Trump’s Push to Expand Logging Is A Major Threat to US Forests and Wildlife

President Trump has made plans to sacrifice federally protected US forests, bypassing numerous environmental protections, in an effort to boost domestic timber production. 

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On March 1, the Trump administration issued an executive order to unleash the US timber industry. As US-Canada relations sour due to tariffs imposed on the neighbouring country, the executive order aims to decrease American reliance on Canadian lumber. 

Privately owned land, which accounts for some 50% of the country’s forestland, will not be impacted by the order. Instead, Trump’s action targets federally protected lands, fast-tracking logging projects by loosening regulations. The White House has touted the order’s push for “quicker approvals under the Endangered Species Act so that forestry projects are not delayed by slow reviews.”

If implemented, the directive will result in swathes of trees being felled throughout the nation’s protected forests, and while the environmental consequences of deforestation are well documented, the current administration insists otherwise. Earlier this month, White House Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro claimed “our disastrous timber and lumber policies – a legacy of the previous administration – trigger wildfires and degrade our fish and wildlife habitat.” Instead, Trump is dangerously pushing the belief that increased logging will come with environmental and ecological benefits. 

Basic environmental science, however, demonstrates that cutting down trees by the millions has detrimental effects on the climate, wildlife, and ultimately humanity. So what exactly is at stake if Trump’s executive order comes to fruition? 

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Climate Impacts 

Forest loss is responsible for about 10% of global warming, making deforestation a significant driver of climate change.

When forests are decimated, carbon stored in trees is released into the atmosphere, mainly in the form of carbon dioxide. The scale at which this carbon is released, particularly from the timber industry, is alarming. According to the John Muir Project, US logging releases about 723 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year – the equivalent to burning more than 3.7 billion pounds of coal and up to 10 times the forest emissions caused by wildfire and insect damage. 

The Trump administration presumes that the more forests are cleared, the lower the risk of wildfires, but science tells a different story. Rising global temperatures – driven partly by deforestation – lead to hotter weather, which dries out landscapes, creating the perfect conditions for more frequent and intense wildfires. 

Trees also provide a vital shade cover to the forest floor, allowing the ground to maintain its moisture levels. Without this protective cover, the ground dries up, turning leaves, twigs, and other organic debris into potential fuel for fires. Instead of preventing wildfires, large-scale logging may actually exacerbate them.

Wildlife and Habitat Destruction 

Deforestation does not just strip the land of trees – it destroys entire ecosystems. When forests are cleared, countless species lose their homes, food sources, and ability to survive. Many face population declines, and some become endangered or even extinct. 

The surviving wildlife becomes restricted to “islands” of habitable land in a sea of destroyed forest, also known as habitat fragmentation. This limits species’ movement and their ability to reproduce, leading to a loss of genetic diversity and weakened population resilience.  

According to the National Forest Foundation, some North American-dwelling species that have suffered these effects in the past include the grizzly bear, the gopher tortoise, and the Carolina northern flying squirrel. If Trump’s directive is realized, a multitude of species will pay the consequences.

The Price Humans Pay

Outside of increased natural disaster risks, endangered wildlife and biodiversity loss lies a host of other issues humans will be confronted with if American forests are stripped. These include:

• Soil erosion, which leads to reduced water quality and increased sediment runoff into rivers and streams;
• Air pollution, which increases as forests, which serve as natural air filters, disappear;
• Zoonotic diseases, particularly Lyme disease in the US, can spread more easily when human activity disrupts natural habitats.

Trump’s executive order comes with a slew of deadlines for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Forest Service (USFS) to streamline logging operations. The first approaching deadline states that within 30 days of this order, the Director of BLM and the Chief of USFS must “issue new or updated guidance regarding tools to facilitate increased timber production and sound forest management, reduce time to deliver timber, and decrease timber supply uncertainty…”

Despite these aggressive demands, any attempts to cut into protected forests will likely be challenged in court. National forests aren’t arbitrarily preserved. Federally protected lands are managed for multiple uses outside of timber production, including species protection, recreation, and clean water and air. The order will face legal pushback, and groups like the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice have already started fighting back. The White House seems to have anticipated this resistance, hedging its demands with language like “if appropriate and consistent with applicable law.”

Featured image: U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr.