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By Brooke Rollins – Secretary of the Department of Agriculture
When American energy production is strong, both producers and consumers are better off. That’s why the Trump administration is working every day to revive our industrial base and bring back American energy dominance.
We at the Department of Agriculture are doing everything we can to help President Donald Trump get our country back on track by expanding domestic timber production and unleashing American mineral and energy production.
We are implementing Trump’s executive order on the immediate expansion of American timber production. This order shows the importance of our homegrown timber production and emphasizes how forest management reduces wildfire risk and saves American lives and communities.
I have directed the chief of the U.S. Forest Service to expand timber production by calling the situation what it truly is: a national forest emergency. Our foresters are taking immediate action to address this emergent situation on over 100 million acres of national forest lands across the country.
We are doing everything we can to leverage our bountiful resources and increase timber production by 25%. We are cutting burdensome regulations in the National Environmental Policy Act that have impeded operators from doing their jobs.
The United States has an abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic needs. Right now, we are far too reliant on imported timber. Decades of bad trade policy have undermined our domestic industry. Towns across the nation have seen sawmills close. Data show that the number of people employed in forestry and logging has decreased by a whopping 48.3% since 2000.
This is unacceptable. Talking heads at MSNBC were shocked at the idea of “making wood” in the U.S. I find the alternative, being reliant on other nations for natural resources, to be shocking.
As stated in my memorandum, “We can manage our forests to better provide domestic timber supply, create jobs and prosperity, reduce wildfire disasters, improve fish and wildlife habitats, and decrease costs of construction and energy.”
Trump has also directed us to unleash critical mineral production that was impeded by the Biden administration. In 2023, Biden’s secretary of interior prevented mineral extractions from the Rainy River watershed area of the Superior National Forest for the next 20 years. We are doing the opposite and unleashing American production.
Right now, we are too dependent on foreign countries for the supply of needed minerals. Last year, 85% of platinum, 76% of cobalt, 73% of zinc, and 48% of nickel the U.S. consumed was imported. Americans had to import these minerals because we were forbidden from mining these critical natural resources here at home.
These minerals are essential for the production of batteries, electronics, and national security technologies. We have handed our dependencies of these essential minerals to foreign countries. The Biden administration’s obstruction of American domestic production hasn’t just threatened our economic security; it has also threatened our national security.
I’ve directed the U.S. Forest Service to address these threats. We administer eight mine or quarry projects that produce critical minerals including platinum, cobalt, and zinc. Meanwhile, an additional eight mining projects are under review that could increase access to manganese, cobalt, and gold.
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I’ve ordered that we expedite these projects where possible and get out of the way of those wishing to initiate new ones. We are already seeing results; on March 5, the Forest Service authorized a one-year permit for exploration of mineral deposits, including silver, zinc, lead, and gold, on Alaska’s Admiralty Island.
Trump’s mission to rebuild manufacturing in this country and bolster national security requires American energy dominance. We must be prepared to meet this challenge with our domestic resources. This is what we are doing at USDA: restoring our government to one that responds to the needs of the people and provides for our national security.
Brooke L. Rollins is the 33rd secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
