Trump's executive order will cut more forest trees; CU Boulder professor says "we can't log our way

Trump’s executive order will cut more forest trees; CU Boulder professor says “we can’t log our way out of the fire problem”


With a partial government shutdown looming, President Donald Trump quietly issued an executive order that expands logging on public land on the grounds that it will curb deadly wildfires.

The declaration, issued the Friday before Christmas, reflects Trump’s interest in forest management since a spate of wildfires ravaged California last year. While many scientists and Western governors have urged federal officials to adopt a suite of policies to tackle the problem, including cuts in greenhouse gases linked to climate change, the president has focused on expanding timber sales.

The executive order instructs the secretaries of agriculture and interior to consider harvesting a total of 4.4 billion board feet of timber from forest land managed by their agencies on millions of acres, and put it up for sale. The order would translate into a 31 percent increase in forest service logging since 2017.

The president wanted to sign an executive order on the issue during his trip to California in mid-November, said one individual familiar with the matter, but it wasn’t ready for his signature.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2019/01/14/trump-executive-order-logging-wildfires/