California’s national forests are literally located in the chopping block to quickly expand timber production in the United States in the wake of the Trump administration’s April 5 order.
Last week, US Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins issued an emergency declaration that ordered the U.S. Forest Service to cut down approximately 112.5 million acres of national forest.
The announcement included a rough map of the affected forests, but it did not specify the name of the forest or the amount of affected area for each. However, USDA officials have confirmed that the order touches all 18 of Golden State national forests, which cover more than 20 million acres.
“The USDA Forest Service is ready to fulfill the secretary’s vision of a productive and resilient national forest outlined in the memorandum,” the agency said in writing. “Linking in the direction of our secretaries, we will streamline forest management efforts, reduce burdensome regulations, and expand our partnerships to support economic growth and sustainability.”
California has more federal forests than any other state, including Angeles, Sequoia and Klamath National Forest. USDA officials overseeing the Forest Service said they still have no information on what acres of each forest will be affected.
The directive comes from President Trump’s recent executive order to expand U.S. wood production by 25%. Rollins argued that “it will provide better supply of timber in the country, create jobs and prosperity, reduce wildfire disasters, improve fish and wildlife habitats, and reduce construction and energy costs.”
An internal memo from Chris French, acting associate chief of the Forest Service, directs the nine-year forest service chief to develop a five-year strategy to increase the amount of wood, with the goal of a 25% increase in the agency over the next four to five years.
Environmental groups have expressed their anger at the president’s order. They said they would avoid legal protection, endangered species considerations and public opinion to promote logging and the removal of vegetation such as trees, plants and shrubs.
“This is a thinly veiled attempt to enhance logging in national forests, bypass environmental laws, and line up pockets in the timber industry,” wrote Jeff Kuyper, executive director of non-profit Los Padres Forestwatch, in an email. “The move — coupled with mass shootings, budget cuts and environmental rollbacks — will wreaking havoc in Lospadress and other national forests across the country.”
The Rospadres National Forest spans parts of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and parts of Caen counties. Kuyper said the Trump administration’s order appears to be set aside to grab at least 80% of the 1.75 million acres of the woods.
On his order, the president argued that the “forced federal government” from his previous administration unnecessarily relied on the United States on foreign timber producers. To that end, order is consistent with other recent moves by the administration to facilitate environmental regulations in exchange for reduced consumer costs and greater independence from other countries.
But Trump also relied on recent disasters as part of his justification, noting that “forest management and risk reduction projects for wildfires can save lives and communities in America.”
Forest management is certainly a painful place in California, and decades of firefighting have allowed vegetation to accumulate. This serves as the fuel for the larger and more frequent flames in the state. However, experts warn that clear brushes are not the same as massive logging or thinning. The subject is a frequently discussed issue.
State forests in recent years have also suffered from extreme drought conditions, bark invasion, and other stressors that have contributed to increased tree death.
Furthermore, the influx of people moving into the wild-urban interface, or the areas where human development encounters natural landscapes, contributes to what Rollins calls “a full-scale wildfire and forest health crisis.”
“Healthy forests need jobs and we are currently facing a national forest emergency,” Rollins wrote in a statement. “We have a wealth of wood in national forests that is at high risk of wildfires. We are proud to follow President Trump’s bold leadership by reducing constraints for forest managers, minimizing the risk of fires, insects and disease, strengthening the US timber industry, and enriching the resources that need to further enrich the forests.”
The Forest Service manages 144 million acres of acres in 43 states, of which approximately 43 million are suitable for timber production, Rollins said.
The federal orders are not specifically targeted at California, but they promote a simmering tension between the nation and the president. During his first term in 2018, Trump denounced California wildfires for state government land management policies, suggesting that he should “scoop” forest floors.
However, he did not acknowledge that 57% of the state’s 33 million acres of forests are controlled by the federal government.
In a statement, Randy Spibach, the director of public lands at the nonprofit Center for Biodiversity, said the president’s order is similar to “supplying our national forests to forest forests.”
“Unlocking bulldozers and chainsaws on these beautiful public lands will create sunny cuts, contaminated streams and extinct species,” Spibac said. “Over 110 million acres of national forests fall under this dangerous dict order. We are free to use all legal tools at our disposal to halt this Trump administration’s order.”
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