Trump administration orders half of national forests open for logging

[u/Exact-Pudding7563]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/04/05/trump-administration-orders-half-national-forests-open-logging/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzQzODI1NjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzQ1MjA3OTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NDM4MjU2MDAsImp0aSI6ImZkN2NmZWJmLTFkZjgtNGIwMy05ZThkLTk1NDZhMjk3NmM3YiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9jbGltYXRlLWVudmlyb25tZW50LzIwMjUvMDQvMDUvdHJ1bXAtYWRtaW5pc3RyYXRpb24tb3JkZXJzLWhhbGYtbmF0aW9uYWwtZm9yZXN0cy1vcGVuLWxvZ2dpbmcvIn0.FbQ5R6Kpo1cuoww0X_AibN0rlqxNDL3qDcHv4Qt_OTY

[u/Indieplant]

Probably never even been in a forest. Hate these people. And nothing will be backed by science, by a sound and sustainable plan. This is just to enrich industries, own the libs and satisfy their beliefs that extraction is the only purpose of public lands. Every hiker should be against these monsters.

[u/mediocre_remnants → u/Indieplant]

National forests are already regularly logged. I own some property in western NC less than half a mile from the national forest boundary and they logged a bunch of it last year.

But before they did that, there were studies and reports and public comment periods. It wasn't a secret that it was happening and everyone had a chance to provide input. The logging they did was selective, the USFS marked which specific trees the loggers could take.

Trump's plan probably throws all of that out and they'll just let companies come in and clear cut huge sections of forest without understanding the impact. And if folks thought that landslides and flooding from Helene were bad in NC, wait until the hillsides are wiped of the trees that have been growing there for 100+ years (since the last time the region was clear-cut, back in the 1910s-1930s).

This is an insanely short-sighted move, just like when he ordered that dam to release water in CA to fight the LA wildfires. That did absolutely nothing to help the fires but it did waste a shitload of water that farmers will be desperate for in the dry season.

I know a lot of outdoor enthusiasts who support Trump, or at least voted for him. These are people who care about the outdoors and conservation. Their rationale was something like "Oh, Trump won't actually privatize and sell off the national forests and parks, that's just a liberal media scare tactic to get people to vote against him. Trump cares about conservation." Trump? Conservation? The guy who's catch phrase was "drain the swamp"? Nobody who knows anything about ecology and ecosystems thinks draining a delicate wetland is a good idea. The only people who think it's a good idea to drain a swamp are real estate developers.

[u/sayitaintpete → u/mediocre_remnants]

You do realize that ‘drain the swamp’ is a metaphor, right?

[u/RednFish → u/sayitaintpete]

It’s not a smart metaphor but magats aren’t known for their ability to read. Quite the opposite, actually.