S. 1462, the “Fix Our Forests Act,” passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Conservation organizations from across the nation have voiced strong concerns with the content of the bill and have opposed its passage. The bill now heads to a full Senate vote.

Oregon Wild Wilderness Program Manager Erik Fernandez released the following statement:

“Today, the US Senate advanced its latest attack on public lands, the so-called “Fix Our Forests Act” (FOFA). This bill is a direct assault on what makes public lands public: it stymies science-based forest management, muzzles community input, and endangers the fish, wildlife, and communities that rely on our forests. It also fails to provide dedicated funding for the types of wildfire strategies that save lives and livelihoods — home hardening, defensible space, and emergency planning.

The legislation authorizes 15 square-mile-sized logging projects with little to no public input and environmental analysis, making this one of the scariest plans to face public lands in a generation.

Trump and his logging industry backers have made no secret of the fact that they see public land forests as tree farms, and view any science, transparency, and accountability from the public as an obstacle to profit. FOFA is nothing less than a corporate handout and a further step towards that dystopian vision. It is a betrayal of the very idea of public lands.

Over the past several months, we have seen an incredible movement develop, first to oppose public lands sales proposed by Senator Mike Lee of Utah, then as an unprecedented outpouring of support for the Roadless Rule that protects some of our nation’s last wild places from reckless logging and development. Over 99% of those public comments opposed the Trump administration’s efforts to rescind these public lands protections.

Unfortunately, too many politicians in Washington DC, including Senate Democrats like Amy Klobuchar, still don’t get it. 

Public lands may be managed by agencies like the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service, but they belong to all of us. They’re held in trust for the American people, not for industry lobbyists or corporate logging interests. As caretakers of these lands and as believers in the democratic vision they represent, we will continue to remind our elected officials that these places are ours, and that efforts to privatize, profit, and remove public oversight will not be forgotten.”

The post Anti-Public Lands Forest Bill Passes Senate Committee appeared first on Oregon Wild.

With an incredibly short three-week public comment period, the administration was no doubt expecting, and hoping, to receive little response from the public.

But, boyyyyy, were they wrong about that.

The agency received over 600,000 public comments, and an initial analysis by the Center for Western Priorities found that opposition to the administration’s plan to repeal the Roadless Rule was near unanimous; a remarkable 99.2% of comments supported keeping Roadless protections in place.

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. Americans love their public lands and want our last undeveloped forests to stay ROADLESS.

Oregonians speak up for wild forests

In Oregon, thousands of people made their voices heard during the public comment period by submitting comments, showing up to events, and sharing their endearment for Oregon’s wild places.

Oregon Wild and partners hosted comment-writing events in Bend and Eugene, where over 100 people showed up to take action for our state’s roadless forests. Dozens of others joined us on guided hikes through Roadless Areas like Tumalo Mountain in Central Oregon, Larch Mountain in the Columbia Gorge, and Gordon Lakes in the Willamette National Forest.

Thank you for showing up, and thank you for clearly and forcefully rejecting this attack on our wild public lands.

What’s next?

The comment period may have ended, but this is just the start of the process, and there will be other opportunities for the public to engage. The Forest Service must now analyze all of these comments, and we expect the agency’s draft plan to be released in spring 2026, kicking off another comment period. We can expect a final rule and decision by early 2027.

What can you do now?

Until then, we are focused on passing legislative protections for roadless areas through the Roadless Area Conservation Act (RACA). This bill would codify the Roadless Rule into law, creating lasting protections for these places that can’t be undone by this–or a future–administration.

We are fortunate to have congressional champions for public lands in Oregon like Rep. Andrea Salinas, who introduced the House version of RACA. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Maxine Dexter, and Janelle Bynum are co-sponsors of the House bill, and both Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are co-sponsors on the Senate side.

Rep. Cliff Bentz and Rep. Val Hoyle are the only two Oregon representatives who have not yet supported the bill.

While we don’t expect public lands protections to pass the current Congress, any support we can secure now makes it more likely this will be on the short list of things a new Congress can do after the 2026 election.

Reach out to your members of Congress today and urge them to advance this critical legislation to keep our undeveloped forests wild.

The post Americans push back on Trump’s plan to repeal Roadless Rule appeared first on Oregon Wild.

