Secretary Rollins announced sweeping reforms to “protect national forests and boost domestic timber production.” Photo: Unsplash
Environmental protections have been removed for a little more than half of the area that the U.S. Forest Service manages. According to reports, the Trump administration removed the protections as a way to “protect national forests and boost domestic timber production.” A memo from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins states that the directive will also mitigate 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,” said Secretary Rollins. “I am proud to follow the bold leadership of President Trump by empowering forest managers to reduce constraints and minimize the risks of fire, insects, and disease so that we can strengthen American timber industry and further enrich our forests with the resources they need to thrive.”
It should be noted here that while undergrowth management is important in managing fire risk, research is mixed on whether logging older growth timber is viable as wildfire mitigation. Instead, it’s the understory — the plant life that grows between the ground and the overhead canopy of the oldest trees — that poses the greatest threat.
The removal of the protections comes on the heels of President Trump’s executive order in March to increase American timber production by 25 percent, as well as sweeping cuts to national parks jobs.
“Our efforts will lead to an increase in America’s wood independence, a thriving wood products economy, and the protection of our water supply,” said Christopher French, deputy chief of the National Forest system. “The value of wood products derived from projects on national forests will play a crucial role in driving economic growth while supporting essential efforts to reduce wildfire risk and promote forest health.”
The previous administration’s efforts to protect National Forests from logging projects banned logging in most areas with trees over 100 years old, which are of vital importance in keeping runaway climate change in check. The Forest Service released an analysis in 2024 stating that logging old growth forests should be restricted, but not limited, calling it “climate-smart management.”
