Donald Trump must take immediate action to increase timber harvesting in wildfire-prone federal forests, according to a letter co-signed by Oregon’s House Republicans. In the letter, lawmakers approved executive orders to boost logging and strengthen the domestic timber industry.
Curry County Republican State Representative Court Boice said responsible forest management is critical to reducing fire risk: “There’s no way we could possibly harvest as fast as we grow here,” Boice told an NBC-affiliated network. The most environmental people I know are the timber managers, the tribes, and the private timber [companies]. They do an exceptional job. They get maximum production and protection.”
At the same time, conservation groups, lead by Oregon Wild, are concerned that logging will threaten wildlife habitat and exploit fire-resistant lands: “That very same habitat is some of our most fire-resistant and fire-resilient forest habitat, which we need both as refuge for these species, and also for their carbon storage capabilities. They are a natural climate solution,” John Persell, Staff Attorney for Oregon Wild, said.
In April, Wood Central, Brooke Rollins, the US Secretary of Agriculture, has new sweeping powers to salvage wood across more than 112 million acres of federal forests. As part of the Secretarial Memo, Secretary Rollins has empowered the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to expedite work on the ground and carry out authorised actions to reduce wildfire risk.
“Healthy forests require work, and right now, we’re facing a national forest emergency. We have an abundance of timber at high risk of wildfires in our National Forests. I am proud to follow the bold leadership of President Trump by empowering forest managers to reduce constraints and minimise the risks of fire, insects, and disease so that we can strengthen the American timber industry and further enrich our forests with the resources they need to thrive,” Rollins said in a special memo.
Last week, Wood Central reported that the United States would need to ramp up logging in federal forests by more than 450% to eliminate its reliance on imported timber: “Theoretically, the US federal lands have ample timber supplies to offset the volume of softwood lumber imported from Canada,” said Austin Lamica from Fastmarkets. But, “increasing federal timber harvests by (at least) 450% may be a challenge as many headwinds, aside from those related to lumber production capacity, may limit the government’s ability to ramp up timber production.”