Portland, OR — Conservation groups intervened today in a lawsuit brought by the timber industry and counties seeking to strip northern spotted owls of protections for their critical habitat across millions of acres of forests in California, Oregon and Washington. 

The industry lawsuit attempts to reinstate a critical habitat rollback issued in the final weeks of the first Trump administration that removed nearly 3.5 million acres from the 9.6 million acres that were protected for spotted owls in 2012. 

“The logging industry wants to frame this lawsuit as just about the northern spotted owl, but what’s really at stake are our oldest, most resilient forests, forests that also provide cold, clean rivers for salmon, drinking water for communities and cherished places for countless people,” said John Persell, staff attorney for Oregon Wild. “Trump administration officials have made it clear they view these lands as little more than a source of profit. It’s up to all of us to stand up — for owls, salmon, clean water and carbon-storing forests — and say no.”

The northern spotted owl first gained critical habitat protection in 1992, and those were adjusted in 2012 under the Obama administration. That rule was challenged in court by the timber industry, resulting in a settlement and a January 2021 designation excluding 3.5 million acres from critical habitat protection, nearly all on public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. 

Just 10 months later, the Biden administration rescinded the final designation and instead finalized a proposed rule that excluded 204,294 acres instead of 3.5 million acres. That Biden administration rule is being challenged by the timber industry’s current lawsuit, which is seeking to reinstate the expanded Trump administration revision.  

“The forests these precious owls depend on also provide all of us with benefits like clean water, recreation, jobs and climate resiliency,” said Chelsea Stewart-Fusek, an endangered species attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Given Trump’s relentless assaults on our most cherished wildlife and public lands, it’s no surprise that corporate timber interests are resurrecting their attacks on northern spotted owls and the places they live in the name of short-term profit.” 

“This latest attempt by the timber industry to remove protections for northern spotted owls is a cynical move that perpetuates not only the biodiversity and extinction crises, but also the pendulum swing regarding management of the owl’s habitat,” said Susan Jane Brown, attorney with Silvix Resources that represents some of the intervenors. “Rather than accept that the best available science requires the protection of millions of acres of spotted owl habitat to prevent the extinction and foster the recovery of the owl, industry’s lawsuit seeks to unnecessarily stoke controversy.”

“This is a tired story: the timber industry attempting to game the legal system in order to expand logging on our public lands,” said Tom Wheeler, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center. “Unfortunately for them, they have to come through us first. We have stood up for the northern spotted owls and science for decades and we aren’t backing down.”

“The lawyers for Big Timber are cherry-picking a courthouse across the country to attack old-growth spotted owl habitat in our neck of the woods,” said George Sexton, conservation director for Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. “So we’re intervening to stand up for science and our forests.”

“With northern spotted owl population numbers in precipitous decline, the timber industry seeks to remove protections from a full third — 3.5 million acres — of the species’ critical habitat,” said David Woodsmall, attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “This is a choice by the industry to drive the northern spotted owl to extinction for private profit, antithetical to the American values of conservation embodied in our laws. Western Environmental Law Center has fought for northern spotted owl recovery for decades, and we will use the power of the law to thwart any action that threatens the survival of this iconic species.”

“Drastically reducing spotted owl habitat protections is not only antithetical to the best science we have for allowing the imperiled species to recover, but puts at risk all the other benefits that protecting these public lands provide to Oregonians, the very people that these lands are supposed to be managed for,” says Nick Cady with Cascadia Wildlands. “Aggressive logging increases wildfire risk, threatens drinking water sources, recreation opportunities, and much more all for the benefit of corporate timber barons.”

“With less than 3,000 spotted owls left and a population that is declining precipitously, this challenge is a slap in the face to conservation and the survival of this species. Any reduction in acreage of critical habitat could be this species’ death knell,” said Joe Liebezeit, statewide conservation director for Bird Alliance of Oregon.

“Everything needs a home to survive,” said Dave Werntz, science and conservation director at Conservation Northwest. “The northern spotted owl is no exception.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protected the northern spotted owl, a bird found only in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1990. In 2020, because of continued loss of the old forests they need to live and competition with the invasive barred owl, the Service found northern spotted owls should now be classified as endangered but has yet to provide stronger protections for the species.

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The post Legal Intervention Defends Northern Spotted Owl Habitat appeared first on Oregon Wild.

