Timber harvesting to increase in an effort to reduce wildland fires

Increased logging on U.S. National Forests can be expected under an emergency designation that cites dangers from wildfires.

The emergency designation exempts affected forests from an objection process that allows outside groups, tribes and local governments to challenge logging proposals at the administrative level before they are finalized. It also narrows the number of alternatives federal officials can consider when weighing logging projects.

Logging projects are routinely contested by conservation groups, both at the administrative level and in court, which can drag out the approval process for years.

The U.S. Forest Service initiative covers 176,00 square miles, about 59% of Forest Service lands, primarily in the West. Most of those forests are considered to have high wildfire risk.

In response to the new directive, Forest Service officials at the regional level were told to come up with plans to increase the volume of timber offered by 25% over the next four to five years. In a letter from Acting Associate Chief Chris French, they were also told to identify projects that could receive “categorical exclusions,” which are exemptions from stringent environmental analyses.

The Forest Service has sold about 3 billion board feet of timber annually for the past decade. Timber sales peaked several decades ago at about 12 billion board feet amid widespread clear-cutting of forests.

Industry representatives said they hope the federal government actions will result in the sales of more full-grown stands of trees that are desired by sawmills. Federal law allows for the harvest of about 6 billion board feet annually — about twice the level that’s now logged.