While the mandatory sale of public lands in the West — potentially including parts of the Olympic National Forest — didn’t make it into the final congressional reconciliation bill, an increase to timber-production on public lands was included.

Under the new law signed by President Donald Trump July 4, timber sales in National Forest and Bureau of Land Management parcels across the country are now directed to enter longterm timber-sale contracts or to sell a total set amount.

The most recent changes follows executive orders Trump signed in March to ramp up national timber production to lessen reliance on imported lumber, including reviewing the 1973 Endangered Species Act to identify “obstacles to domestic timber production.”

Federal leaders say the changes aim to expand American timber production by at least 25%.

A state BLM spokesperson said it is unlikely any BLM land in Cowlitz County will be included in these changes, however the National Forest Services could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.

The Trump administration and local pulp and paper mill leaders say the changes will not only grow the industry, but improve the forests’ resiliency and lower wildfire suppression costs, while public land advocates disagree with the latter.

BLM

The budget reconciliation bill requires at least 20,000,000 board-feet of timber sales more in Bureau of Land Management parcels sold each fiscal year compared to the year prior, from 2026 to 2034.

Board-feet measures the lumber sourced, and not a geographic area.

The bill also includes at least five long-term contracts on the land for no less than 20 years from 2025 to 2034.

Revenue

A May report from Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), who is also the chairperson for the House Committee on Natural Resources, says the Congressional Budget Office estimates the additional timber sales would generate more than $157 million in new revenue and savings.

Scott Tift, president of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Union, said the federal changes will also create more local family-wage jobs in the industry the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says had an annual salary of $61,920 in 2023.

“Our members and their communities rely on predictable, sustainable access to timber,” Tift said. “Public lands must be part of that solution.”

Richard Murray, president of the AWPPW local 633 at Nippon Dynawave — which in Longview mostly makes packaging for milk and juice cartons — agrees.

“We are for that,” he said about the recent change. “Anything that can get more pulp to the mills.”

Safety

A July 3 notice from the White House states the increase in timber production will improve forest management, which will also strengthen the resiliency of forests and save billions on future wildfire suppression costs.

Washington State Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Will Rubin specializes in forest resilience and health. He said there are more opportunities to thin federal public land in Washington state — where he said the federal government is the largest landowner — as long as the process is backed by science, not profits.

Cutting down trees to meet a quota or sidestepping laws such as the Endangered Species Act wouldn’t be part of the process, he added.

“When we do work on federal land, profit is not our primary objective,” he said.

DNR uses prescribed burning in central and Eastern Washington to mimic the long-used tool by area tribes to manage land. Burning the forest floor clears overgrowth and underbrush which can help carry flames up forests’ canopies.

Cascade Forest Conservancy Executive Director Molly Whitney said many forests in the wetter, western side of the Cascades often see little to no effect on fire risks when thinning trees.

The Vancouver-based nonprofit says it monitors timber sales within Gifford Pinchot to ensure they are scientifically vetted and sustainable.

Whitney added that logging the public federal forests west of the Cascades crest may only briefly reduce the possibility of a large fire.

“If a strong, east wind–driven fire occurs, it will burn through grasslands, forests, and anything else in its path, regardless of how many trees were removed,” she said.

Washington State Sierra Club Director Ben Avery agreed. Avery said prescribed burns and thinning small trees can help manage wildfires, but most of the county’s old-growth trees are in National Forests.

“Wildfires are a growing threat that disrupt more lives every year,” he said. “But forcing logging on National Forests, especially where older, more fire-resilient trees grow, is the wrong approach.”

Bill changes

The actual sale of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land was pulled on June 28 by Senate Energy Chairman and Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who proposed the mandatory sale of 2-3 millions of acres of public land in the West to make room for more housing.

In his June 28 statement Lee says the federal government owns too much land, creating problems, specifically for Utahns, such as being able to build homes and raise property taxes for local schools.

However, the bill wasn’t able to ensure the land wouldn’t be sold to foreign interests instead of the intended American families, so he said he withdrew the proposal.

Federally protected land, such as the Mount St. Helens Volcanic National Monument, was always excluded from sales in the draft bill.

Avery sees the change being caused more by the “incredible unpopularity of this bill,” rather than other issues.

GOP senators in Montana and Idaho were also against the spending cuts and tax package with the addition of the public land sales.

Allan Maddox, of Skagit County’s Fir Island, was camping at Seaquest State Park in late June before the public lands option was dropped. The veteran in his 70s said he tries to stay away from politics, but he “couldn’t stay away from this.”

“As far as I’m concerned,” he said, “we don’t have enough public land to enjoy.”

Silver Lake Resort owner Ember Crippen said she doesn’t want anything to destroy the beauty and quietness of the area where her resort is nestled in the shadow of Mount St. Helens.

“That’s why we like it here,” she said.