“It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security,” the order adds.
This move is similar to recent instructions by Trump to use a rarely-used committee to push through fossil fuel projects even if they imperil at-risk species.
The order also stipulates logging projects can be sped up if they are for purported wildfire risk reduction, via “thinning” of vegetation that could ignite.
Some scientists have said that aggressively felling forests, particularly established, fire-resistant trees, actually increases the risk of fast-moving fires.
Hanson said logging alters the microclimate of forests, creating hotter and drier conditions that helps wildfires, such as the events that recently ravaged Los Angeles, to spread faster.
“This is a particularly horrific move by Trump to loot our public lands by handing the keys to big business.”.
However, the amount of logging in national forests surged under Biden amid a rush of tree felling ahead of expected restrictions on old-growth cutting. »
