Earthjustice Responds to Executive Order Targeting Forests 

Today President Trump issued an executive order that seeks to ramp up logging across national forest system and BLM-managed lands which span nearly 280 million acres. The order seeks to increase timber production, erode Endangered Species Act protections to speed approval of timber sales, and set a target for timber offered for sale annually, among other measures, all of which could result in widespread clear-cutting of federal forests. This comes on the heels of Thursday’s announcement that Tom Schultz — who previously served as a timber industry executive at Idaho Forest Group, one of the nation’s largest lumber producers — had been selected as the new U.S. Forest Service Chief.

The following is a statement from Blaine Miller-McFeeley, Sr. Legislative Representative on Earthjustice’s Policy and Legislation team:

“This executive order sets in motion a chainsaw free-for-all on our federal forests. Americans treasure our forests for all the benefits they provide, such as recreation, clean air, and clean drinking water. But this order ignores these values and opens the door for wild lands to be plundered, for nothing more than corporate gain. In the long run, this will worsen the effects of climate change, while also destroying critical wildlife habitat.”

Taken together with massive staff cuts to the Forest Service that included reductions in wildland firefighters and support personnel, this order may offer a boost to timber industry profits — but carries heavy implications for the climate and for wildfire season in 2025 and beyond. This order also seeks to weaken the Endangered Species Act, a widely popular law and the best tool available for ensuring the survival of threatened species and addressing the biodiversity crisis.