President Donald Trump on March 1 issued two executive orders aimed at increasing domestic timber and lumber production, drawing praise and criticism.
The first executive order directed “all affected agencies” to suspend regulations “that impose an undue burden on timber production.” The second directed the commerce secretary to study the national security implications of timber imports.
Responding mainly to the first order, Blaine Miller-McFeeley of Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, said on March 1 that the administration is starting “a chainsaw free-for-all on our federal forests.”
“Americans treasure our forests for all the benefits they provide, such as recreation, clean air, and clean drinking water,” Miller-McFeeley said in a statement on the group’s website. “But this order ignores these values and opens the door for wild lands to be plundered, for nothing more than corporate gain. In the long run, this will worsen the effects of climate change, while also destroying critical wildlife habitat.”...
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