(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump is using executive orders to try to revive the American timber industry by increasing logging on public lands and rolling back environmental regulations.
More than 175,000 square miles of forest are being targeted in hopes of sparking a timber industry boom in the U.S., prompting urgent concern among environmentalists.
In Washington, logging mills are preparing to kick up production. American mills typically produce the majority of the domestic wood supply, but the rest is imported, mostly from Canada, which is now facing a 25% tariff.
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An industry shift is expected to boost production by 25% and will include getting more timber from public lands.
The agriculture secretary just declared a National Forest emergency, making it easier to harvest timber from federal lands, theoretically to reduce the risk of wildfires.
In Oregon, more than 53% of the land is publicly owned, and in Washington, it’s more than 30%. According to the American Forest Resource Council, logging restrictions have hampered domestic producers and contributed to mill closures in recent years.
“It is frustrating to see the flood of Canadian lumber come into our country, but what’s even worse is seeing our forest burn every year,” said Nick Smith, associated with the council. “Let’s get back to responsibly managing our federal lands in a way that Americans expect, both in terms of wildfire mitigation but also for making good, American-made wood products that we all use every day.”
Critics worry the changes will lead to widespread deforestation, especially in the Pacific Northwest, where some trees date back more than 1,000 years.
Activists fear there will be a free-for-all in old-growth forests, which may inspire a new crop of lawsuits.
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“It might take 80 to 100 years to regrow [one] tree, but to regrow a complex forest that supports wildlife and people downstream, we’re talking generations upon generations upon generations,” said Quinn Read, executive director of Oregon Wild. “We don’t have that kind of time.”
Industry veterans say maintenance on federal lands entails thinning and removal of old growth and overgrowth, not clear-cutting.
However, environmentalists fear that federal cuts to the Forest Service may mean there is no oversight or checks and balances to prevent damage to forests in the process.
