Timber Sales

Author: Preston Brashers

TOPLINE:

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) requires the Department of the Interior to significantly boost timber sales on public lands each year through 2034 and to enter contracts to remove vegetation (which can increase wildfire risk).

BACKGROUND:

Timber is a critical, but underutilized, renewable natural resource for the construction industry and the production of paper, furniture, and countless other products. Logging is an important part of the economies of states like Oregon, Washington, Georgia, and Alabama. America has vast forestlands. Based on U.S. Department of Agriculture data, the U.S has about 45 million more acres of forest than it did in 1920. Moreover, forests today, particularly in the west, are much denser on average than they were historically. Higher density forests face higher wildfire risk.

Forest products harvested from U.S. Forest Service lands were dramatically reduced in the late-1980s and early-1990s and remain far below historical norms. In 1987, 12.7 billion board feet of timber was cut on USFS lands. In 2025, only 2.5 billion board feet of timber was cut, about 80% less than in 1987.

What OBBB Did:

• Requires the USFS to increase sales of timber on public lands by at least 250 million board feet each year from 2026 through 2034.
• Requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to increase sales of timber on public lands by at least 20 million board feet each year from 2026 through 2034.
• Requires the USFS to enter into at least 40 20-year contracts and the BLM to enter at least five 20-year contracts for the removal of vegetative materials from public lands.

Why It Matters?

• Despite abundant timber, the U.S. imported 42% more forest products in 2024 from other countries than it exported (U.S. International Trade Commission data).
• Construction material costs increased by 41% between 2020 and 2025. Expanded timber sales will help ease construction costs and make housing more affordable.
• Annual timber sales on U.S. lands will increase by more than 2 billion board feet by 2034 under OBBB. That’s a significant increase, doubling or nearly doubling the timber harvest on public lands (but still much less public timber harvest than in prior decades).

Where Can I Find Changes?

OBBB Section 50301.

BOTTOMLINE:

Responsibly harvesting a sufficient amount of America’s timber resources ensures that they go to good use instead of (literally) going up in smoke.

This memo is part of the One Big Beautiful Booklet, a collection of more than 60 memos that examine and summarize the major aspects of the One Big Beautiful Bill – the signature legislative achievement of President Trump and the 119th Congress.