The Trump Administration Is Trying to Put Our Federal Forests Up for Sale

The Trump administration is using wildfires as a pretext for fast-tracking logging proposals on up to 59% of U.S. Forest Service lands. This move follows an order from President Trump last month that called on federal agencies to dramatically increase timber harvests in the forests that belong to all Americans.

Laws control how our federal public forests are managed for people and wildlife, and not just for private timber companies. No executive order can replace these laws. You can help protect trees and the web of life that depends on them by letting the Trump administration know you oppose any attacks on our forests.

What happened:

• The Department of Agriculture issued a memo declaring that more than 112 million acres of the national forest system are in an “emergency situation” due to increasing wildfires and other problems like insects and disease.
• The proposed solution to the emergency? Cut down more trees. The memo instructs the Forest Service to “streamline all processes” to fast-track any logging proposals targeting locations within these lands.
• The order offers no scientific evidence for this course of action and makes no mention of severe dry conditions spurred by climate change, a primary cause of increasingly destructive wildfires.
• The memo also does not address how increased logging would impact recreation, which is a key use of national forest lands across the country. Millions of Americans hunt, fish, hike, camp, and climb in these forests.

Why we must protect our nation’s forests:

• Increasing timber production means cutting down the oldest, most resilient trees — because the biggest trees will produce the most lumber. Once an old-growth tree is cut and sold, it will take longer than most human lifetimes to replace it.
• Mature and old-growth trees make forests more resilient to wildfires. They have thicker, less flammable bark than their younger counterparts. Stands of older trees create cooler temperatures and increase the overall humidity around them, adding moisture to forests and making them burn more slowly.

• Old-growth and mature forests provide homes for wildlife, filter drinking water, create recreational opportunities, and absorb and store carbon — all processes that help us fight climate change. Chopping them down means we lose those benefits.

We will challenge the administration if they violate federal law.

• Federal like the National Forest Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Water Act make sure our federal public forests are managed for people and wildlife, and not just for private timber companies. No executive order can replace these laws.
• If the Trump administration breaks federal law to illegally hold timber sales, we will fight them in court.
• We are also watching an industry-backed bill introduced in the House of Representatives called the Fix Our Forests Act, which similarly uses wildfire mitigation as a cover for opening more forests to logging. “This bill is nothing more than a trojan horse for gutting bedrock environmental laws,” says Earthjustice Senior Legislative Representative Blaine Miller-McFeeley. “True forest management requires engaging communities and utilizing proven best practices, not opening our lands to more reckless logging operations.”