National forests will soon seen increased logging after the USDA released a memo directing the forest service to increase timber production on those lands. This includes logging in all the national forests in California and other national forests throughout the West, South and Midwest regions.

“We can manage our forests to better provide domestic timber supply, create jobs and prosperity, reduce wildfire disasters, improve fish and wildlife habitats, and decrease costs of construction and energy,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins wrote in the memo released April 3. Rollins issued an emergency declaration that ordered the U.S. Forest Service to open up some 112.5 million acres of national forestland to logging.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the order will touch all 18 of the California's national forests, which collectively span more than 20 million acres.

"The USDA Forest Service stands ready to fulfill the Secretary's vision of productive and resilient national forests outlined in the memorandum," the agency said in a written statement. "In alignment with the Secretary's direction, we will streamline forest management efforts, reduce burdensome regulations, and grow partnerships to support economic growth and sustainability."

The majority of U.S. National Forest lands are in the western part of the United States, predominantly Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico and Wyoming. There are also national forests in the South, the Great Lakes region and New England.

California is home to more federal forests than any other state, including the Angeles, Sequoia and Klamath national forests. Officials with the USDA, which oversees the Forest Service, said they do not yet have information about how many acres in each forest will be affected.

The order follows two earlier executive orders in March by President Donald Trump to expand U.S. timber production and address wood product imports.

In March, President Trump signed an executive order that directed an investigation into U.S. imports of wood products, an industry that the president sees as “essential to the national security, economic strength, and industrial resilience” of the United States. The directive calls for the expansion of U.S. timber production by 25%.

In a letter from Christopher B. French, acting associate chief, the Forest Service has been directed to complete an action plan to implement the new strategy within 30 days of the April 3 directive, acting associate chief Christopher French said in a letter to Forest Service regional foresters. It instructed them to develop five-year strategies to increase the volume of timber they are offering, "leading to an agency wide increase of 25% over the next four to five years."

Rollins said the goal is to:
• Support rural economies and forest product industry partners
• Reduce the risk of destructive wildfire by creating and sustaining healthy and resilient
forests and watersheds
• Build capacity through workforce alignment and partnerships

"We can manage our forests to better provide domestic timber supply, create jobs and prosperity, reduce wildfire disasters, improve fish and wildlife habitats, and decrease costs of construction and energy," said Rollins.