The attacks on our public lands and environment feel relentless during the early months of the current Trump administration. As your regional conservation organization in the Inland Northwest, The Lands Council is tracking these threats closely — and taking action.

Here’s what’s happening, and how you can stand with us to protect the forests, waters, and wildlife we all cherish.

Executive Orders Put Timber Over Ecosystems

The administration has issued two executive orders aimed at rapidly increasing timber production on public lands:

Secretarial Order: Increasing Timber Production and Designating an Emergency Situation on National Forest System Lands

Executive Order: Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production – The White House

These directives allow federal land managers to bypass multiple-use management, sidelining aquatic restoration, habitat protection, and recreational improvements in favor of aggressive logging.

Let’s be clear: 88% of U.S. timber already comes from private industrial lands. Public lands provide a tiny fraction of timber to the economy, yet these new orders prioritize logging above all else—at the expense of biodiversity, water quality, and recreational access.

Public Land Sales & Budget Cuts Threaten Our Heritage

While public support for national parks and forests remains high, some lawmakers are pushing hard to sell them off:

Senator Mike Lee is attempting to include language in the administration’s spending bill that would allow the federal government to auction off public lands to the highest bidder.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has proposed a $900 million cut — nearly 30% — to National Park System operations.

That same proposal recommends transferring smaller and less visited parks to state and tribal governments, many of which lack the funding or capacity to manage them.

This strategy risks degrading our shared natural heritage, closing off public access, and undermining long-term conservation.

Science and Staffing Slashed

Meanwhile, federal agency staffing has been gutted. Whole research, biological, and archeology teams have been eliminated. District Rangers are cleaning toilets while trying to manage whole forests. There’s simply not enough capacity left to care for our public lands—let alone restore them. It has been reported that regional forests have lost 35 people at Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 46 at Okanagan-Wenatchee, 21 at Colville, 15 at Gifford-Pinchot. This is leaving wildfire agency uncertain for a fire season that is already kicking off.

This administration is also slashing funding for salmon recovery in the Columbia River, a priority for all the Tribes of the Upper Columbia.

What The Lands Council Is Doing

We’re responding with advocacy, collaboration, and direct action:

📣 Advocacy

We’ve written to our representatives to defend public lands and advocate for multiple-use management—including responsible harvest, aquatic protections, restoration, and economic benefits of recreation to rural communities. TLC has signed on with over 350 other Federal Lands Advocates across WA and will continue to fight for public lands protections.

We’ve submitted formal comments defending key protections in the Endangered Species Act.

We co-signed a statewide letter supporting forest collaboratives like the Northeast Washington Forest Coalition (NEWFC), which TLC helped found alongside Vaagen Brothers Lumber and other partners. NEWFC is a national model for balancing forest restoration, old growth protection, and rural economic support.

🌲 Action

The Lands Council is working with the Old Growth Tree Network to document and protect the less than 3% of old-growth trees left in NE Washington—vital habitat for many species including endangered species like lynx, goshawks, and grizzly bears.

We’re supporting Colville National Forest as it faces severe staffing shortages. Join us at NEWFC’s Community Forest Field Day:

📍 June 16, 1–6 p.m., Chewelah, WA
Come learn how you can volunteer to support your national forest. https://www.facebook.com/share/1Br8Wokspg/

We’re helping build capacity for prescribed fire through the Selkirk TREX program, training new practitioners to restore healthy fire regimes and protect communities from catastrophic wildfire.

The Lands Council is also an active member in the newly formed Spokane Salmon Restoration Collaborative, and the Kalispel Tibe - Pend Oreille Lead Entity, working with our regional partners to restore salmon, red band, and cutthroat trout habitat across NE WA.

What You Can Do

Now is the time to act:

📞 Contact your representatives and oppose public land sell-offs and irresponsible timber mandates.

💚 Donate to The Lands Council to support local advocacy and conservation.

📣 Spread the word—forward this story, talk to your neighbors, and raise your voice.

We need your help to protect what makes the Inland Northwest so special.

In solidarity,
The Lands Council Team
Protecting the Inland Northwest Since 1984