Key findings include:

• 76% of Oregonians—including 61% of rural residents—oppose selling off public lands to finance tax cuts. This comes as House Republicans recently advanced a proposal to sell hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Utah and Nevada. Oregon Representatives Maxine Dexter and Val Hoyle voted against the amendment in the House Natural Resources Committee, with Cliff Bentz voting for it.
  
  
• 74% believe the federal government should focus forest management on thinning small trees near homes and emergency services, rather than large-scale commercial logging. Both state and federal policy heavily subsidize logging lucrative large trees in the backcountry in the name of ‘fire preparedness’ over more effective ways to safeguard lives and communities.
  
  
• 72% support more protections for mature and old-growth forests. Over 1 million public comments were submitted nationally in favor of stronger safeguards during the Biden administration, but efforts have been stalled by U.S. Forest Service leadership.
  
  
• 67% opposed changing Endangered Species Act protections to remove habitat destruction from the definition of “harm” to wildlife. Right now, the law recognizes that “harm” includes not just directly killing or capturing wildlife—but also habitat destruction that makes it impossible for a species to feed, breed, or shelter.
  
  
• 67% oppose logging projects up to 10,000 acres in size without environmental review or public input—a controversial provision in the Fix Our Forests Act, which passed the U.S. House earlier this year and faces a Senate hearing soon.
  
  Senator Ron Wyden has notably commented that the Fix Our Forests Act  “…undermines bedrock environmental laws, and would allow poorly designed, large commercial projects that threaten community drinking water, wildlife and recreation opportunities to proceed with inadequate environmental review.”
  
  
• 65% oppose layoffs of public lands agency employees. The Trump administration has threatened additional “reduction in force” orders that put our public lands and communities at risk.

These views stand in stark contrast to the environmental policies promoted under President Trump and some Oregon lawmakers, including executive orders that placed logging above conservation.

“This poll affirms, once again, that Oregonians overwhelmingly favor policies that protect clean water, wildlife, and public lands for current and future generations—and reject partisan efforts to gut environmental safeguards,” said Oregon Wild spokesperson Arran Robertson.

The post Poll: Oregonians Oppose Trump’s Plans for Public Lands and the Environment appeared first on Oregon Wild.

Eugene, OR — Conservation groups secured a victory as a federal court rejected the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) controversial Siuslaw HLB (“Harvest Land Base”) Project. The court held the agency’s proposed multi-decadal and aggressive logging plan near several communities west of Eugene, violated critical environmental review requirements.

Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild, with attorneys at Crag Law Center, brought suit arguing that the agency ignored the project’s potential impacts on soils, drinking water, invasive weeds, and threatened wildlife. The organizations also raised concerns about the cumulative effects of the Siuslaw HLB Project and the overlapping N126 Project, another Bureau of Land Management logging proposal a different judge ruled unlawful in late March. Federal law requires the agency to weigh the negative effects of logging against any claimed benefits from timber production — a step the Bureau of Land Management neglected.

“The Bureau of Land Management routinely disregards the serious risks that many of their logging projects impose,” said Nick Cady with Cascadia Wildlands. “We lose valuable, rare ecosystems and with it, wildfire resilience and drinking water quality, every time these mature forests are irresponsibly logged.” 

The Court ruled in favor of the conservation groups, finding that the Bureau of Land Management did not take the legally required “hard look” at the environmental impacts. Further, in his Opinion, Judge Kasubhai concluded that “This is not a case where the Court was unable to determine whether there may be significant effects. Rather, the Court has explicitly found […] that substantial questions exist over whether the Siuslaw Plan may have significant impacts. Under the clear rule set forth in the case law cited above, an EIS [environmental impact statement] must be prepared in light of that finding.” Accordingly, BLM’s choice not to take a hard look at the environmental consequences of its decision and prepare an environmental impact statement violated federal law.

“The Judge offered a strong rebuke of the agency’s shell game analysis, wherein the BLM refused to analyze impacts to key issues like sensitive soils, imperiled species, and invasive species, claiming that such impacts were either already addressed or would be in the future. But in truth, the agency’s approach meant that these critical issues would never be addressed in the manner that the law requires,” said Oliver Stiefel, Senior Staff Attorney, Crag Law Center.

