By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
On Tuesday, February 26, 2025, President Trump held a press conference while signing executive orders.
President Trump talked about how Canadians would prosper being part of the US economy, Trump commented on how much natural resources of lumber the US has: “We don’t need their oil, we don’t need their lumber, in fact, I’ll be freeing up“.
Trump has Howard Luknick US Secretary of Commerce Lee Zeldin head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to begin the process of opening up US Federal forest. “We are so restricted environmentally, we are going to free it up with an emergency order,” Trump commented, saying that the US does not need to import any new lumber because the large amount of forest in the US is more significant than most nations. Trump would also ratify the need for fire mitigation in the US forest by adding more slits within a 50-60 yard area.
According to the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), Oregon has 30.5 million acres of forest, covering almost half the state. However, ODF only manages three percent of Oregon’s forests, and the federal government owns the vast majority of Oregon’s forests. During the Oregon Wildfire Map repeal press conference, Oregon State Senator David Brock Smith highlighted that “82% of the acres burned in Oregon are burned on federal land.”
State Representatives Dwayne Yunker and Ed Diehl supported the president’s opening up of Oregon Forest.
Oregon can return to the old model of using lumber profits to fund critical government areas while reducing taxes across the state. In addition, clearing up forests will reduce the potential fire danger that plagues the state annually. With strong laws on replanting and active harvesting of our forest, Oregon can be a great supplier to builders across the US.
This article originally appeared on the Oregon Catalyst.