USDA commits to logging public forests regardless of environmental damage
Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico is among forests thought to be vulnerable under a new proposed rule
Mason Cummings, TWS
Secretarial Memo would make logging dominant on over a hundred million acres, taking next step towards dismantling Forest Service
Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a Secretarial Memo to expedite logging on over a hundred million acres of Forest Service lands.
The “emergency” memo follows President Trump’s reckless Executive Order “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” and misguided attempts in Congress to solve the wildfire crisis with the reckless logging bill “Fix Our Forests Act”.
In response to the news, The Wilderness Society issued the following statement:
“Don’t be fooled: the Trump Administration and its allies in Congress aren’t trying to solve the wildfire crisis or protect communities threatened by it. Instead, they are aiming to deepen the pockets of private industry to log across our shared, public forests, while sidestepping public review,” said Josh Hicks, Conservation Campaigns Director at The Wilderness Society. “Secretary Rollins’ memo is another ruthless attack, in line with President Trump’s recent logging Executive Order and the poison-pill Fix Our Forests Act. We need members in Congress, especially those who have constituents demanding real wildfire solutions in the West, to stand up and oppose these attempts to hand over our public forests to private industry.”
The Secretarial Memo is a part of a multi-pronged attack, alongside attempts to massively reduce capacity at the Forest Service to fight the wildfire crisis and properly manage the national forests. It would have the following damaging effects:
- Making timber production – rather than community protection - the focus of Forest Service wildfire mitigation work.
- Declaring nearly 60 percent of all national forest lands to be in a state of “emergency” requiring reduced public involvement and environmental safeguards.
- Short-cutting numerous environmental laws, such as those designed to protect endangered species and cultural resources, under the guise of an “emergency” to increase timber production.
- Advancing the Trump Administration agenda to reduce Forest Service personnel by eliminating public input and scientific review of logging projects.
To connect with The Wilderness Society’s forest policy experts and scientists, contact edenny@tws.org.
