USDA’s Logging Emergency Is a Cover for Widespread Forest Destruction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued an “Emergency Situation Determination” that would open more than 100 million acres of national forests to accelerated logging. The move, which follows a directive from President Trump to increase timber production by 25 percent, tries to sideline environmental reviews and limit public input on projects across a majority of lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

Following is a reaction from Garett Rose, senior attorney, Forests Project at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): 

“The USDA is claiming that more than half of the public’s forests are in an emergency that can only be solved by the chainsaw, but the president has already told us what the real aim is—supercharging logging across America’s forests. In pursuit of his destructive agenda, the agency now hopes to use the pretense of a vast, nation-spanning emergency to recklessly fast-track projects at the expense of long-term forest health. This irresponsible scramble to tear apart our national forests for commercial gain will undoubtedly divert critical resources away from safeguarding communities against fire and other essential work.”

To learn more about President Trump’s logging and deforestation executive actions, check out Garett Rose’s policy explainer.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).