Press Releases

AFRC warns historic decline in timber volume and 77,000-acre set-aside will deepen budget shortfalls for schools, counties, and essential public services The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) today raised alarms about a historic collapse in Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) timber sales on state trust lands, warning that the...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Featured article from AFRC’s September 2025 Newsletter.   On August 27, USDA Secretary Rollins announced the next steps in a rulemaking process to rescind the 2021 Roadless Rule.  The Roadless Rule has been a roadblock to science-based active management on millions of acres of Federal forests for more than a quarter-Century. ...

The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) today expressed concerns with Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove’s order to immediately set aside 10,300 acres of state trust lands from sustainable timber harvests, as part of an effort to “conserve” 77,000 acres of these working forests. “Removing these acres from sustainable...

Montana’s National Forests are among the most celebrated public lands in the United States, offering unmatched wildlife habitat, clean water, recreation, and scenic beauty. They also face some of the most severe wildfire threats. These threats are worsened, not reduced by current restrictions under the Clinton-era 2001 Roadless Rule. Approximately...

In his recent Soapbox opinion, John Talberth calls for ending all timber harvests on Washington’s state trust lands and proposes replacing this revenue with a new tax on forest landowners, new fees on recreation, and selling speculative carbon offsets to investors and multinational corporations. This argument fundamentally misunderstands how Washington’s...

About AFRC The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) is seeking a full-time staff attorney.  AFRC is an Oregon nonprofit corporation that represents the forest products industry throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, and Nevada.  AFRC’s mission is to advocate for sustained-yield timber harvests on public timberlands throughout the West to...

Today, the Supreme Court made clear that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) does not require agencies to chase every speculative possibility, nor to paralyze progress under the weight of endless litigation brought by “anti-everything” groups. This ruling is a critical step toward restoring sanity to a system that has...

The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) along with a coalition of counties in Washington, Oregon and California and the Association of O&C Counties filed a legal challenge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) November 2021 decision to withdraw...