California’s national forests are facing significant changes as the Trump administration’s recent order expands timber production across the United States.
On April 5, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued an emergency declaration mandating the U.S. Forest Service to open approximately 112.5 million acres of national forestland to logging.
While a grainy map was provided with the announcement, it did not specify the names of the forests or the amount of impacted acreage for each.
However, officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that the order will affect all 18 of California’s national forests, which collectively cover over 20 million acres.
The USDA Forest Service indicated its readiness to implement the Secretary’s vision of productive and resilient national forests as outlined in the memorandum.
In a written statement, the agency emphasized its commitment to streamlining forest management efforts, reducing regulations, and fostering partnerships for economic growth and sustainability.
California, known for having more federal forests than any other state, is home to notable national forests including the Angeles, Sequoia, and Klamath.
USDA officials admitted they are still determining how many acres within each forest will be affected by the order.
The directive follows President Trump’s executive order aimed at increasing American timber production by 25%.
Rollins argued in her announcement that this move will “better provide domestic timber supplies, create jobs and prosperity, reduce wildfire disasters, improve fish and wildlife habitats, and decrease costs of construction and energy.”
An internal memo from Chris French, acting associate chief of the Forest Service, directed the heads of all nine forest service regions to develop five-year strategies to enhance timber volume, targeting a 25% increase for the agency overall within four to five years.
Environmental groups have responded with outrage, claiming the president’s order will bypass essential legal protections, endangered species considerations, and public input to expedite logging operations.
Jeff Kuyper, executive director of the nonprofit organization Los Padres ForestWatch, called the order a thinly veiled attempt to accelerate logging on national forests and enrich the timber industry.
Kuyper expressed concerns that this decision could put at least 80% of the Los Padres National Forest’s 1.75 million acres at risk.
The forest spans portions of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Kern counties.
President Trump justified his order by asserting that “heavy-handed federal policies” from previous administrations have pushed the U.S. into an over-reliance on foreign timber suppliers.
The latest directive aligns with other recent moves by the administration intended to ease environmental regulations in exchange for reduced consumer costs and enhanced independence from external sources.
Trump highlighted recent disasters as part of his rationale, pointing out that “forest management and wildfire risk-reduction projects can save American lives and communities.”
Forest management remains a contentious issue in California, where years of fire suppression have allowed vegetation to accumulate, serving as fuel for the state’s larger and more frequent wildfires.
Experts warn, however, that simply clearing brush is not equivalent to large-scale logging or thinning, which may inadvertently make landscapes more flammable.
This subject is frequently up for debate among stakeholders.
In recent years, California’s forests have also suffered from extreme drought conditions, bark beetle infestations, and other stressors leading to rising tree mortality rates.
Furthermore, an influx of residents moving into the wildland-urban interface—an area where human development intersects with natural landscapes—has exacerbated what Rollins described as a “full-blown wildfire and forest health crisis.”
Rollins stated in a message that “healthy forests require work, and right now, we’re facing a national forest emergency.”
She added that there is an abundance of timber at significant risk of wildfires in the national forests.
Expressing pride in following President Trump’s bold leadership, Rollins emphasized the importance of empowering forest managers to lessen constraints and mitigate risks from fire, insects, and diseases.
The USDA Forest Service currently administers 144 million forested acres across 43 states, with about 43 million acres deemed suitable for timber production.
Although the federal order is not specifically targeted at California, it reflects the ongoing tensions between the state and the Trump administration.
In 2018, Trump accused the California government of mismanaging land, attributing wildfires in the state to their policies, and infamously suggested they should “rake” forest floors.
He did not, however, recognize that 57% of California’s 33 million acres of forest are under federal control.
Randi Spivak, public lands director with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, remarked that the president’s order resembles “feeding our national forests into the woodchipper.”
She warned that unleashing bulldozers and chainsaws in these treasured public lands could lead to clearcuts, polluted streams, and even extinct species.
Spivak declared that her organization would employ all available legal avenues to challenge the Trump administration’s execution of this order.
image source from：https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-04-12/trumps-timber-production-california-national-forests
