Much of the White Mountain National Forest was included in a move from the federal government earlier this month aimed at increasing timber production and, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reducing wildfire risk.
The memo from the US Department of Agriculture directs Forest Service officials to streamline timber production and allows them to forgo parts of environmental assessments and objection processes under an Emergency Situation Determination.
That determination also allows officials to expedite permitting processes, cut down trees to control insects or disease in a “sanitation harvest”, remove trees close to roads and trails, and make other changes based on wildfire risk.
That determination applies to nearly 60% of National Forest Service lands considered at high risk for wildfire or other hazards like insects.
“National Forests are in crisis due to uncharacteristically severe wildfires, insect and disease outbreaks, invasive species, and other stressors whose impacts have been compounded by too little active management,” the memo from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said.
White Mountain National Forest officials did not respond by deadline to questions about how the guidance would be implemented in New Hampshire or how it would affect ongoing management projects.
Zack Porter, who leads the advocacy group Standing Trees, said the move means less transparency.
“Secretary Rollins’ order is an attempt to remove the public from public land,” he said. “This is a backhanded way of privatizing public resources. And that should scare every American who cares about places like the White Mountain National Forest.”
Porter’s group has challenged logging plans in the White Mountains in recent years, saying that Forest Service officials haven’t done enough work to look into alternatives to logging. He said New Hampshire officials have handled planning those timber harvest projects in a similar manner to the memo from Sec. Rollins under the emergency designation.
“It actually says, well, now that there’s an emergency, it would be okay to do this bare bones analysis,” he said,
The determination from the Department of Agriculture comes after a March executive order from President Trump directing an expansion of timber production.
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