President Donald Trump’s administration has made a decisive move to boost American timber production by rolling back Joe Biden’s damaging forest regulations.
This bold step aims to combat the “forest health crisis” across 176,000 square miles of national forests while creating jobs and reducing dependence on foreign lumber imports.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins issued an emergency directive affecting 59% of Forest Service lands across the West, South, Great Lakes, and New England regions.
The order speeds up environmental reviews and exempts designated forests from objection processes that environmentalists have long used to block economic development in rural communities.
The Trump administration’s approach starkly contrasts Biden’s policies, which abandoned logging in favor of climate change initiatives while allowing America’s forests to deteriorate.
Under the new directive, the Forest Service must increase timber volume by 25% over the next four to five years.
The move seeks to revitalize an industry that has seen production plummet from 12 billion board feet decades ago to just 3 billion board feet annually.
Secretary Rollins stated, “National Forests are in crisis due to uncharacteristically severe wildfires, insect and disease outbreaks, invasive species, and other stressors.”
The emergency designation allows for more efficient harvesting while addressing legitimate threats to national forests.
Industry experts have welcomed the policy change, noting that America’s forests can sustainably produce twice the current harvest volume.
Federal law already allows for harvesting about 6 billion board feet each year, yet current logging is only about half that amount due to excessive regulations and endless environmental reviews.
The timber industry has suffered for years from unfair foreign competition, particularly from Canada, which has been allowed to dominate the lumber market through subsidized production.
President Trump has ordered an investigation into the impact of these lumber imports on national security.
He recognized that a strong domestic timber industry was crucial for America’s economy and independence.
At the same time, American Forest Resource Council president Travis Joseph declared, “This industry needs a raw supply to remain competitive and keep the doors open.”
Industry representatives are optimistic that the rollback will lead to more sales of full-grown trees, which are more profitable for sawmills.
The move can also help revitalize rural economies that have been devastated by decades of declining timber harvests.
Unlike Biden’s approach, which focused on less profitable smaller trees and younger forests, President Trump’s policy targets real economic growth in neglected rural communities.
Environmental activists are already complaining about the move, claiming it is merely about helping the timber industry rather than forest health.
Still, for many, the Trump administration’s forest management approach represents a return to common-sense policies that balance environmental stewardship with economic prosperity.
