On March 1, 2025, President Trump issued the first of two Executive Orders entitled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production “to improve timber production and sound forest management.”
The EO states: “The United States has an abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic timber production needs, but heavy-handed Federal policies have prevented full utilization of these resources and made us reliant on foreign producers. Our inability to fully exploit our domestic timber supply has impeded the creation of jobs and prosperity, contributed to wildfire disasters, degraded fish and wildlife habitats, increased the cost of construction and energy, and threatened our economic security. These onerous Federal policies have forced our Nation to rely upon imported lumber, thus exporting jobs and prosperity and compromising our self-reliance. It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security.”
The EO further directs the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to “issue new or updated guidance to facilitate increased timber production and sound forest management, reduce time to deliver timber, and decrease timber supply uncertainty…”
It also requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Secretary of Commerce to streamline USFS and BLM’s processes of approving forestry projects under Section 7 (Consultation) under the Endangered Species Act.
Within 90 days, both Departments of Interior and Agriculture shall present a plan that sets a target for the amount of timber to be offered for sale annually by the BLM and USFS.
Both the DOI and USFS are to reduce unnecessarily lengthy processes for timber production, forest management, and wildfire reduction; to establish a new categorical exclusion for timber thinning and salvage activities; to streamline permitting among other things.
Read more here: Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production EO
“Freeing Our Forest” E.O.
The second timber production Executive Order signed on March 1st is called “Freeing Our Forest,” to address what the White House calls a crisis in both supply and demand.
The EO directs the heads of federal agencies to reverse federal policies and propose ways to expedite and increase domestic timber and lumber production, to enhance forest management, reduce wildfire risks, and decrease reliance on imported timber.
“The wood product industry, composed of timber, lumber, and their derivative products (such as paper products, furniture, and cabinetry) is a critical manufacturing industry essential to the national security, economic strength, and industrial resilience of the United States,” the EO states.
The White House also issued a memorandum that focuses on the demand side and directs Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to launch an investigation into possible harm to our national security by importing lumber.
The Fact Sheet issued by the White House on this EO states the US “has an abundance of timber resources that can more than meet domestic timber production needs, but burdensome Federal policies have prevented full utilization of these resources while the unfair trade practices of exporters into our country are depressing demand.”
It also states: “the recent California wildfires have shown forest management and wildfire risk reduction are essential to protecting American lives and communities. Increased timber production will help reduce foreign dependency, lower costs, and enhance economic security.”
According to Epoch Times, a White House official “noted that U.S. dependency on imported lumber has increased nearly elevenfold from the early 1990s to the present day, and the industry itself could create almost 1 million jobs.”
Read more here: Freeing Our Forests EO
Trump Seeks to Boost US Lumber, Timber Industries (Epoch Times)
