Note: This piece was originally published in The Missoulian, December 30, 2025 Once again a federal court decision has stopped a well-designed forest management project, leaving communities and wildlife habitat more vulnerable to wildfire while a small group of anti-forestry activists declares victory. The recent ruling vacating the South Plateau Project on the Custer-Gallatin National […]
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AFRC President Calls for EAJA Reform in Testimony Before House Natural Resources Subcommittee
American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) President Travis Joseph testified today before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Natural Resources Committee calling on Congress to modernize the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). Joseph said EAJA has strayed far from its original purpose and now subsidizes litigation that delays essential forest management, wildfire […]
December 2025 Newsletter
Washington, DC Update Shutdown ends SPEED Act Senate ENR hearings The AFRC Podcast Episode 51: Sara Ghafouri and the Legal Frontlines of Forestry Virginia District Court Dismisses Plaintiffs’ Challenge to the Forest Service’s 2020 NEPA Regulations New Endangered Species Act Regulations Proposed Siuslaw National Forest and Oregon Department of Forestry Begin New Partnership AFRC Meets […]
November 2025 Newsletter
Washington, DC Update Government shutdown Fix Our Forests Act Barred Owl Removal Strategy National Historic Preservation Act Committee Hearing The AFRC Podcast Episode 50: Travis Joseph and Nick Smith BLM Proposes Rescission of the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule Colville and Okanogan Wenatchee Forests Move Quickly to Salvage Fire Areas Snowy Butte Draft EA Open […]
AFRC Defends BLM’s Blue and Gold Project Supporting Oregon Jobs, Communities, and Forest Health
The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) appeared in federal court today before United States District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai to defend the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Blue and Gold Project. AFRC, along with the Association of O&C Counties, intervened in Cascadia Wildlands v. United States Bureau of Land Management to support rural Oregon jobs, timber […]
Wildfire Smoke: A Growing Threat to Air Quality and Public Health
Wildfire smoke is now one of the largest and fastest growing sources of harmful air pollution in the United States. Emissions from severe wildfires rival many industrial and transportation sources regulated under the Clean Air Act. Unmanaged federal forests are fueling increasingly destructive fires whose smoke is erasing decades of progress in protecting air quality […]
Celebrating National Forest Products Week: Honoring Our Forests, Our People, and Our Future
Each October, Americans pause to recognize an industry that touches nearly every part of our daily lives, from the homes we live in and the paper we use, to the carbon-storing forests that sustain our planet. National Forest Products Week, observed this year from October 19–25, 2025, is an opportunity to celebrate the people, forests, […]
AFRC, Associated Oregon Loggers Urge Science-Based, Active Forest Management in Blue Mountains Plan Revision
The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and Associated Oregon Loggers (AOL) have submitted joint comments to the U.S. Forest Service on its Draft Land Management Plan (LMP) for the Blue Mountains Forests Plan Revision, urging the agency to strengthen its commitment to active, sustainable forest management while removing unscientific restrictions and overly complex direction that […]
October 2025 Newsletter
Washington, DC Update Government shutdown Hearing on Public Lands Bills Postponed SPEED Act Greg Hibbard joins AFRC as Staff Attorney Forest Service Fiscal Year Wrap-up BLM End-of-Year Wrap Up AFRC and Calforests Submit Joint Comments Urging Rescission of Roadless Rule The AFRC Podcast Episode 49: Amanda Kaster & Montana’s Historic Stewardship Agreement Fremont-Winema Continues to […]
AFRC and Calforests Urge Forest Service to Rescind Roadless Rule to Restore Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience
For Immediate Release: September 18, 2025 Contact: Nick Smith (503) 515-4206 The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and the California Forestry Association (Calforests) today submitted formal joint comments to the U.S. Forest Service in support of rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The two associations, representing forest products manufacturers and forest land stewards across the West, […]