Day 3 of the Truck Loggers Convention kicked off on Friday with a documentary about BC’s wildfire crisis. Other sessions included public perceptions of forestry, and a conversation with Conservative leader Trevor Halford. We’ve got a full wrap-up of Days 1-3 here. In Business news: Vancouver Island forestry workers reach tentative labour deal; Coulson Aviation sues US rival over firefighting deal; New Brunswick faces both energy and tariff challenges; the US Consul General speaks on the state of US-Canada trade; and a US/Taiwan chip deal comes with tariff relief for wood products.
In Forestry news: a BC judge rejects class action suit over deadly landslide; an Oregon judge blocks logging on 3 timber sales; a Montana Flathead National Forest thinning proposal is up for review; Washington state pursues carbon credits to offset logging revenue loss; and Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires kill 18.
Finally, this Canadian start-up makes pulp from straw instead of wood.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor
The final session of the Truck Loggers Association convention featured an on-stage conversation with Trevor Halford, Interim Leader of the Conservative Party of BC and current Leader of the Opposition, moderated by Vaughn Palmer. Joined by TLA President Dorian Uzzell, Vice President Bob Marquis, and Past President Aaron Service, the discussion focused on forestry policy, investment certainty, and regulatory conditions affecting contractors and communities. Halford pointed to permitting delays, regulatory complexity, and policy uncertainty as barriers to investment, arguing that businesses are prepared to invest but are being held back by slow approvals. Responding to questions on DRIPA, fibre supply, and the closure of the Crofton mill, Halford framed his party’s call for repeal and his broader critique around the need for clarity, predictability, and timely decision-making. Audience questions reinforced concerns about risk aversion within government and the need for clearer authority and accountability to sustain forestry employment across the province.
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Day Three of the Truck Loggers Association convention opened with a private screening of BC Is Burning, a documentary produced by professional forester Murray Wilson examining British Columbia’s escalating wildfire crisis and the forest conditions shaping fire behaviour. Introduced by moderator Vaughn Palmer as an “urgent, powerful documentary,” the film explores how fuel buildup, insect damage, drought, and decades of fire suppression have contributed to larger, more intense wildfires, while highlighting a range of forest management approaches being applied in BC and elsewhere, including California. The screening was followed by a Q&A moderated by Palmer with Dr. Carolyn Smyth of Natural Resources Canada, Rob Schweitzer of the Ministry of Forests and BC Wildfire Service, and Jim McGrath of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, all of whom also appeared in the film. Discussion focused on fuel mitigation, fire salvage, carbon dynamics, and policy and permitting constraints.
VANCOUVER ISLAND — About 100 unionized forestry workers on the north Island who’ve been on strike since June have reached a tentative agreement with La-kwa sa muqw Forestry Limited Partnership. The United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 and the LKSM Partnership announced in a joint statement that the agreement is subject to a ratification vote by the union, and no details are being released. “The USW bargaining committee has advised that they will be recommending that its members accept this agreement,” said the joint statement. The deal was reached with the assistance of the BC Labour Relations Board. …LKSM LP is the former Western Forest Products mid-Island forest operation, which remains majority-owned by Western Forest Products. The LKSM partnership is made up of the Tlowitsis, We Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum and K’ómoks First Nations, all members of the Nanwakolas Council. …The operations cover about 157,000 hectares near Campbell River and Sayward.
A letter from the Carleton-Victoria Forest Products Marketing Board to New Brunswick’s natural resources minister points to frustration building within the province’s forestry industry. The board’s general manager Kim Jensen, says some prices are the lowest they’ve seen in a decade. Jensen writes that US tariffs have been hard on the entire sector, including mills, but there’s been little support for private producers. “I have already heard from landowners who have changed their mind about having their woodlots cut,” she states. “Is the government’s long-term plan for the private forestry sector to just disappear? Because that is what is happening. Under your watch.” …Natural Resources Minister John Herron acknowledged that prices have declined since October. …But Herron didn’t mention any possible provincial support.” …J.D. Irving said 97% of the company’s lumber is under contract and not impacted by the price changes cited in the letter.
