An executive order by President Trump directs the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to issue new guidance within the next 30 days to accelerate timber harvesting on federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), with the goal to “fully exploit our domestic timber supply.
This executive order would end compliance with the Endangered Species Act, bypassing critical protections for Virginia’s most vulnerable animals and plants. There’s no way to increase timber production without targeting old-growth and mature forest stands that do the crucial work of providing habitat for wildlife, filtering municipal drinking water, providing recreational opportunities, enhancing wildfire resilience, and absorbing and storing the carbon necessary to fight climate change. It’s also unclear how timber sales could be planned, administered, and implemented when the government has just fired thousands of Forest Service employees.
My family has enjoyed camping, hiking, exploring, canoeing in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. We have often explored and camped in other national forests while cross country traveling. My family drinks municipal water from the national forests.
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