Trump orders increased logging

In an effort to dramatically increase timber production from federal land, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that fast-tracks environmental reviews and potentially sweeps aside protections for endangered species.

Issued Saturday, the order looks to ease the regulatory burdens that can slow the preparation and implementation of federal timber sales.

“These onerous Federal policies have forced our Nation to rely upon imported lumber, thus exporting jobs and prosperity and compromising our self-reliance,” Trump said in the order. “It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security.”

When land managers at the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management open an area to logging, they must first go through an environmental review subject to public participation. Foresters lay out the size of timber sales and analyze their potential effects on the ecosystem. If there is a chance a sale may harm threatened or endangered species like salmon, steelhead or bull trout, scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service must weigh in.

The process governed by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species is designed to make sure the logging doesn’t cause undue harm to the environment. But the environmental documentation for a single timber sale can take years and the work is often challenged in court by people and organizations who disagree with sales.

Trump’s order calls for speeding up the reviews looking at logging impacts to endangered species and tasks the Endangered Species Committee to intervene when needed. Better known as the “God Squad,” the committee has the power to grant waivers to the ESA and permit harm to or even extinction of listed species.

The order calls for expansion of categorical exclusions — rules that allow the environmental documentation of timber sales and other federal actions to be skipped if they are deemed too small to be of consequence. The order also directs agencies to find ways to streamline other permitting associated with logging on federal land.

People frustrated with the slow pace of federal timber projects that are counted on to feed saw mills in rural communities and keep forests healthy welcomed Trump’s order.

“I’m excited. We are going to, I believe, get back to managing the lands instead of just protecting the lands. I think managing does protect the lands,” said Skip Brandt, an Idaho County Commissioner who is often critical of the Forest Service.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little pledged the state’s assistance in preparing and implementing timber projects. Trump’s order specifically mentioned the Good Neighbor Authority that allows state, local and tribal governments to take on some of that work. The Idaho Department of Lands frequently participates in the implementation of federal timber sales through the authority.

“The Trump administration is enacting common sense forest management policy changes that reflect Idaho values. With a fresh perspective at the Forest Service, Idaho stands ready to help transform how our federal lands and fires are managed, leading to invigorated rural communities,” Little said in a news release.

The American Forest Resource Council, a logging and forestry industry group, said the reforms are overdue.

“Our federal forests have been mismanaged for decades. Americans have paid the price in almost every way. Lost jobs, lost manufacturing, and infrastructure. Lost recreational opportunities like hunting and fishing, and access to our lands,” Travis Joseph, the group’s president, said in a news release. “Degraded wildlife populations, water, and air. Landscapes and communities devastated by wildfire. Our federal forests are facing an emergency. It’s time to start treating it like one by taking immediate action.”

Conservation groups said there is some room to increase timber production from federal lands but said it shouldn’t come at the cost of imperiled species, clean water or recreation. Chris Wood, president of Trout Unlimited, said federal land managers should target previously logged land close to fire-prone communities and avoid pristine and old-growth stands.

“I am all for anything that helps us to supply domestic needs for wood fiber from domestic sources but that has to be done in a way that meets multiple-use mandates and respects the needs of ecosystems and all the conservation laws that have made America the envy of the rest of the world,” Wood said.

John Robison of the Idaho Conservation League welcomed expanded use of tools like Good Neighbor Authority and Stewardship Contracting where logging proceeds are used for restoration. But he also cautioned against discarding recent trends that embrace collaboration with various stakeholder groups or eschewing important environmental regulations like the ESA.

“Anytime you call the God Squad to be on deck that means you are looking at potentially going over a guardrail,” he said. “These safeguards have been in place to both protect our clean water and our wildlife, and allow certainty for the forest product industry.”

Instead, Robison said the Trump administration should invest in federal workers at land management agencies that plan and execute responsible timber sales.

“To do this well in a way that builds on previous success and without ending up with adverse environmental impacts you would hate to staff the agency and fund these restoration projects so they are protective of clean water, fish and wildlife and address recreational issues,” he said.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com.