On March 1, President Donald Trump signed two more Executive Orders. One is intended to increase timber production on the forested lands of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Its purposes are to increase timber production and to improve land management.
The EO specifies a schedule of actions, with which both the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior are to comply. Within 30 days, the first step is for each to “. . . issue new or updated guidance regarding tools to facilitate increased timber production and sound forest management, reduce time to deliver timber, and decrease timber supply uncertainty. . .”
Also, any legislation needed should be submitted to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Goal posts are also specified for 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 180 days and 280 days. At the 90-day point, Agriculture and Interior are to propose a four-year plan to offer millions of board feet for sale.
The EO tells the Cabinet Secretaries to consider establishing a categorical exclusion to speed the process of the sales through the National Environmental Protection Act requirements.
Another goal is consideration of creating a new categorical exclusion for timber thinning and re-establishing the categorical exclusion for timber salvage activities.
Trump also signed a second EO affecting the timber industry. This EO addresses national security of the timber industry and directs the Secretary of Commerce to investigate the effects on the national security of “. . . imports of timber, lumber, and their derivative products.”
Reaction to both Orders was consistent with past positions. The timber industry lauded Trump and environmental groups opposed the expansion of timber harvests.
The American Forest Resource Council praised the Executive Orders as long-overdue steps toward responsible federal forest management and economic revitalization.
“These are common sense directives Americans support and want from their federal government, which owns about 30 percent of our nation’s forests,” said Travis Joseph, AFRC president in their press release. “Our federal forests have been mismanaged for decades. Americans have paid the price in almost every way. . . Our federal forests are facing an emergency. It’s time to start treating it like one by taking immediate action.”
However, Josh Hicks, Director of Conservation Campaigns at The Wilderness Society, sees it differently. “It’s a short-sighted giveaway for extractive industries that will result in destruction for the very places that provide us clean air, water, and sustain many local economies driven by tourism and recreation. Leaders in Congress must stand up and oppose these far-reaching attacks and look to finding real solutions for our communities, wildlife, and public forests.”
There are 154 national forests, of which the San Bernardino National Forest, is one. They comprise more than 188 million acres. The BLM manages another 58 million forested acres.
According to the AFRC, only 35 percent of national forests are available for timber harvests, while 65 percent is designated for non-timber uses, such as wilderness and other areas set aside for protection. For the past 20 years, forest mortality (tree death) on national forests has exceeded timber harvest.
On average, the Forest Service takes 3.6 years to complete necessary environmental paperwork before beginning mechanical treatments on national forest lands, according to a June 2022 study by the Property and Environment Research Center. This work would include critical thinning and fuel reduction projects to reduce wildfire risks to communities and infrastructure.
The Sierra Club stressed in its press release that “Our federal forests belong to all of us and are required by law to be managed in ways that benefit all Americans. Left standing, mature trees and old-growth forests provide clean air and water, opportunities for recreation, habitat for wildlife, and help to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. Our biggest, oldest trees are also the most resilient to the impacts of wildfire, with their thick protective bark and higher canopies, but these trees are also the most valuable to logging companies.”
Overseeing the Forest Service’s assignments will be its new Chief, Tom Schultz. In his introduction, on the USFS website (www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/leadership/meet-tom-schultz-21st-chief-forest-service), he wrote, “I am the first Chief who did not come from or previously work within the agency, but I hope you will see that as I do—as a strength.”
“Years of fire suppression and declining timber harvest have left us with significant fuel buildup,” Schultz wrote. “I want us to do more to create resilient forests through active forest management, including timber sales, fuels reduction through mechanical thinning and prescribed fires, as well as fighting fires safely and protecting resource values.”
No response has been received from the SBNF External and Legislative Affairs Officer, Naomi Gordon, about how these Executive Orders may affect the SBNF and the San Jacinto Ranger District.
