US Congressmen Call on Canada to Improve Forest Management as States Affected by Wildfire Smoke

A water bomber aircraft battles a wildfire in southeast Manitoba as shown in this handout photo provided by the Manitoba government on May 27, 2025. Manitoba government via The Canadian Press via AP

Two Republican U.S. Congressmen have written a letter calling on the Canadian government to better manage its forests after wildfire smoke impacted air quality in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“We write to you today on behalf of our constituents who have had to deal with suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke filling the air to begin the summer,” begins a July 7 letter from Wisconsin Representative Tom Tiffany and Minnesota Representative Brad Finstad to U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kirsten Hillman.

In the letter, the two House representatives ask how the Canadian government plans to mitigate wildfires and stop the smoke that can drift south. They say that while a “key driver” of wildfires has been a “lack of active forest management” there have also been cases of arson that have sparked large wildfires.

The representatives go on to say that their constituents had been limited in their ability to go outside and due to wildfire smoke from Canada impacting air quality. “Given the significance of this issue, we urge you to relay this message to your government, in particular Natural Resources Canada and the Canadian Forest Service,” they said.

In a post on social media, Tiffany said several other Minnesota and Wisconsin representatives had joined the letter as well.

Natural Resources Canada told The Epoch Times in a statement that the United States and Canada have a “long history” of working together to deal with wildfires, and often exchange resources and personnel in times of need.

The agency noted that the United States has offered over 600 personnel to fight fires in Canada, while Canada deployed 60 personnel and several aircraft to fight Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year.

“Wildfire is a global problem, directly attributed to the impacts of climate change including prolonged drought,” the department said, adding that Canada recently led in the development of the Kananaskis Wildfire Charter at the recent G7 meeting, which will allow increased coordination when preventing and responding to wildfires.

Canada had its most destructive wildfire season in history in 2023, when 18.4 million hectares were burned compared to the 10-year average of 2.5 million hectares. The resulting smoke from the wildfires led to hazardous air quality in Canadian provinces and many American states, leading to school closures, the cancellation of events, and increased hospitalizations due to cardiopulmonary events.

While the 2024 wildfire season saw a reduced footprint of just 5.3 million hectares burned, the 2025 season has had 4.3 million hectares burned as of July 2, again resulting in poor air quality in parts of Canada and the United States.