Now it’s ‘log, baby, log’ as Trump eyes US national forests 

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill”. Now, he also wants to log.

On March 1, Mr Trump directed federal agencies to examine ways to bypass endangered species protections and other environmental regulations to ramp up timber production across 113 million hectares of national forests and other public lands.

The move appears aimed at increasing domestic supply as the President considers tariffs on timber imports from Canada, Germany, Brazil and elsewhere. Environmental groups say increased logging will decimate US forests, pollute air and water and devastate wildlife habitats.

As trees absorb and store carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, cutting them down releases it back into the atmosphere, adding to global warming.

“Trump’s order will unleash the chainsaws and bulldozers on our federal forests,” said Ms Randi Spivak, the public lands policy director for the Centre for Biological Diversity, an environmental group.

“Clear-cutting these beautiful places will increase fire risk, drive species to extinction, pollute our rivers and streams, and destroy world-class recreation sites,” she said.

As part of his executive order, Mr Trump directed the Commerce Department to investigate whether other countries were dumping lumber into US markets. The inquiry could result in tariffs on Canada, the top supplier of lumber into the United States.

In 2021, the US imported 46 per cent of its forest products from Canada and 13 per cent from China, according to the US International Trade Commission. But the country is also a timber exporter, sending nearly US$10 billion (S$13.5 billion) worth of forest products to Canada.

A companion directive signed by Mr Trump said that “onerous” federal policies have prevented the US from developing a sufficient timber supply, increasing housing and construction costs and threatening national security.

Mr Trump called for the convening of a committee of high-level officials, nicknamed the God Squad because it can override the landmark Endangered Species Act so that development or other projects can proceed even if they might result in an extinction.

The committee has rarely been convened since it was created, in 1978, through an amendment to the endangered species law to allow for action during emergencies such as hurricanes and wildfires.

Mr Trump also directed the agriculture and interior secretaries, as well as other officials, to look for ways to streamline regulations and reduce costs for timber production and forest management.

The Endangered Species Act requires thorough assessments to ensure that activities like logging do not harm protected wildlife and their habitats. Bypassing that process has historically been reserved for small projects like trail maintenance.

But developers and the construction industry have long complained that the system is burdensome and adds to their costs, a position supported by the Trump administration.

“Our disastrous timber and lumber policies – a legacy of the previous administration – trigger wildfires and degrade our fish and wildlife habitat,” Mr Peter Navarro, the White House senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing, told reporters on Feb 28.

“They drive up construction and housing costs and impoverish America through large trade deficits that result from exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil dumping lumber into our markets at the expense of both our economic prosperity and national security.”

Mr Trump’s plan follows recommendations found in Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint published by the Heritage Foundation.

It called for increasing timber production as a way to reduce wildfire risk.

Mr Trump has repeatedly blamed forest maintenance for wildfires in California, including the recent blazes that destroyed large parts of the Los Angeles area.

But scientists say hotter temperatures driven by climate change, combined with drought, have played a role in making wildfires bigger and more destructive. They also say that thinning can reduce the cooling shade of the forest canopy and change a forest’s microclimate in ways that can increase wildfire intensity.

Last week, Mr Trump nominated Mr Tom Schultz, a former lumber industry executive, to lead the Forest Service. The agency oversees about 78 million hectares of national forests and public lands.

Ms Heidi Brock, the chief executive of the American Forest and Paper Association, which represents the paper and packaging industries, said the organisation is reviewing Mr Trump’s orders.

“We look forward to working with the administration to provide our industry’s perspective and data on behalf of the more than 925,000 American manufacturing jobs represented by the forest products value chain,” she said in a statement.

The National Hardwood Lumber Association, a trade group, said it recognised that Mr Trump’s order is intended to encourage US manufacturing, but that its members also want forests to be managed sustainably.

“Ensuring a balance between economic growth and environmental stewardship is critical to maintaining our forests as a renewable and well-managed resource for future generations,” the organisation said, adding that it is still assessing Mr Trump’s order.

Mr Blaine Miller-McFeeley, a senior legislative representative at Earthjustice, an environmental group, said the orders threaten to take the United States back to the 19th century, when clear-cutting stripped old-growth forests in support of industrialisation. NYTIMES