The Siuslaw HLB Project sought to log 13,225 acres of public forests in the Coast Range foothills. The Bureau of Land Management’s own planning documents acknowledged that the project would increase the spread of invasive weeds, decrease slope stability and destroy soil health, and risked serious harm to numerous protected species (special status, bureau sensitive, or endangered), decrease fire resilience, and contaminate and degrade drinking water contamination. Notwithstanding, the agency dismissed these risks as insignificant.

“Whether it’s due to poor analysis or attempts to log old-growth trees for profit, the courts continue to reject the BLM’s unlawful logging projects,” said John Persell of Oregon Wild. “Clearcutting public lands, destroying wildlife habitat, endangering local communities — this is exactly the type of logging President Trump and his allies are now pushing on a larger scale. It’s not legal, it’s not what the public wants, and we’re going to keep fighting it.” 

Local residents have also voiced strong opposition, citing risks such as drinking water contamination, increased wildfire hazards, soil erosion, invasive species introduction, and the destruction of wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities. The agency was unfazed by these concerns. It is encouraging to see federal courts in Oregon recognizing the problems associated with poor environmental analysis and serious risks those shortfalls pose to our forests.

The organizations are represented by attorneys from the Crag Law Center and Cascadia Wildlands.

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Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands defends and restores Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. The organization envisions vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion.

Oregon Wild’s mission is to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and water as an enduring legacy. Oregon Wild is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year.

Crag Law Center is a nonprofit environmental law center based in Portland, Oregon that  supports community efforts to protect and sustain the Pacific Northwest’s natural legacy. Implementing a unique model of legal aid for the environment, Crag balances the scales of justice by offering free and low-cost legal services to people who are working on the ground to protect our environment, climate and communities.

The post Court Rejects Coast Range Clearcutting Project appeared first on Oregon Wild.

MEDFORD, OR — Medford, Ore., – Yesterday, Federal District Court Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) “Integrated Vegetation Management” (IVM) logging program illegally authorized the destruction of old-growth forest stands located within Late Successional Reserves. With this ruling, the court agreed that “gap creation” and “open seral” logging prescriptions within the Late Successional Reserves would have increased fire hazard while removing old-growth forest habitat.

Conservation groups from across Oregon challenged the IVM logging project with the goal of getting BLM forest managers to focus on fuels reduction and fire resiliency instead of logging old-growth forests to meet artificial timber targets.

“This ruling confirms that Late Successional Reserves are exactly what their name says,” said George Sexton, KS Wild Conservation Director. “These fire-resilient old-growth forest stands capture carbon while providing some of the best wildlife habitat left in southern Oregon.”

The first commercial IVM timber sales called Penn Butte and Late Mungers were located in the Williams Late Successional Reserve and would have removed over 400-acres of old-growth habitat through “open seral” logging and another 51 acres through “gap creation” clearcutting.

“Reckless timber sales like this are exactly why we need strong public oversight,” said John Persell, Staff Attorney for Oregon Wild. “Trump’s executive order to ramp up logging pushes for more destructive projects to benefit the timber industry, but the forests at Penn Butte and Late Mungers should be protected as key habitat and for carbon storage, not sacrificed for corporate profit.”

A primary problem with BLM’s IVM timber scheme was that timber planners hoped to avoid site-specific analysis and public input while removing old-growth forest habitat from Late Successional Reserves and increasing fire hazard in logged forest stands.

“If the BLM is interested in real fire-focused restoration, we would be fully supportive,” said stated Cascadia Wildlands Legal Director Nick Cady, “but that is not what the IVM logging program is. Aggressively logging wildlife habitat in the Late Successional Reserves that will increase fire hazard for the surrounding community is ridiculous. It demonstrates that this agency does not care what this community has been through and is only concerned with producing timber volume.” 

The successful legal challenge was argued by Meriel Darzen of the Crag Law Center on behalf of KS Wild, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, and the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council. In the shadow of the Trump Administration’s anti-environmental Executive Orders, Crag remains committed to the rule of law.

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Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands defends and restores Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. The organization envisions vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion.

Oregon Wild’s mission is to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and water as an enduring legacy. Oregon Wild is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year.

KS Wild‘s mission is to protect and restore wild nature in the Klamath-Siskiyou region of southwest Oregon and northwest California.

Through a unique model of “legal aid for the environment,” Crag Law Center provides free and low-cost legal services to people and organizations who are working on the ground to protect our environment, climate and communities.

