President Donald Trump’s administration has taken bold action to boost American timber production and combat wildfire dangers by rolling back excessive forest regulations.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins issued a directive that streamlines environmental reviews and removes bureaucratic hurdles for logging in 176,000 square miles of national forests.
The move will help American businesses compete against unfair foreign competition while improving forest health.
The emergency designation affects 59% of Forest Service lands across the West, South, Great Lakes, and New England regions.
Due to decades of mismanagement and excessive regulation that have prevented proper forest maintenance, these forests have been at high risk of devastating wildfires and forest diseases.
“National Forests are in crisis due to uncharacteristically severe wildfires, insect and disease outbreaks, invasive species, and other stressors,” said Secretary Rollins, highlighting the urgent need for action.
The directive aims to increase timber harvest from current levels of about 3 billion board feet annually—a dramatic drop from the peak of 12 billion board feet decades ago.
President Trump’s initiative could bring production closer to the federally allowed harvest of about 6 billion board feet per year, addressing a critical economic and national security need.
The president also ordered an investigation into lumber imports’ impact on national security.
He seeks to confront unfair subsidies by Canada and other countries that have harmed American businesses and workers.
The Forest Service has been instructed to increase timber volume by 25% over the next four to five years.
Industry representatives see the rollback as vital to American economic interests. “This industry needs a raw supply to remain competitive and keep the doors open,” said American Forest Resource Council Travis Joseph.
The Trump administration’s approach starkly contrasts Joe Biden’s policies, which focused on less profitable smaller trees while proposing additional restrictions on harvesting valuable old-growth forests.
Biden’s environmental regulations and focus on climate change initiatives hampered forest management and timber production.
Leftist environmental groups have attacked the policy, revealing their true priorities.
Environmental group Earthjustice’s Blaine Miller-McFeeley claimed, “This is all about helping the timber industry. It’s not looking at what will protect communities. It’s about the number of board feet, the number of trees you are pulling down.”
The directive exempts forests from lengthy objection processes that have historically allowed environmental activists to delay and block necessary forest management projects.
By addressing the “forest health crisis” through increased logging, the Trump administration is taking common-sense action to protect communities, create jobs, and strengthen America’s timber industry against foreign competition.
