Forest Service to begin increasing timber harvests

On April 4, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a Secretarial Memorandum declaring an emergency situation in the forested lands of the U.S. National Forest System. Her intent is to expand timber production on these federal lands.

Rollins’ memorandum follows President Donald Trump’s March 1 Executive Order which directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior 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…“

Rollins specifically addressed the issues and concerns of wildfires on National Forest lands. While the January Los Angeles County conflagrations were devastating, these were not harbingers of the wildfire danger in Southern California. Fires occur in this region annually, and even the San Jacinto Mountains have harbored large and small fires.

Timber production is expected to increase not only on lands identified as high wildfire risk, but Rollins also included millions of acres which are: experiencing declining forest health; at risk of experiencing substantially increased tree mortality over the next 15 years from insect and disease infestation; or containing hazard trees posing an imminent risk to public health, infrastructure, and safety. Nearly 79 million acres have already been designated under Section 602 of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act.

Among the actions which will be pursued as a result of Rollins’ memorandum are removal of hazardous fuels; salvage of dead or dying trees; harvest of trees damaged by wind or ice; commercial and noncommercial sanitation harvest of trees to control insects or disease, including trees already infested with insects or disease; and reforestation or replanting of fire impacted areas through planting, control of competing vegetation, or other activities that enhance natural regeneration and restore forest species.

To achieve these objectives, the Secretary gave the Forest Service emergency hiring authorities, expedited contracting and permitting authorities, emergency consulting under the Endangered Species Act, and several others.

While protection of communities and reduction of wildfire threats are the principal objectives, Rollins’ memorandum makes it clear that increasing timber production is the engine driving this policy.

“Issue new or updated guidance to increase timber production, decrease the time to offer timber supply, and increase certainty in future timber supply,” she said in the memorandum. “Streamline, to the extent allowable by law, all processes related to timber production, including project planning, decision-making, implementation (including preparation, appraisals and measurements), and required certifications.” New legislation to expand timber production was also specified.

Later that day Christopher B. French, acting Associate Chief of the USFS, told his staff, “We enter a new era marked by pressing issues like a growing demand for domestic lumber and wildfire resilience. The Executive Order titled ‘Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production’ identifies these issues and set us on a path to overcome them. To address these challenges, we need to increase our active forest management to improve both the prosperity of rural America and the health of our forests.”

He wants a national strategy to implement these orders within 30 days. He also directed the Regional Foresters to create five-year strategies to increase timber production by 25% nationally.

In response to Rollins’ directive, Anna Medema, the Sierra Club’s associate director of Legislative and Administrative Advocacy for Forests and Public Lands, released the following statement: “Again and again, the Trump administration has shown it’s more interested in boosting the bottom lines of corporate polluters than protecting our national forests and public lands. Today’s order is the most egregious example yet.

“If this administration were serious about the wildfire crisis, it wouldn’t chaotically fire wildlife prevention staff at the behest of Elon Musk. It wouldn’t slash departmental budgets and preparedness funds,” Medema continued. “It wouldn’t condition disaster aid to communities destroyed by wildfire.”

The Wilderness Society’s statement also questioned Rollins’ stated purposes and felt the effort was designed to simply help timber production companies.

While it is clear that these orders apply to all National Forests, such as the San Bernardino National Forest, no information has been released as to where on the Forest new timber sales may occur. The Forest Service has not responded to questions regarding expectations for the San Jacinto Ranger District.

However a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture provided the following statement, “The USDA Forest Service stands ready to fulfill the Secretary’s vision of productive and resilient national forests outlined in the memorandum. In alignment with the Secretary’s direction, we will streamline forest management efforts, reduce burdensome regulations, and grow partnerships to support economic growth and sustainability. Active management has long been at the core of Forest Service efforts to address the many challenges faced by the people and communities we serve, and we will leverage our expertise to support healthy forests, sustainable economies, and rural prosperity for generations to come.”