Ag Secretary Announces Reforms To Boost Domestic Timber Production

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a Secretarial Memo on April 4 to establish an “Emergency Situation Determination” on 112,646,000 acres of National Forestry System (NFS) land. This Memo comes on the heels of the President’s Executive Order to expand American timber production by 25%.

This Memo will also spur immediate action from the U.S. Forest Service directing field leadership to increase timber outputs, simplify permitting, remove National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes, reduce implementation and contracting burdens, and to work directly with states, local government, and forest product producers to ensure that the Forest Service delivers a reliable and consistent supply of timber.