The post Court Strikes Down Illegal BLM Logging in Protected Old-Growth Reserves appeared first on Oregon Wild.

Removing Environmental Protections to Expand Logging

This executive order directs federal agencies to identify pathways to aggressively weaken key environmental protections, including those established by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. These laws exist to ensure public involvement and science-based decision-making and to prevent reckless exploitation of public lands, but under this directive, agencies must now take the following actions:

• Within 30 days: Issue new guidelines to accelerate logging under various contracting authorities and propose legislative changes to further expand logging operations.
• Within 60 days: Develop a strategy to rush through endangered species reviews for logging projects, slashing oversight that protects at-risk wildlife.
• Within 90 days: Propose aggressive new logging targets for federal lands for the next four years, measured in millions of board feet of timber.
• Within 120 days: Finalize a broad review of whitebark pine forests under the Endangered Species Act, setting the stage to undermine protections for this imperiled species.
• Within 180 days: Consider adopting blanket exemptions that would allow logging projects to bypass environmental review entirely under the National Environmental Policy Act.
• Within 280 days: Review and reinstate past exemptions for thinning and salvage logging, further cutting back environmental oversight.

Gutting Environmental Safeguards

In addition to attempting to bypass statutes passed by Congress, this executive order attacks existing environmental protections head-on. It instructs federal agencies to eliminate any policy—whether a regulation, legal settlement, or guideline—that creates an undefined “undue burden” on timber production. This vague and dangerous language provides a blank check for industry to push for the elimination of any rule standing in the way of profit-driven deforestation.

Of particular concern is the expansion of Categorical Exclusions demanded in this order. These loopholes allow federal agencies to bypass environmental review and other public processes. Some have no size limit, meaning agencies would have the discretion to log vast landscapes while declaring the project has no impact. Oregon Wild and our allies are currently challenging such exemptions in court.

Oregon Wild and our allies have also won a string of victories against reckless Bureau of Land Management logging projects that target old-growth forests, degrade drinking water and endangered salmon habitat, and increase fire risks to nearby communities. This executive order appears designed to push logging projects like those found illegal by the courts through new loopholes.

An Anti-Law Order

The executive order seeks to set the stage to expand logging through legally dubious—if not outright illegal—means. Executive orders can not override federal statutes, but this directive is focused on identifying ways to circumvent the Endangered Species Act and NEPA to expedite logging. 

A few examples of legally dubious assertions in the order:

• Revisiting legal settlements already approved by the courts represents yet another attack on the judicial branch’s ability to check executive overreach. Its inclusion in this order is part of Trump’s broader assault on the separation of powers.
  
• There is no provision in the Endangered Species Act that allows its use to “improve the speed of approving forestry projects” or to maintain the Endangered Species Committee (also known as the “God Squad”) as a standing body with the sole purpose of fast-tracking timber production.
  
• The order’s direction to force emergency consultations to rubber-stamp logging projects under a fabricated “national security emergency” is a lawless interpretation of the ESA.

Weakening Protections for Endangered Species

Trump’s executive order directs agencies to exploit ESA emergency provisions and the Endangered Species Committee to fast-track timber harvests and identify endangered species that “stand in the way” of logging. This committee is sometimes referred to as the “God Squad” because of its ability to essentially give permission to activities that will drive a species to extinction.

The committee has rarely met since its creation in 1978 and has only ever removed protections for endangered species three times, including the northern spotted owl in 1992.

While legally dubious, the administration is setting up a scenario where it could declare that endangered species like Coho salmon, northern spotted owls, and marbled murrelets will lose protections and be driven toward extinction in pursuit of logging profits.

A Manufactured National Security Crisis to Justify Logging

In a blatant attempt to justify this giveaway to the timber industry, the Trump administration issued a second Executive Order framing timber production as a national security issue. This order claims that reliance on foreign lumber threatens U.S. industries and insists that a stable domestic timber supply is essential for both defense and civilian needs.

To reinforce this false narrative, the Secretary of Commerce has been ordered to investigate the supposed national security impact of timber imports. This investigation will assess:

• Whether domestic logging operations can meet U.S. demand.
• How foreign trade practices affect the American timber industry.

While this national security order hints at trade measures, the real objective is clear: manufacturing a crisis to justify stripping environmental safeguards and maximizing corporate profits.