HÀ NỘI — Despite unprecedented challenges from global markets and the growing impacts of climate change, 2025 marked a historic milestone for Việt Nam’s wood industry, as export turnover of timber and wood products surpassed US$17 billion for the first time. According to data from Việt Nam Customs, exports of timber and wood products reached nearly $1.7 billion in December 2025 alone, bringing total export value for the year to $17.2 billion – an increase of nearly 6 per cent compared with 2024. In 2025, exports of timber and wood products to the US totalled $9.46 billion, up 4.4 per cent year on year and accounting for approximately 55 per cent of the industry’s total export turnover. Việt Nam continued to maintain its position as the largest supplier of wooden furniture to the US market. …Việt Nam’s market share of wooden furniture in the US increased significantly, rising from 40.5 per cent in the first eight months of 2024 to 45.3 per cent in the same period of 2025. 
On Jan. 15, 2026, four ministerial orders were signed to advance the implementation of the Gwa’ni Land Use Planning Project on Vancouver Island. The Gwa’ni Land Use Planning Project has been jointly developed by the B.C. government and ’Na̱mg̱is First Nation, with extensive input from industry, the public, communities, stakeholders and other interested parties. Among other goals, this project seeks to promote the values agreed upon through engagement, including: protect biodiversity, ecosystems and ’Na̱mg̱is First Nation cultural values within the Nimpkish Valley watershed; provide improved operational clarity for the forestry industry; and balance environmental, social and economic values within the planning area. The project supports the Tree Farm Licence 37 Forest Landscape Plan. In December 2025, ’Na̱mg̱is First Nation and the Province signed a joint decision-making agreement that advances reconciliation by supporting predictable harvesting and sustainable forestry operations on the north Island. 
For generations, caribou have sustained Cree families, their culture and their way of life. Now, that relationship is at a critical moment, as the Leaf River herd population continues to decline. The Cree Nation Government (CNG) have issued a territory-wide call to pause caribou hunting, urging Cree not to harvest across Eeyou Istchee, the traditional territory of the Cree of northern Quebec. “We’re going to have a hard time blaming somebody else for this issue because it is only First Nations that are hunting right now. We need to step up and be proactive,” said Paul John Murdoch, who is the grand chief of Eeyou Istchee. This decision was based on consultation from land users and study results from the Quebec government, said Murdoch. Leaf River herd consisted of approximately 136,000 caribou in 2025, down from 175,000 in 2024, according to wildlife studies. In 2000, the herd’s population was 600,000. That’s more than a 75 per cent decline in 25 years.
MONTANA — A proposal to use thinning and prescribed burning to remove vegetation across portions of the Flathead National Forest bordering the Middle Fork Flathead River has gained wide attention for its inclusion of sensitive management areas in the project’s 67,536-acre footprint, which provides wildlife with critical habitat and is one of the region’s most popular havens of outdoor recreation. But even as conservation groups push for additional layers of environmental review, proponents of the project, including industry leaders, recreation advocates and residents, say it’s needed to reduce the risk of wildfire in a corridor brimming with untreated fuels that threaten infrastructure and communities on US Highway 2, as well as to support local timber mills and improve forest health. If approved, portions of the project would occur in recommended wilderness areas, although the scope of that work would be confined to whitebark pine restoration and tree planting with hand tools. 
Chilean President Gabriel Boric has declared a state of catastrophe in two regions where deadly wildfires have left at least 18 people dead. More than 50,000 people have also been evacuated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, about 500km (300 miles) south of the capital Santiago. Boric said the death toll was expected to increase. The most dangerous fire has swept through dry forests bordering the coastal city of Concepción. About 250 homes have been destroyed, disaster officials said. Local media have shown pictures of charred cars in the streets. Chile’s forestry agency, Conaf, said firefighters were battling 24 fires across the country on Sunday. The most threatening, it added, were in Ñuble and Biobío. The fires have burnt through 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres) in the two regions so far.