Georgia’s national forests are some of the largest in the eastern United States. Unfortunately, a new secretarial order from Secretary of the Interior Brooke Rollins would open the door to more logging within these lands. Last week Tennessee experienced its most catastrophic wildfire event, the Big Ridge Fire. It burned over 3,400 acres and the full extent of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. The administration’s directive follows closely on the heels of President Trump’s own executive order issued forcing agencies to increase timber production nationwide on March 1st.
The Forest Service manages approximately 144 million acres nationwide, and Rollins’s recently announced “Emergency Situation Determination” applies to nearly 113 million of these acres. The implications for Georgia’s forests, which harbor some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world and crucial wildlife habitats, would be tremendous. As discussions unfold regarding the balance between timber production and environmental preservation, various stakeholders have raised concerns about the potential consequences of increased logging.
Wildfire Risks and Timber Production
The Chattahoochee National Forest covers roughly 750,000 acres in North Georgia. It’s a critical resource for burgeoning ecotourism and habitat to one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on earth, the Great Migration. Its Oconee counterpart, the larger of the two, protects an extra 115,000 acres of the rapidly developing Piedmont region. The recent wildfires along with other crises have brought much-needed attention to the precarious state of these forests. Rollins’s memo highlights increasing wildfire risks, pest outbreaks, and invasive species as indicators of a “full-blown wildfire and forest health crisis.”
In view of these challenges, the Forest Service has made an intention to increase timber production to meet the challenge. This directive addresses those threats from wildfires head-on. It’s a savvy move that dovetails with President Trump’s stated intention to increase U.S. timber production. Environmentalists contend that logging is not the best or only tactic to address these problems.
“Their justification is that we are in this wildfire crisis all over the country, and the best way to address that is by logging.” – April Lipscomb
The Controversy Surrounding Increased Logging
Environmental groups are raising alarms about the decision to designate Georgia’s forests as an emergency condition. They ask if more logging would really solve the problem—or make it worse. John Paul Schmidt, a forest ecologist with Georgia ForestWatch, notes that logging has historically not played a major role in land use within Georgia’s national forests.
Schmidt underscores ecological impacts that may result from expansive logging practices. He’s concerned that sediment carried downstream by runoff from new logging operations might undermine sensitive habitats.
“That sediment would move downstream and could destroy habitat for trout and other aquatic species that depend on those clear, free-flowing mountain streams.” – John Paul Schmidt
For the past decade, an average of around 3 billion board feet of timber has been harvested annually from federal forests in Georgia. Despite this certainty, discussions about new and deeper logging continue. There’s little to no monitoring on how these practices are going to impact the health of the surrounding forest and local ecosystems.
The Role of Prescribed Burns
Wildfire threats and the deteriorating conditions of our forests are increasingly urgent issues. To address these dangers, the Forest Service collaborates with partners such as the Georgia Forestry Commission to conduct prescribed burns. Such controlled burns increase the number of beneficial native species and reduce the potential for future, more damaging wildfires. This approach has been successful in controlling underbrush and restoring healthy ecosystems.
Even with these efforts, environmental advocates are concerned that an overall boon to logging will make all of this for naught. There, more than anywhere, maybe, they stress the need to avoid an obtuse balance between timber production and ecological health.
These are the top questions communities are asking as they grapple with these urgent issues. At the same time, stakeholders from all sectors are increasingly advocating for sustainable practices that promote both economic development and environmental stewardship.