A $200 Million Subsidy for Timber Corporations At the Expense of Public Lands and Public Servants

In a deeply troubling move, the Trump Administration has announced a $200 million taxpayer-funded subsidy to the timber industry, while simultaneously slashing staffing, undermining environmental safeguards, and targeting career civil servants at the U.S. Forest Service.

On May 29, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled the investment to support the National Active Forest Management Strategy—a sweeping plan to increase logging on public lands by 25% and weaken regulatory review in the name of “forest health.”

This plan supports President Trump’s executive order to dramatically expand timber harvests and remove public oversight over forest planning.

Former U.S. Forest Service Chiefs Issue Warning

In response, six retired U.S. Forest Service Chiefs—who served under both Democratic and Republican presidents—published a joint letter condemning the administration’s actions. These leaders, with more than 200 years of combined service, call out the damage being done:

“Are these drastic actions the first steps toward crippling the agencies so they cannot carry out their Congressionally mandated mission? If so, they portend a cynical effort to divest and transfer federal public lands to the states and private interests.”

Their commentary highlights the dismissal of thousands of trained federal employees—firefighters, resource specialists, campground staff, and environmental planners—who were fired, reinstated by court order, and then fired again. Many senior leaders resigned or were demoted under political pressure, and more staff cuts are expected.

Meanwhile, logging is being fast-tracked with long-term contracts, loosened oversight, and expanded market development for biomass and industrial wood products.

Despite administration claims, industrial logging does not reduce wildfire risk. It can increase risk by removing mature trees, reducing forest resilience, and replacing biodiverse landscapes with flammable monocultures. Real solutions include prescribed burns, community fire preparation, plantation thinning, and restoration of natural fire regimes, not mass extraction. Yet those programs remain underfunded.

Let’s be clear: this $200 million is not about forest stewardship. It’s a giveaway to timber corporations.

While public lands serve as essential habitat, drinking water sources, recreation areas, and carbon sinks, they are now being carved up to feed private profits, with less science, less public input, and more destruction.

As the retired chiefs wrote: “The national forests are public lands that are owned collectively by all U.S. citizens… The greatest good is keeping the National Forests and all federal public lands in the hands of all citizens for future generations.”

Unmarked Trees, Unchecked Logging

In a significant shift from established forestry practices, the Forest Service has adopted a new directive that permits timber harvesting without the traditional method of marking individual trees. This change, outlined in Secretarial Memorandum 1078-006, delegates the authority to use “Designation by Prescription” (DxP) and “Designation by Description” (DxD) to Forest Supervisors, making these methods the default for timber projects. 

Under DxP, trees are selected for removal based on a written prescription that describes the desired future condition of the forest stand, such as retaining a specific basal area or canopy cover. DxD involves specifying characteristics of trees to be cut, like species, size, or spacing, without physically marking them. 

While these methods aim to streamline operations and reduce costs, they raise concerns about accountability and environmental protection. Without marked trees, it becomes challenging to verify compliance with environmental regulations and ensure that sensitive areas, such as riparian zones or habitats for endangered species, are adequately protected.

EPIC has historically relied on tree markings to monitor and challenge timber sales that threaten ecologically sensitive areas. For instance, in past efforts, EPIC successfully used marked trees to identify and save large, old-growth trees in riparian zones from being logged. The absence of physical markings now hampers such oversight and increases the risk of unauthorized or excessive logging.

This policy change is part of a broader initiative to increase timber production on public lands by 25% over the next few years, as directed by the Trump Administration. The shift towards unmarked tree harvesting, combined with expedited project approvals and reduced environmental reviews, underscores the need for vigilant public oversight to safeguard our national forests.

Speak Up

EPIC is calling on all public servants, Tribal leaders, conservationists, and members of the public to speak out against this exploitation of our forests. Together, we must protect the integrity of our public lands and expose abuse when we see it.

If you are a Forest Service employee, agency partner, or contractor who has witnessed fraud, retaliation, political interference, or unlawful activity related to this logging agenda, we want to hear from you.

Visit our new whistleblower portal to safely and anonymously report abuse, fraud, and illegal activities:

https://www.wildcalifornia.org/post/report-abuse-fraud-and-illegal-activities