BLM agrees to reverse Trump administration post-fire logging rule

The Bureau of Land Management has agreed to overturn a rule introduced during President Donald Trump’s presidency that allowed large areas of forest to be cleared after wildfires without first conducting an environmental survey.

The 2020 rule increased the maximum “category excluded” area from 250 acres to 3,000 acres. These exemptions allowed authorities to approve logging projects without detailed environmental reviews.There was an argument that the projects would have minimal environmental impact. I sued BLM over changing these rules.

Forest managers often approve logging projects in recently burned areas to save trees that can still be used as timber.

Conservation groups argued that authorities had not provided enough evidence as to why they expanded the areas that could be excluded. The plaintiffs included Cascadia Wildlands, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Oregon Wild, Soda Mountain Wilderness Council and Willamette Riverkeeper.

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Susan Jane Brown, Wilderness Program Director, Western Center for Environmental Law, said:

Brown said that in forests after fires, the remaining trees and plants help prevent erosion and keep sediment from flowing into nearby waterways. He said it showed the impact of human intervention on

“Thus, if you are proposing to conduct post-fire logging, it makes sense to look closely at the environmental impacts of that action and propose appropriate mitigation measures and alternatives for such actions.” she said.

Brown doesn’t say BLM should never log into post-fire landscapes, but the agency conducts thorough environmental reviews to look at possible impacts and identify ways to mitigate them. said I need to.

BLM Paused already Last summer we felled under the 2020 rules. And according to a new agreement with conservation groups, they plan to remove the former language from their books in the next few years.

Officials have reverted to old guidance on logging after fires, and projects over 250 acres will again require a detailed environmental review.