Elections expose the issues that divide Americans. Governing requires leaders to find the common ground that can bring us back together. With the midterm election behind us, Congress has an opportunity to show that responsible stewardship of America’s federal forests does not have to be a partisan issue. Republicans and Democrats may disagree on many […]
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November 2026 Newsletter
Note from the President: The Election Is Over. Now Congress Must Deliver Bipartisan Forest Management Reforms. Washington DC Update Congress returns for lame duck session Early predictions on committee leadership changes Blue tsunami also felt in the Northwest The AFRC Podcast Episode 62: How the Forest Service Delivered 3.3 Billion Board Feet in FY26 Federal […]
A Fork in the Road: Have We Learned Any Lessons in 30 years?
By Travis Joseph For more than three decades, the Northern Spotted Owl has shaped forest policy across the Pacific Northwest. Following its listing under the Endangered Species Act in the 1990s, federal timber harvests fell by roughly 90 percent. Millions of acres were designated as critical habitat, and forest management across the region was fundamentally […]
October 2026 Newsletter
A Fork in the Road: Have We Learned Any Lessons in 30 years? Federal Timber Sales Reach 3.3 Billion Board Feet, Highest Since 1997 Committee Leaders Release Bipartisan Senate Permitting Reform Deal Western Oregon BLM FY2026 Accomplishments and Look Ahead to FY2027 Ninth Circuit Allows Critical BLM Siuslaw HLB Plan to Move Forward After Four […]
AFRC, Oregon Loggers Urge More Active Management in Blue Mountains Forest Plans
Groups say new plans should give land managers more tools to address forest conditions and sustain the workforce needed to get the work done The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and Associated Oregon Loggers (AOL) are urging the U.S. Forest Service to adopt new forest plans that significantly improve and increase active management across 4.9 […]
AFRC, O&C Counties Move to Defend Western Oregon BLM Forest Management
In separate case, Ninth Circuit reverses lower court ruling against BLM’s Siuslaw HLB Landscape Plan A federal lawsuit is seeking to throw out the Obama-era resource management plan that has governed roughly 1.3 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forests in western Oregon for the past decade, potentially disrupting timber sales, hazardous fuels […]
September 2026 Newsletter
Washington, DC Update Congress approves spending measures Forest Service pares down facility closure list The AFRC Podcast Episode 60: BRC’s Ben Burr- Restoring Public Lands Access for All Americans Registration Open: Federal Timber Purchasers Coalition (FTPC) Fall Meeting Sawtooth National Forest Proposes First Use of Nationwide Post-Fire Recovery EA Boise National Forest Moves Into Action […]
AFRC Supports Forest Service Proposal to Rescind 2001 Roadless Rule
Rule has limited access and proactive forest management as wildfire risk and forest mortality have increased across the West The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) welcomes the U.S. Forest Service’s proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, saying the action would give professional land managers greater flexibility to address wildfire risk and declining […]
August 2026 Newsletter
Washington, DC Update House and Senate Pass Competing Continuing Resolutions Senate Farm Bill Hits Snag Bentz, Merkley Introduce Bipartisan Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act The AFRC Podcast Episode 59: PERC’s Jonathan Wood on Wildlife and Forests USDA Announces Investments in Wood Products Industry, Biomass, New Market Opportunities Grasshopper Fire Shows the Cost of Delayed Forest […]
Federal Judge Recommends Upholding Collaborative Forest Management Project Designed to Reduce Wildfire Risk
Recommendation comes weeks after the Grasshopper Fire underscored the cost of delaying collaborative forest management A federal magistrate judge has recommended dismissing legal challenges to one of Oregon’s largest collaborative forest management projects, marking a major legal victory for years of work to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest health, and restore thousands of acres on […]