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Arnold Reimer walks through the woods analyzing the color of a tree’s needles – fiery orange or green – and easily pinpoints whether a tree is dead or overripe with just a glance from years of experience.
He’s among the loggers in Manitoba who worry their supplies will turn to ash as wildfires continue to burn through forests across the country.
Last year’s forest fire season scorched about 8.9 million hectares nationwide. In Manitoba, 445 forest fires and 2.38 million hectares of land burned, according to the Manitoba government’s 2025 wildfire report.
Canada’s forestry sector supports nearly 200,000 workers and contributes more than $20 billion to GDP, according to the Canadian government.
Reimer, 68, started logging when he was a teenager, after his father got into the business to earn income outside of farming for his family of 11. He founded Spruce Wood Loggers, north of Arborg, Man., in 1981, which sells rough lumber, wood pellets, mulch, wood chips and firewood.
His sons, Charles and Scott, now own the business, but he fears it will stall due to the unpredictable supply of wood.
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Reimer said nearly a third of the trees he encounters are dead or overripe. While overly mature trees are not necessarily in poor supply and still have their uses, they contain less moisture and are more flammable, posing a risk to cities.
“As long as we have that type of wood [dead and overmature] surround younger animals, then the younger animals are in danger,” said Reimer, standing a few feet from the still-growing, healthy forest he once clear-cut.
He noted that if a lightning strike landed on a particular tall, pointy tree, the entire forest could catch fire. Fifty-eight percent of forest fires in Manitoba were sparked by lightning, according to the province’s forestry status report between 2016 and 2020.
John Morris, executive director of the Manitoba Forestry Industries Association, said the loss of timber means lost jobs, reduced economic opportunities and impacts on rural and northern communities that depend on the industry.
“It’s a decrease in product availability and an increase in price,” Morris said.
In the long term, investment in forestry could slow down.
Robert (Bob) Gray, a wildland fire ecologist living in B.C., says that logging is built on predictability – betting that trees will survive and mature, so loggers can harvest their crops – but forest fires are unpredictable.
“People won’t invest in the forestry industry because the system is unpredictable,” Gray said. “Why would you invest $100 million in a factory to upgrade it when you look at the inventory, and it might be there this year, and it might not be there tomorrow?”
He said aging forests are more vulnerable to insects, disease and forest fires.
Gray said the forestry industry “saves” as much wood as possible before it breaks down.
Morris said a paper mill in The Pas, Man., Canadian Kraft Paper Industries Ltd., was impacted, with forest fires burning unharvested wood and some already harvested wood.
Canadian Kraft Paper Industries Ltd. did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Global News recently reported that Canfor closed its pulp mill in Prince George, BC, resulting in the loss of more than 300 jobs.
There were 143 active forest fires burning in Manitoba as of Thursday, the province said.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
