April 24, 2026 HFHC News Round Up
Interior Secretary Blames National Park Service for Spread of Grand Canyon Wildfire (Gear Junkie)
The wildfire that consumed the Grand Canyon’s North Rim last summer was one of the most destructive in its history. Named the Dragon Bravo fire, it burned through more than 145,000 acres of the park and destroyed dozens of historic buildings — including the Grand Canyon Lodge. It closed much of the park for months. In the immediate aftermath, many observers asked how a wildfire spread out of control at one of the country’s most popular national parks. Even Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs weighed in, demanding an investigation into the National Park Service’s actions. This week, during testimony before a House committee, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum placed the blame squarely on the National Park Service (NPS).
Burgum: Jury’s out on whether Congress must OK fire program mergers (Greenwire)
Trump administration officials are split on whether they need a congressional green light to move the nation’s massive firefighting operations at the Forest Service to the Interior Department. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has led an effort by the administration to consolidate the fire program across public lands, declined to confirm for Senate appropriators Wednesday that he believes Congress must approve his proposal. “I’ll defer to the solicitor’s office on that, because I haven’t heard a final opinion one way or the other,” he said during a committee hearing to discuss the department’s proposed budget, before committing to speaking with the lawmakers again after a determination from his agency lawyers. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who oversees the Forest Service, said while talks are going on between the federal agencies, she suspected Congress would need to weigh in. (Subscription Required)
California accelerates wildfire projects to protect high risk communities (FSJA)
California has approved more than 300 wildfire projects across nearly 57,000 acres within 300 days of an emergency proclamation to fast-track forest management. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) confirmed on March 20 that agencies coordinated to reduce review times for critical safety work. Some projects now receive approval in as little as 30 days. This streamlined process aims to address the ongoing risk of catastrophic fires threatening communities throughout the state. The Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force shared these updates following a regional meeting in the Sierra Nevada on March 19. Task Force Director Patrick Wright said: “Across California, Task Force partners are proving that when we remove barriers and work together, wildfire resilience can happen faster and at the scale our communities and landscapes need.
Chief’s media tour (Chief’s Media Tour)
Follow along as Chief Schultz explains the Forest Service Reorganization to audiences across the country: Myths, Directives, and Dead Lodgepole: A Frank Conversation with Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz — America Outdoors and Idaho Outfitters and Guides Podcast- A deep dive aimed at field level partners, addressing misconceptions, clarifying operational directives and discussing on the ground realities shaping the need for structural update; AFRC Podcast: Sustainable Forests. Healthy Communities — American Forest Resource Council: A stakeholder focused conversation highlighting how the reorganization supports sustainable forest management, industry collaboration and community resilience.
Forest Service won’t issue commercial huckleberry permits for Gifford Pinchot in 2026 (Nisqually Valley News)
The U.S. Forest Service’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest announced on Tuesday that commercial huckleberry permits will not be issued in 2026. According to a news release from the Forest Service, the decision reflects a commitment to tribal treaty rights and trust responsibility, ecological recovery and a long-term management approach built on genuine collaboration and long-term sustainability…Huckleberry fields across the forest are experiencing long-term decline from conifer encroachment, fire suppression, drought and invasive species. The Forest Service has a long history of huckleberry restoration through timber harvest, prescribed fire and vegetation treatments, the release stated. Active restoration projects with huckleberry components include the Yellowjacket Project in the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District, precommercial thinning in the Mount Adams Ranger District and the forest-wide plantation thin environmental assessment.
The Impact – The Debate Over DNR’s New Forest Conservation Policy (TVW)
A 2025 policy shift at DNR set aside tens of thousands of acres of structurally complex forests and older trees. Celebrated by some groups and criticized by others, the change has sparked debate over the future of timber-dependent counties, rural jobs, biodiversity, and how Washington manages older trees that aren’t yet old growth. We explore different perspectives on the issue with Heath Heikkila of the American Forest Resource Council and Miguel Pérez-Gibson of Washington Conservation Action.
Washington closes campgrounds, cuts recreation services amid $8M budget shortfall (My Northwest)
Washington’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced Wednesday it will shut down four campgrounds for the entire 2026 season and shorten access at several more. DNR said the cutbacks come after more than $8 million in budget cuts to the agency’s recreation program over the past two years…The operating budget for DNR’s recreation program was cut by more than 20% in 2025. Lawmakers slashed an additional $580,000 in maintenance funding during the 2026 legislative session, bringing total reductions to more than $8 million in the 2025-2027 biennium. Upthegrove said DNR has just 60 field staff to cover the entire state – that’s one employee for every 21.6 miles of trail, the department said.
Questions arise about Forest Service archives amid agency ‘restructuring’ (KUNM)
Almost a month after the Trump Administration announced it was going to “restructure” the U.S. Forest Service, environmental groups are growing increasingly worried about what this move means for a number of important, historical files in the agency’s archives. The restructuring would be a major shift for the U.S. Forest Service – moving the agency’s headquarters from Washington D.C. to Salt Lake City and consolidating scores of research centers and regional offices across the country.
Doran: Fix Our Forests Act (Times Argus)
On March 17, an article ran in VTDigger titled “Is Fix Our Forest Act a fix or a free pass for loggers?” I would like to answer the question posed by that headline: It is indeed a fix and in no way a “free pass” for loggers. The article and others have also noted U.S. Sen. Peter Welch has drawn substantial criticism for reversing his position from initially opposing the Fix Our Forests Act to voting to advance the bill. I would argue he instead deserves credit for a willingness to change his position based on a better understanding of the issue and the stakes. Vermont is the fourth-most forested state in the U.S., and its forests are central to its identity and economy. Conserving them for the future should be a priority for every resident. That’s why the bill, which now awaits final action from Congress, deserves support from Vermonters and their elected representatives.
