encourages people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees—work that is core to who we are. Every day, we partner to restore forests, planting millions of trees annually. Our goal is to reforest over 250 million trees on more than 1 million acres of national forest lands over the next five years. And this year, we are drawing even more attention to what we do through activities related to Freedom 250 and the Forests250 initiative. Last year, we planted more than 22 million trees. Our national reforestation partners, including the National Forest Foundation, American Forests, Arbor Day and One Tree Planted, collectively contributed almost $8 million toward seedling cost for those trees. Together, we reforested more than 285,000 acres.
Democrat Takes on German Aristocrats in Battle Over US Forests (Newsweek)
Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is escalating pressure on a German noble family that controls land in Wahkiakum County, in a plea to help local residents regain access to a forest area for hunting that she said has become increasingly restricted. The Washington Democrat sent her letter to Bolko Graf von der Schulenburg and Constantin Freiherr von Wendt, managing partners of the timber company Salm Schulenburg, and said local communities need access to the land as hunting in the areas is not only a “cultural tradition” but also a way to “put food on the table.” “Many in my community have shared that they are concerned this could reach a violent boiling point if people continue to be boxed out of the woods they have had access to for generations,” she wrote. The two noblemen have already responded to Gluesenkamp Perez in a letter, shared with Newsweek, to inform her that “neither Mr. Schulenburg nor Mr. Wendt personally owns the land in question.”
Could Changes to the U.S. Forest Service Erase a Century of Historical Documents? (Inside Climate)
Sweeping changes underway at the federal agency tasked with protecting the nation’s forests could result in the loss of more than a century of critical historical documents, conservationists warn. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service announced a major restructuring at the end of March that includes closing all 10 regional offices. Those offices house troves of archival documents—many of which are not digitized—that chronicle the history in the nation’s forests. Thus far, the agency has not made public its plans to keep that information safe. The Forest Service archives include data and records from the 120 years that the agency has operated, as well as historical documents going back to the 1800s. Included among them are photographs showing changes in forest landscapes, scientific research data, land management records and samples of water and plants.
A truce appears in the ‘Hands Off Our Yards’ wildfire landscaping wars (LA Times)
California proposed a compromise on landscaping rules in fire-prone areas: Grass and small plants could sit within five feet of homes in fire-prone areas, but plants would be banned within one foot of homes. Homeowners would have up to five years to comply, but costs could exceed $4,500 per property, raising concerns about affordability. Insurance companies and some cities may impose stricter requirements than state rules.
LA County supervisor thanks Trump for meeting on wildfire recovery, says other states ‘in line’ asking for FEMA help (The Hill)
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger (R) on Friday thanked President Trump for meeting with her and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) about wildfire recovery efforts, but noted that other states are “in line” requesting assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Barger told CNN’s Elex Michaelson that she spoke with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday about other natural disasters that impacted states like North Carolina, Florida and Texas.
Wisconsin architects using engineered wood to build skyscrapers (WXPR)
Picture yourself in a wind-swept forest. Leaves are rustling and trunks are creaking as trees sway to and fro. This oscillation might seem precarious, but it’s actually an ancient adaptation: If pines and firs and all the others were perfectly stiff, a gust would snap them. So instead, they flex. Now teleport yourself to the top floor of a skyscraper during the same windstorm, ever so slightly bending in the same way. A tree’s clever evolutionary trick, you see, has made the modern metropolis possible: As towers reached higher and higher in the early 20th century, architects used not wood but steel to create giants that would similarly flex in hurricane-force winds and as earthquakes rattled their foundations.
DOJ expands timber trafficking crackdown with analyst hires, foreign enforcement push (Traders Union)
The U.S. Justice Department is stepping up enforcement against illegal cross-border timber trade as it frames the issue as both an economic and national security risk. The effort includes new intelligence analyst roles, added support from a DOJ trade fraud initiative, and renewed overseas training programs tied to timber investigations.
ALC-Idaho celebrates 60 years of service to loggers, haulers (CDA Press)
The Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho is celebrating a major milestone marking 60 years of service to independent logging and wood-hauling companies across the Gem State and beyond. The association, known by its members as ALC-Idaho, is a trade organization formed in 1966 to serve as the industry’s voice in Boise and Washington, D.C. The ALC-Idaho was set to celebrate the anniversary — 1966 to 2026 — Friday and today during its 60th Annual Spring Member Meeting in Orofino. As the ALC’s membership gathers to celebrate its history, Executive Director Clete Edmunson said it’s a great time to honor its founders. “Those independent log and log haulers who set aside their differences to create a unified voice called the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho were ahead of their time and they did it right,” Edmunson said.
SC Logging Industry raises money for children’s charity (Walterboro Live)
“Log A Load For Kids”, in conjunction with the Children’s Miracle Network, hosted its annual “sporting clays” Fundraiser on Wednesday, April 8th, 2026, at Broxton Bridge Plantation in Ehrhardt. 60 shooters participated in the event, that raised over $27,000.00 for the Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital at MUSC in Charleston. The generosity of our loyal supporters is a testament to the great people we have in our timber industry.
Forestry expo for middle schoolers returns to Philomath (Philomath News)
Eighth-graders fanned out across Downing Research Forest behind Philomath Middle School on Friday morning, climbing into logging equipment, watching wildfire burn demonstrations and learning to plant Douglas fir seedlings as the Paul and Genie Mortenson Forestry Expo Day returned for the first time since 2019. Roughly 125 students cycled through stations staffed by Starker Forests, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Miller Timber Services and the Oregon Department of Forestry — a familiar lineup of partners for an event that first launched in 2014, even if the faces behind the learning stations have changed.
Softwood Lumber Board publishes 2025 annual report, highlights growth in demand (Woodworking)
The Softwood Lumber Board recently published its 2025 Annual Report, highlighting the organization’s impact in expanding and protecting markets while driving measurable growth in softwood lumber demand. The SLB Annual Report is available online. “The SLB and its funded programs—the AWC, Think Wood, WoodWorks, and SLB Education—delivered solid results in 2025 despite a challenging construction environment, supporting the conversion of 1,536 projects, representing 62 million square feet of construction, and generating 1.5 billion board feet of incremental demand,” said SLB President & CEO Cees de Jager. “These outcomes reflect both the resilience of SLB’s programs and the growing competitiveness of lumber-based building systems.”
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