16 U.S.C. § 1600 (CONSERVATION)
§ 1600. Congressional findings
The Congress finds that—
(1) the management of the Nation’s renewable resources is highly complex and the uses, demand for, and supply of the various resources are subject to change over time;
(2) the public interest is served by the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with other agencies, assessing the Nation’s renewable resources, and developing and preparing a national renewable resource program, which is periodically reviewed and updated;
(3) to serve the national interest, the renewable resource program must be based on a comprehensive assessment of present and anticipated uses, demand for, and supply of renewable resources from the Nation’s public and private forests and rangelands, through analysis of environmental and economic impacts, coordination of multiple use and sustained yield opportunities as provided in the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (74 Stat. 215; 16 U.S.C. 528–531), and public participation in the development of the program;
(4) the new knowledge derived from coordinated public and private research programs will promote a sound technical and ecological base for effective management, use, and protection of the Nation’s renewable resources;
(5) inasmuch as the majority of the Nation’s forests and rangeland is under private, State, and local governmental management and the Nation’s major capacity to produce goods and services is based on these nonfederally managed renewable resources, the Federal Government should be a catalyst to encourage and assist these owners in the efficient long-term use and improvement of these lands and their renewable resources consistent with the principles of sustained yield and multiple use;
(6) the Forest Service, by virtue of its statutory authority for management of the National Forest System, research and cooperative programs, and its role as an agency in the Department of Agriculture, has both a responsibility and an opportunity to be a leader in assuring that the Nation maintains a natural resource conservation posture that will meet the requirements of our people in perpetuity; and
(7) recycled timber product materials are as much a part of our renewable forest resources as are the trees from which they originally came, and in order to extend our timber and timber fiber resources and reduce pressures for timber production from Federal lands, the Forest Service should expand its research in the use of recycled and waste timber product materials, develop techniques for the substitution of these secondary materials for primary materials, and promote and encourage the use of recycled timber product materials.
(Pub. L. 93–378, § 2, as added Pub. L. 94–588, § 2, Oct. 22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2949.)
heading: Editorial Notes
heading: References in Text
text: The Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, referred to in par. (3), is Pub. L. 86–517, June 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 215, which is classified generally to sections 528 to 531 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 528 of this title and Tables.
heading: Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
heading: Short Title of 2021 Amendment
text: Pub. L. 117–58, div. G, title III, § 70301, Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 1258, provided that: “This title [amending sections 1601, 1606a, 1607, and 2105 of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 1601 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Repairing Existing Public Land by Adding Necessary Trees Act’ or the ‘REPLANT Act’.”
heading: Short Title of 1988 Amendments
text: Pub. L. 100–521, § 1, Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2601, provided that: “This Act [amending section 1642 of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 1642 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Forest Ecosystems and Atmospheric Pollution Research Act of 1988’.”
Pub. L. 100–231, § 1, Jan. 5, 1988, 101 Stat. 1565, provided that: “This Act [amending sections 1674 and 1675 of this title and provisions set out as a note under section 1671 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Renewable Resources Extension Act Amendments of 1987’.”
heading: Short Title of 1980 Amendment
text: Pub. L. 96–554, § 1, Dec. 19, 1980, 94 Stat. 3257, provided: “That this Act [enacting subchapter IV of this chapter and enacting provision set out as a note under section 1681 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Wood Residue Utilization Act of 1980’.”
heading: Short Title of 1978 Amendments
text: Pub. L. 95–307, § 1, June 30, 1978, 92 Stat. 353, provided: “That this Act [enacting subchapter II of this chapter, repealing sections 581 to 581i of this title, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 1641 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978’.”
Pub. L. 95–306, § 1, June 30, 1978, 92 Stat. 349, provided: “That this Act [enacting subchapter III of this chapter and provision set out as a note under section 1671 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Renewable Resources Extension Act of 1978’.”
heading: Short Title of 1976 Amendment
text: Pub. L. 94–588, § 1, Oct. 22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2949, provided: “That this Act [enacting this section and sections 472a, 521b, and 1611 to 1614 of this title, amending sections 500, 515, 516, 518, 576b, 581h, and 1601 to 1610 of this title, repealing sections 476, 513 and 514 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and sections 476, 513, 528, and 594–2 of this title] may be cited as the ‘National Forest Management Act of 1976’.”
heading: Short Title
text: Pub. L. 93–378, § 1, Aug. 17, 1974, 88 Stat. 476, provided: “That this Act [enacting this subchapter and amending section 581h of this title] may be cited as the ‘Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974’.”