Federal Policy Moves Target Water, Power, and Economic Stability Across Southern Oregon (Grants Pass Tribune)
A series of federal initiatives now moving through Congress could reshape how water is allocated, how energy is managed, and how economic policy reaches households across Oregon, with particularly direct consequences for communities in the southern part of the state. At the forefront is proposed legislation aimed at changing how decisions are made under the Endangered Species Act when it comes to federally managed water systems. The measure would require federal agencies to include local water users more directly in consultation processes tied to environmental protections. In regions like Southern Oregon, where irrigation districts, farmers, and municipalities rely heavily on consistent water access, even minor regulatory shifts can carry significant economic consequences.
Greenhouse Gas Emission Benefits from the Forest Products Industry (WBCSD)
The report “Greenhouse Gas Emission benefits from the Forest Products Industry” quantifies greenhouse gas emissions avoided by the global forest products industry through the use of biomass fuels, energy-efficient processes, recycling, and product substitution. It concludes that the total GHG emission benefit of the activities studied is 2.27 Gigatons CO2e annually, i.e. the equivalent of the annual emissions of one billion homes. Written by NCASI for the Forest Solutions Group, the report draws on the most recent available data, life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies and updated counterfactuals.
America’s Largest Landowner Is Using AI to Digitize the Forest (Wall Street Journal)
Autonomous skidders that drag felled trees around logging sites. A database detailing each tree in the forest. A screen that shows loggers which trees to cut and which to leave standing to maximize financial returns decades down the line. Weyerhaeuser WY 1.07%increase; green up pointing triangle, the country’s top logger and one of its oldest companies, is betting artificial intelligence can deliver these and other big changes to American forestry, which has come a long way from oxen and axes. Many applications envisioned by Weyerhaeuser executives are unique to a company that manages timberlands in the U.S. and Canada that together cover an area roughly the size of Indiana. “We’ve been growing forests for 125 years. We probably have as much information and data about how forests grow as any organization on the planet,” Chief Executive Devin Stockfish said in an interview. “The opportunity set here is really leveraging this new transformational technology to take all of that information and data and make everything we do better.”
Market Update: Plywood Market Recovery After Winter Lows (Freres Wood)
After a long stretch of challenging market conditions, the past four weeks have marked the strongest run of sales we have seen in nearly two years. More importantly, those sales have come with meaningful price appreciation—something that has been difficult to achieve in the recent market environment. Coming out of winter, commodity plywood prices in the western markets remained at historically low mill levels. In many cases, pricing had been sitting below sustainable levels for producers, leaving very little margin to support continued operations. That landscape has shifted noticeably over the past month.
Winter 2025/26 – Producers’ Perspectives from the Lake States Region (Forest Resources Association)
Winter, and the frozen soil conditions it promises, is a critical operating period for the forest products industry in the Lake States region. In Minnesota alone, winter logging accounts for about 53% of the state’s annual wood production — a figure that likely reflects the broader reliance on winter harvest across the northern tier of the region. A good winter can set the stage for a strong year across the entire forestry supply chain. Over the past few weeks, I spoke with several prominent producers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan to gather their perspectives on the Winter of 2025/2026. Their experiences revealed both shared struggles and striking regional differences.
Mass Timber Building Tops Out at Western State Hospital (Pacific Builder & Engineer)
Construction crews have placed the final structural beam on Western State Hospital’s new mass timber administration building in Lakewood, Washington. HOK is leading the design for the administration building and an adjacent 350-bed forensic psychiatric hospital, both currently under construction. The three-story, 57,000-square-foot administration building features a framing system comprised of regionally sourced wood columns and beams and cross-laminated timber decking. HOK worked with the structural engineer KPFF to develop concealed proprietary connections and fasteners that attach the glulam beams and columns. The design, with its exposed wood interior, celebrates the local history of the timber industry while pushing the envelope of sustainable design. Some of the building’s timber columns are made from trees harvested directly from the site.
Mass Timber’s 40-Fold Growth Curve — USDA Charts it, Big Tech Builds it (Wood Central)
Big tech is now responsible for swallowing more than 10 per cent of all mass timber produced across the United States, with Microsoft, Amazon and Meta the main drivers in a trade in timber which, according to a recent USDA-led study, could grow 25-to-40-fold to 2070, climbing from 0.362 million cubic metres in 2020 to potentially up to 15 million cubic metres every year by 2070.
Tillamook Burn: An Old Scar That Healed (Seaside Signal)
Driving from Portland to the Coast on the Sunset Highway, near the corner where Clatsop, Columbia, Washington and Tillamook counties touch each other, one passes a highway sign: “Entering the Tillamook Burn.” Driving on, the motorist goes through a region of young, growing trees, with patches here and there of the giant “old growth” firs, remnants of the vast forest that once covered these Coast Range hills. The patches of big, old trees are survivors of one of the greatest single disasters that ever struck the Northwest — the terrible Tillamook forest fire of August 1933 — and of its two big successor fires in 1939 and 1945. The new, young trees are evidence that nature, aided by man, is slowly recovering from the disaster.
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