A new federal study says climate change in the Maritimes may reduce growth of softwood trees while hardwoods increase. Elsewhere, NRCan researchers model various mitigation strategies to determine how forests and wood products can best reduce emissions to the atmosphere.

In other forestry news: the bedeviled McBride Community Forest has a new manager; Bella Coola’s Community Forest needs more and better communication; and a Vancouver Island old-growth preservation tour is criticized for “mushy and malleable definitions that lead to assumptions that are just plain wrong“.

Bloomberg reports a welcome compromise on wildfires as Democrats and Republicans come up with a plan. In the High Country News (Colorado), a long and short version how the budget-starved US Forest Service gives jobs to the lowest bidder instead of local communities.

Finally, in Business News, Stephen Harper blasts Canada’s approach to NAFTA and says the Liberals bungled softwood lumber. The Liberals say there was never a softwood settlement on the table.

–Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Forestry News