heading: Separability
text: Pub. L. 94–588, § 21, Oct. 22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2963, provided that: “If any provision of this Act [see Short Title of 1976 Amendment note set out above] or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and of the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.”
heading: Executive Documents
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 14225. Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production
text: Ex. Ord. No. 14225, Mar. 1, 2025, 90 F.R. 11365, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. The production of timber, lumber, paper, bioenergy, and other wood products (timber production) is critical to our Nation’s well-being. Timber production is essential for crucial human activities like construction and energy production. Furthermore, as recent disasters demonstrate, forest management and wildfire risk reduction projects can save American lives and communities.
The United States has an abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic timber production needs, but heavy-handed Federal policies have prevented full utilization of these resources and made us reliant on foreign producers. Our inability to fully exploit our domestic timber supply has impeded the creation of jobs and prosperity, contributed to wildfire disasters, degraded fish and wildlife habitats, increased the cost of construction and energy, and threatened our economic security. These onerous Federal policies have forced our Nation to rely upon imported lumber, thus exporting jobs and prosperity and compromising our self-reliance. It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security.
Sec. 2. Directives to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this order [Mar. 1, 2025], the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Chief of the United States Forest Service (USFS), respectively, shall each issue new or updated guidance regarding tools to facilitate increased timber production and sound forest management, reduce time to deliver timber, and decrease timber supply uncertainty, such as the Good Neighbor Authority described in 16 U.S.C. 2113a, stewardship contracting pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 6591c, and agreements or contracts with Indian tribes under the Tribal Forest Protection Act [of 2004, Pub. L. 108–278] as contemplated by 25 U.S.C. 3115a. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall also each submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget any legislative proposals that would expand authorities to improve timber production and sound forest management.
(b) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Secretary of Commerce, through the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, shall complete a strategy on USFS and BLM forest management projects under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act [of 1973] (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1536) to improve the speed of approving forestry projects. The Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the FWS, shall also examine any applicable existing authorities that would permit executive departments and agencies (agencies) to delegate consultation requirements under section 7 of the ESA to other agencies and, if necessary, provide a legislative proposal to ensure consultation is streamlined.i21(c) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall together submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, a plan that sets a target for the annual amount of timber per year to be offered for sale over the next 4 years from Federal lands managed by the BLM and the USFS, measured in millions of board feet.
(d) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, through the Directors of the FWS and the BLM, and the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Chief of the USFS, shall complete the Whitebark Pine Rangewide Programmatic Consultation under section 7 of the ESA.
(e) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall consider and, if appropriate and consistent with applicable law, adopt categorical exclusions administratively established by other agencies to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act [of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.] and reduce unnecessarily lengthy processes and associated costs related to administrative approvals for timber production, forest management, and wildfire risk reduction treatments.
(f) Within 280 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall consider and, if appropriate and consistent with applicable law, establish a new categorical exclusion for timber thinning and re-establish a categorical exclusion for timber salvage activities.
Sec. 3. Streamlined Permitting. All relevant agencies shall eliminate, to the maximum extent permissible by law, all undue delays within their respective permitting processes related to timber production. Additionally, all relevant agencies shall take all necessary and appropriate steps consistent with applicable law to suspend, revise, or rescind all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and other agency actions that impose an undue burden on timber production.
Sec. 4. Endangered Species Committee. (a) Agencies are directed to use, to the maximum extent permissible under applicable law, the ESA regulations on consultations in emergencies to facilitate the Nation’s timber production. The Secretary of the Interior, as Chairman of the Endangered Species Committee, shall ensure a prompt and efficient review of all submissions to such committee, to include identification of any legal deficiencies, in order to ensure the timely consideration of exemption applications and, where possible, to resolve such applications before the deadlines set by the ESA.
(b) Federal members of the Endangered Species Committee, or their designees, shall coordinate to develop and submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, that identifies obstacles to domestic timber production infrastructure specifically deriving from implementation of the ESA and recommends procedural, regulatory, and interagency improvements.
(c) The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the Director of the FWS, or the Director’s authorized representative, is available to consult promptly with agencies and to take other appropriate action concerning the applicability of the ESA’s emergency regulations. The Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, or the Assistant Administrator’s authorized representative, is available for such consultation and to take such other action as may assist in applying the ESA’s emergency regulations.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Donald J. Trump.