A Coordinated Attack on Public Lands and Science

This executive order is part of a broader campaign to undermine public lands and environmental science. From slashing the ranks of park rangers and wildlife biologists to purging career scientists from public land agencies, the Trump administration has systematically dismantled the expertise and oversight needed to protect America’s natural heritage.

By firing the very people responsible for safeguarding public lands and then removing the laws that protect them, this administration is making it easier than ever for corporate interests to exploit forests without accountability.

What This Means for Forests and Wildlife

This executive order marks a dangerous turning point in federal forest policy that requires multiple uses are balanced on public lands—one that prioritizes logging over conservation, climate resilience, and biodiversity. By rolling back environmental safeguards and pushing for increased timber extraction under a false national security pretense, the administration is setting a reckless precedent that could cause irreversible harm.

Our public forests are more than just a resource for timber corporations. They store carbon, protect watersheds, and provide critical habitat for countless species. They are the places we go to enjoy nature and spend time with our families. Weakening protections in favor of short-term economic gain will have lasting consequences for ecosystems, communities, and future generations.

This is not just about logging. It is about whether America’s public lands remain protected for the benefit of all—or become just another asset to be looted by powerful industries. As the Trump administration moves to implement this order, it is crucial to stay informed, speak out, and fight back against these dangerous rollbacks.

Photo by Eric DeBord

The post ANALYSIS: Trump Executive Order Puts Logging Above All Else appeared first on Oregon Wild.

Eugene, OR – Today, the Trump administration issued a sweeping anti-environment directive that targets America’s National Forests for an increase in industrial logging at the expense of fish and wildlife habitat, clean drinking water, recreation, and the health of our forests. Oregon Wild strongly condemns this order, which promises to ramp up logging of mature and old-growth forests and threatens the health and safety of communities across the country.

“After pointlessly draining California reservoirs and gutting the ranks of park rangers, wildlife biologists, and other public lands civil servants, Trump has now set his sights on looting the American public’s forests. This plan is just as reckless and ill-conceived,” said John Persell, Oregon Wild Staff Attorney. “Oregonians have fought for decades to protect our forests from destructive logging, and we’re not about to let this administration unravel those hard-won protections without a fight.”

The executive order seeks to fast-track logging. By calling out the Endangered Species Act and the imperiled fish and wildlife habitats it protects, Trump is making it clear his administration will be targeting mature and old-growth forests. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that these forests are the most resilient to fire and essential for wildlife, clean water, and carbon storage. By gutting environmental protections and slashing oversight and citizen involvement, the Trump administration is making it easier for industry to log public lands without accountability.

“The idea that this is about wildfire prevention is a sham,” said Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild Conservation Director. “Trump’s order is about enriching timber corporations and deregulating the industry. Our public lands agencies have all the tools they need to log and manage for wildfire, but thanks to the Musk firings, they do not have the staff and expertise. What Trump is championing will not only increase wildfire risk, it will harm communities across Oregon and the country.”

“This move is part of a broader pattern of chaos, incompetence, and corruption that has defined the Trump administration’s early moves on public lands. By weakening environmental protections and fast-tracking logging permits, Trump is undermining safeguards that have protected our forests and communities for decades.”

At town halls across the country, including in Oregon, Americans have voiced fear and outrage over the mass firing of National Park Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management professionals as part of Trump and Musk’s ideological crusade to dismantle the federal workforce. Oregon’s sole Republican Congressman, Cliff Bentz, faced hostile audiences throughout his conservative district last month, with many attendees expressing deep concern over the purge of public lands employees.

“Trump and his allies fundamentally misunderstand America’s public lands. He sees them not as a shared heritage that belongs to all Americans, but as just another asset to be looted by political cronies,” continued Pedery. “Oregon Wild has a long history of holding both Republican and Democratic administrations accountable and upholding protections for America’s National Forests, Parks, Monuments, and other public lands. We stand ready to do so again.”

Trump also signed a second order today that tries to present this effort to loot America’s public lands as a solution to housing prices and lumber imports from Germany, Brazil, and Canada. The US imports almost no construction lumber from Germany or Brazil, and housing experts have warned his planned taxes on trade with Canada will slow homebuilding and drive up the price of materials.

