Executive order poses threat to Oregon forests

On March 1, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production,” with the aim of expanding logging operations around the United States. This includes about 2.5 million acres of land in Oregon. The most prominent objective of this expansion is to create a more profitable timber industry in the country instead of relying on international trade, mainly with Canada, where the U.S. gets nearly half its lumber imports from. However, Trump’s continual fight for economic self-reliance is going to cost our land much more than we can afford, and the most alarming aspect is that there is very little evidence that his decisions will pay off.

Oregon’s rich forests are put at a huge risk by the order. This land may be returning to a level of logging that has not been seen in decades — more than 10 times the current levels. Reviving these levels of timber production means returning to the destructive practice of clear-cutting, which could permanently damage Oregon’s ecosystems. The Trump-appointed U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director Bill Groffy said in response to this decision that bringing the timber production back to historic levels is essential for reviving the economy and reducing wildfires threat. But reviving these levels of timber production means ramping up the  destructive practice of clear-cutting and permanently damaging Oregon ecosystems.  

The Bureau of Land Management has already expressed intentions to revive old-growth clearcutting to be able to process the excessive harvested timber.

The executive order fails to address measures that will be taken to ensure its success in achieving its goal of “wildfire risk reduction” and “forest management.” Instead, it outlines the steps that will be taken to ensure maximum efficiency of timber production. These steps include “(suspending, revising and rescinding) all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and other agency actions that impose undue burden on timber production,” and “(establishing a) new categorical exclusion for timber thinning and re-establish a categorical exclusion for timber salvage activities.” This means that many logging practices will no longer have to go through a full environmental review or be subjected to preestablished regulations and policies. Thus, the purpose of the order becomes clear: to achieve maximum short-term profit and efficiency with disregard to sustainable management and environmental protection.

Another significant risk posed by this decision is the disturbance, or even destruction, of old-growth forests. The executive order’s primary concern for efficiency and profit puts old-growth at risk due to their immense concentration of timber. Among the 2.5 million acres in Oregon impacted by this decision is the Valley of the Giants Natural Area — a home to some of Oregon’s largest and oldest trees. Old-growth forests are only becoming scarcer, as they lost over a third of their area in the past century — a direct result of excessive logging practices and wildfires. Old-growth forests hold great importance in providing habitats for many unique species, improving air and water quality, and even supporting neighboring trees and forests. In recognition of the ecological importance of Oregon’s second largest old-growth forest, the Bureau of Land Management closed off the Valley of Giants from the public in 2016. However, since the executive order has passed, it is potentially becoming subject to logging without any plan for reforestation. 

Moreover, the order fails to consider the extent to which this plan is realistic, which may lead to a complete failure of the project. 

In February 2025, the U.S. Forest Service fired about 3,400 federal employees — amounting to roughly 10% of the agency’s work force. This was done in accordance with the government’s plan to reduce government spending and shrink local workforces. Outside of government agencies, there have been many mill closures across the country. Between 2024 and March of this year, seven sawmills in Oregon ceased operation. As of now, there is no evidence that the state is equipped to handle a logging expansion in any capacity. The 59 million acres being opened country-wide for harvest will struggle to find employees to work there or mills to process this much timber, especially with the larger old-growth trees included. With the executive order in effect, we can anticipate even more layoffs and reduced funding for federal agencies. It is likely that these will target researchers whose job is to ensure that logging practices are in accordance with sustainable management, actually maximizing safety from wildfires.

One of the main justifications used by the Trump administration is that by increasing forest logging, the risk of wildfires decreases. The main claim supporting this argument is that overcrowded forests often lead to faster spreading wildfires. While thinning and regulated levels of logging can be used to remove surface fuels, excessive logging can have the opposite effect. The executive order is prioritizing maximum timber harvest and there is no evidence in any statements made by the White House that it will prioritize regulations that would actually reduce wildfires. 

Instead, evidence now points towards an increased wildfire risk. For instance, excessively harvested areas and replanted clear-cuts are usually more prone to unnaturally severe fires, whereas old-growth forests are more resilient to wildfires. Having fewer forests also reduces the necessary regulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that we rely on forests for — and speeding up climate change will not be preventing wildfires. 

This executive order is potentially the biggest threat that our forests are facing. There is clear deception from the administration, who is reframing logging as an alternative to catastrophic wildfires while having no set plan for wildfire prevention and even limiting the regulations that would make this possible. The administration is prioritizing greed over the health of our environment and long-term sustainability of our planet. The executive order is centered around efficiency and economic benefit and eliminates almost all possibilities for regulations that would slow down this plan. 

The U.S. has the world’s fourth largest forest area in the world, so there is no doubt that harvesting a significant area of these forests would impact the whole planet as well. Researchers do not even have a grasp on all the impacts of climate change, as it has been rapidly growing over the past century. This decision proves to be an attempt to transfer wealth from the public to private corporations, not benefiting the people in any way, as the lumber market has been oversupplied for too long. A clear, federal plan for how this process will be regulated is essential for a decision this consequential. 

The public can still comment on the Oregon timber plan until March 23 at this link online or by emailing BLM_OR_Revision_Scoping@blm.gov.

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Ziad Mahmoud

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