Americans are choking on Canadian wildfire smoke because our neighbors refuse to do proper forest management

For the third time in the past four years, Americans are choking on smoke from Canada’s burning forests.Last week, roughly 900 wildfires turned the skies over Minneapolis, Chicago and New York into an apocalyptic haze.

Air quality in parts of the Midwest ranked among the worst on the planet.More than 100 million people were under health alerts.Why does this keep happening?The smoke got President Trump’s attention.

In a Friday post on Truth Social, Trump accused Canada of “Willful Negligence” and vowed to hold the country responsible for “not properly maintaining” its forests.“The United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” he wrote, threatening to add the cost of the pollution to tariffs Canada already pays. Three days later, the White House announced 50% tariffs on nearly $20 billion of Canadian imports.The administration cited long-standing trade disputes, though the timing amplified tensions over the smoke.Canada isn’t the only one with a wildfire problem.

America’s forests are burning too.Fires are raging in northern Minnesota and across much of the western United States.

Nearly 4 million acres have already burned nationwide this year, well above average for this point in the season.Over the weekend, smoke from fires in Washington and Oregon blanketed parts of British Columbia.The response north of the border was predictable.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told the president to quit complaining and send help.Prime Minister Mark Carney fell back on a familiar defense: “Climate change is everyone’s responsibility,” he said, “including the United States.”The climate argument is well-worn.

Canada’s forests, the argument goes, are simply too vast and too remote to manage.Its dense stands of black spruce and jack pine evolved to burn in intense fires that destroy the main canopy and reset ecosystems.

Once flames reach the treeto...