America returns to active forest management
By
Duggan Flanakin
|
April 13th, 2025
Back on March 1, President Trump fired a double-barrel shotgun at the long-held preservationist U.S. mantra that for nearly a century has dealt heavy blows to American forests, forest animals, and the humans whose homes abut government forest lands.
They first addressed what the White House calls “the threat to national security from imports of timber and lumber.” Even though the U.S. has ample timber resources, the nation has been a net importer of lumber since 2016. “Wood products,” said the President, play “a vital role in key downstream civilian industries, including construction.”
Reliance on imported lumber became critical during the COVID pandemic when the producer price of softwood veneer and plywood manufacturing over tripled from $205 in January 2020 to $702 in June 2021; the December 2024 price was still higher than the pre-COVID peak.
That upward jerk devastated the home-building industry. Contractors who had hoped construction prices would return to pre-pandemic levels are still waiting, and the short-term effects of the Trump tariffs could keep prices high for months to come.
https://www.cfact.org/2025/04/13/america-returns-to-active-forest-management/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=america-returns-to-active-forest-management&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=america-returns-to-active-forest-management
