The Trump administration has issued a sweeping executive order that prioritizes industrial logging over the health of America’s forests. Titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” this directive seeks “to fully exploit” our public forest lands for timber production. Paired with a second order that falsely frames increased timber production as a matter of national and economic security, the timber production order is, in reality, an unprecedented assault on science-based decision-making, environmental protections, wildlife, and the communities that depend on these forests for clean drinking water. By systematically dismantling safeguards and fast-tracking logging projects while at the same time eliminating resource specialists and other civil servants from agencies, Trump is taking steps towards his goal of gutting hard-won protections and handing our public lands over to industry.
Removing Environmental Protections to Expand Logging
This executive order directs federal agencies to identify pathways to aggressively weaken key environmental protections, including those established by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. These laws exist to ensure public involvement and science-based decision-making and to prevent reckless exploitation of public lands, but under this directive, agencies must now take the following actions:
- Within 30 days: Issue new guidelines to accelerate logging under various contracting authorities and propose legislative changes to further expand logging operations.
- Within 60 days: Develop a strategy to rush through endangered species reviews for logging projects, slashing oversight that protects at-risk wildlife.
- Within 90 days: Propose aggressive new logging targets for federal lands for the next four years, measured in millions of board feet of timber.
- Within 120 days: Finalize a broad review of whitebark pine forests under the Endangered Species Act, setting the stage to undermine protections for this imperiled species.
- Within 180 days: Consider adopting blanket exemptions that would allow logging projects to bypass environmental review entirely under the National Environmental Policy Act.
- Within 280 days: Review and reinstate past exemptions for thinning and salvage logging, further cutting back environmental oversight.
Gutting Environmental Safeguards
In addition to attempting to bypass statutes passed by Congress, this executive order attacks existing environmental protections head-on. It instructs federal agencies to eliminate any policy—whether a regulation, legal settlement, or guideline—that creates an undefined “undue burden” on timber production. This vague and dangerous language provides a blank check for industry to push for the elimination of any rule standing in the way of profit-driven deforestation.
Of particular concern is the expansion of Categorical Exclusions demanded in this order. These loopholes allow federal agencies to bypass environmental review and other public processes. Some have no size limit, meaning agencies would have the discretion to log vast landscapes while declaring the project has no impact. Oregon Wild and our allies are currently challenging such exemptions in court.
Oregon Wild and our allies have also won a string of victories against reckless Bureau of Land Management logging projects that target old-growth forests, degrade drinking water and endangered salmon habitat, and increase fire risks to nearby communities. This executive order appears designed to push logging projects like those found illegal by the courts through new loopholes.
An Anti-Law Order
The executive order seeks to set the stage to expand logging through legally dubious—if not outright illegal—means. Executive orders can not override federal statutes, but this directive is focused on identifying ways to circumvent the Endangered Species Act and NEPA to expedite logging.
A few examples of legally dubious assertions in the order:
- Revisiting legal settlements already approved by the courts represents yet another attack on the judicial branch’s ability to check executive overreach. Its inclusion in this order is part of Trump’s broader assault on the separation of powers.
- There is no provision in the Endangered Species Act that allows its use to “improve the speed of approving forestry projects” or to maintain the Endangered Species Committee (also known as the “God Squad”) as a standing body with the sole purpose of fast-tracking timber production.
- The order’s direction to force emergency consultations to rubber-stamp logging projects under a fabricated “national security emergency” is a lawless interpretation of the ESA.
Weakening Protections for Endangered Species
Trump’s executive order directs agencies to exploit ESA emergency provisions and the Endangered Species Committee to fast-track timber harvests and identify endangered species that “stand in the way” of logging. This committee is sometimes referred to as the “God Squad” because of its ability to essentially give permission to activities that will drive a species to extinction.
The committee has rarely met since its creation in 1978 and has only ever removed protections for endangered species three times, including the northern spotted owl in 1992.
While legally dubious, the administration is setting up a scenario where it could declare that endangered species like Coho salmon, northern spotted owls, and marbled murrelets will lose protections and be driven toward extinction in pursuit of logging profits.
A Manufactured National Security Crisis to Justify Logging
In a blatant attempt to justify this giveaway to the timber industry, the Trump administration issued a second Executive Order framing timber production as a national security issue. This order claims that reliance on foreign lumber threatens U.S. industries and insists that a stable domestic timber supply is essential for both defense and civilian needs.
To reinforce this false narrative, the Secretary of Commerce has been ordered to investigate the supposed national security impact of timber imports. This investigation will assess:
- Whether domestic logging operations can meet U.S. demand.
- How foreign trade practices affect the American timber industry.
While this national security order hints at trade measures, the real objective is clear: manufacturing a crisis to justify stripping environmental safeguards and maximizing corporate profits.
A Coordinated Attack on Public Lands and Science
This executive order is part of a broader campaign to undermine public lands and environmental science. From slashing the ranks of park rangers and wildlife biologists to purging career scientists from public land agencies, the Trump administration has systematically dismantled the expertise and oversight needed to protect America’s natural heritage.
By firing the very people responsible for safeguarding public lands and then removing the laws that protect them, this administration is making it easier than ever for corporate interests to exploit forests without accountability.
What This Means for Forests and Wildlife
This executive order marks a dangerous turning point in federal forest policy that requires multiple uses are balanced on public lands—one that prioritizes logging over conservation, climate resilience, and biodiversity. By rolling back environmental safeguards and pushing for increased timber extraction under a false national security pretense, the administration is setting a reckless precedent that could cause irreversible harm.
Our public forests are more than just a resource for timber corporations. They store carbon, protect watersheds, and provide critical habitat for countless species. They are the places we go to enjoy nature and spend time with our families. Weakening protections in favor of short-term economic gain will have lasting consequences for ecosystems, communities, and future generations.
This is not just about logging. It is about whether America’s public lands remain protected for the benefit of all—or become just another asset to be looted by powerful industries. As the Trump administration moves to implement this order, it is crucial to stay informed, speak out, and fight back against these dangerous rollbacks.
Photo by Eric DeBord
