Trump admin axes protections for lumber

The Trump administration has rolled  back  environmental safeguards for logging on over half of US national forests, citing wildfire risks. This emergency designation covers 455,000 square kilometers, or 59% of Forest Service lands, primarily in the West and South. While Trump aims to increase lumber supplies, the impact remains uncertain. These forests, facing high wildfire risks and decline from insects and disease, are the focus of the new policy. Former President Joe Biden's administration also sought more logging in public forests to combat fires, which are worsening as the world gets hotter, yet the US Forest Service timber sales stayed relatively flat under his tenure.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins directed staff to expedite environmental reviews, omitting mention of climate change. The directive exempts forests from objection processes.