Fears for US Southeast forests arose after Trump's logging order

Trump orders national logging increases

Residents worry about flooding and recreation access

Climate change and wildfires: Critics warn

By Carey L Biron

This makes them feel especially protective, since Donald Trump ordered last month a major boost in U.S. Timber Production. He wanted to remove regulations and accelerate approval.

Nergart, along with hundreds of others, gathered within hours of receiving the orders at the entrance of the Pisgah National Forest.

He added that he was concerned about what might happen to the local economies due to concerns over the impact on recreation, conservation and flooding.

Nergart stated that the economy as a whole has been built around this.

Trump's orders declare that reliance on imported timber is a threat to the national security, and mandate an increased U.S. log production. They claim past federal policies have hindered job creation, increased wildfire risks, and raised construction costs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared "emergency" conditions in 112 million acres of National Forests and instructed the U.S. Forest Service that they should increase timber production by 25 percent.

In an email, a spokesperson for the agency said that The Forest Service would "streamline forest-management efforts, reduce burdensome regulation, and grow partnerships in support of economic growth and sustainable development."

The administration has focused on tariffs and indicated that it will seek to increase levies on Canadian lumber to over 34%.

Residents in Western North Carolina are concerned that this new development will upset the existing system and favor speed.

Josh Kelly, Regional Forests Program Director with MountainTrue in Asheville North Carolina, said: "Imagine a world without regulations or with fewer of them. I can only see a degraded quality of water, a degraded wildlife habitat, and damage to the recreational infrastructure."

MountainTrue, which was founded in the 1980s in response to local opposition against expanded logging of public lands on private lands and Kelly predicts a similar shift in public opinion.

He said that some rural counties might want to increase production. "But if they do this quickly, there will be a backlash," the expert added.

In this region, public land is the most popular thing.

MAJOR PRODUCER

David Wear, senior fellow of Resources for the Future think tank, says that the majority of federally-owned land in the United States lies in the West, where the government controls two-thirds or more of the forest lands of some states.

The U.S. Timber production peaked in the 1960s and continued to rise until the early 1990s. After that, it began to decline due to environmental regulations.

This change led to a large amount of logging moving to private land in the Southeast.

Wear noted that despite the decline in logging, the U.S. is still the largest producer and consumer of wood in the world.

He added that many sawmills, as well as other infrastructure, required to support the increased production, have been closed. Rebuilding would take several years.

The executive orders have been welcomed by industry groups. The American Forest Resource Council said it was an important step towards economic revitalization in the face of "a federal forest fire and health crisis" as well as job losses.

Danna Smith is the executive director of Dogwood Alliance a nonprofit organization that works on forest issues. She said the economic impact between logging and conserving forests was questionable.

According to the White House report, wood provides 750,000 U.S. jobs, as opposed to 5 million in outdoor recreational activities.

Smith added that forests have a much broader purpose.

She said that "any time you increase logging you will increase carbon emissions, and further degrade eco services such as climate resilience, water control or flood control.

She said that logging in North Carolina is the third leading cause of greenhouse gases emissions. In Oregon it is the leading cause.

FIRE AND FLOODS

Executive orders and implementation place a strong emphasis on the reduction of wildfires, and protecting communities at risk.

Chad Hanson is a wildfire scientist and director of nonprofit John Muir Project. He said that this view goes against years of scientific findings.

He said: "Claiming to remove millions of trees will somehow curb wildfires, and communities won't need to worry is an unconscionably unsafe approach... based upon the evidence that we have."

He said that thinning forests can actually dry them out and make it easier for the wind to spread fires.

Many communities are also concerned about the effects of logging on flooding.

Leo Woodberry is a South Carolina pastor and the head of New Alpha Community Development Corp. a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental health.

He said that the risk is especially high for Black and poor communities, which are often in low-lying regions.

(source: Reuters)