“There couldn’t be a starker contrast between administrations,” said Lauren Anderson, Climate Forests Campaign Manager for Oregon Wild. “The Biden administration’s executive order on forests provided broad public benefits and was grounded in science, recognizing that mature and old-growth forests are our best natural climate solution. That initiative generated over one million supportive comments. Trump is doing the exact opposite—undermining the very idea of public lands to benefit his wealthy allies.”

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Oregon Wild represents 20,000 members and supporters who share our mission to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and water as an enduring legacy. Our goal is to protect areas that remain intact while striving to restore areas that have been degraded.

The post Oregon Wild Condemns Trump’s Forest Decrees appeared first on Oregon Wild.

View the full PIELC program and schedule

Friday, Feb. 28

Saturday, March 1

Sunday, March 2

Bryce Wade

The post Oregon Wild at PIELC appeared first on Oregon Wild.

Now, the agency is holding public listening sessions, and we need to show up in force. This is our chance to ask tough questions, push for stronger protections for that mature and old-growth forests, and fight for critical habitat for the fish and wildlife that would be degraded in these proposals. We need advocates like you to show up in the following cities (additional details in the Listening Session Guide):

• Corvallis, OR – February 11th, 5:30 pm
  • 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331
• Springfield, OR – February 12th, 5:30pm
  • 3106 Pierce Parkway, Springfield, OR 97477
• Sisters, OR – February 13th, 5:30pm (Cancelled due to winter weather. Rescheduled date TBD)
  • 301 S Elm St. Sisters, OR 97759
• Stevenson, WA – February 24th, 5:30pm (closest session to the Portland Metro area)
  • *This meeting had previously been scheduled for the 13th

We put together a Listening Session Guide with all of the information you need to attend and advocate for our forests. Inside, you’ll find detailed information on the format of these meetings, suggested questions to ask, a carpool list, and addresses to all of the sessions. You can find more details on the Northwest Forest Plan proposals below.

The Forest Service needs to hear from those who love and depend on these forests—not just the timber industry. Show up, speak out, and help us protect the wild places we all cherish.

Sign up now to attend a session!

Background: A Conservation Landmark at Risk

Adopted in 1994, the NWFP was a groundbreaking response to unsustainable logging practices that decimated old-growth forests and triggered Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings for species like the coho salmon and northern spotted owl. The plan prioritized ecosystem recovery, emphasizing protections for mature (80+ years old) and old-growth forests.

Since its inception, the NWFP has successfully halted large-scale old-growth clearcutting, promoted wildlife recovery, and turned public forests into vital carbon sinks, offsetting climate change. For 30 years, forests, recreation areas, and rivers and streams that provide millions of Northwest residents with clean drinking water supplies have been protected from commercial logging under the plan, including beloved areas in the Willamette, Mount Hood, Olympic, and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests.

Now, under the DEIS, the Forest Service has introduced four alternatives, including a Proposed Action (Alternative B), which would:

• Redefine “mature” and “old-growth” forests by raising the age class of what qualifies for protection,  weakening protections for trees up to 120 years old, and providing broad exceptions for logging in centuries-old forests.
• Increase aggressive logging on non-reserve lands
• Allow logging in Late-Successional Reserves (LSRs)—a cornerstone of the NWFP—for purposes beyond old-growth restoration.
• Expand logging in dry forests, targeting over 964,000 acres in just 15 years. This proposed aggressive logging in older, fire-resistant forests are likely to increase the frequency and severity of wildfires in the coming decades.

Concerning Increase in Logging

The DEIS projects that timber harvests under Alternatives B and D could exceed one billion board feet annually, more than doubling 2023 logging levels and tripling the most recent 10-year average. These vastly expanded logging levels would occur on fewer acres than initially covered by the 1994 NWFP, magnifying ecological damage and habitat loss.

Encouraging Steps on Tribal Inclusion

Conservation groups applaud positive proposals in the DEIS, particularly efforts to better engage with Native American Tribes through consultation, co-stewardship agreements, and the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and prescribed fire into Forest Service management practices. Provisions to restore culturally significant species such as camas, huckleberries, and beargrass are a step in the right direction.

A Call for Public Scrutiny

The Forest Service’s timeline ensures the final decision will be made after the next Presidential administration takes office, raising concerns that the Forest Service proposal, which already contains significant weakening of environmental protections under the NWFP, could be eroded even further.

Photo Credits: David Herasimtschuk. The Siuslaw National Forest.

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