Trees in three national forests in Oregon will be auctioned off for logging by the end of the month, even though the federal workers preparing these timber sales are not getting paid and many of their colleagues in the U.S. Forest Service are furloughed.

As the federal government shutdown stretches into its second week, about 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed since Oct. 1, meaning they are temporarily on unpaid leave — and some may be laid off entirely. Air travel and other public services are showing signs of strain.

But the Trump administration has determined that staff who organize and process timber sales — auctioning the right to log trees in national forests to the highest bidders — are essential workers, according to a Forest Service memo sent Wednesday.

In the memo, Forest Service acting deputy chief John Crockett says timber sale staff are essential because of President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production,” in which the president calls timber production “critical to our Nation’s well-being.”

Shortly after Trump issued that order in March, the Forest Service announced it would increase timber cutting by 25% by 2028. The agency also dedicated $200 million to “streamline regulatory processes” to hasten logging.

Its next timber sales in Oregon include sections of the Deschutes, Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla national forests. Those three sales are expected to produce 123,047 tons of timber — enough to build more than 11,000 single-family homes.

The Forest Service is the largest landowner in Eastern Oregon, so its land management and logging decisions can have significant ripple effects on the communities nearby. Some people worry that fast-tracking logging projects during a government shutdown could erode trust between timber businesses, environmental advocates and county governments.

“This Administration has made clear that logging and the corporate exploitation of America’s public lands are its top priorities, and the staff needed to facilitate that exploitation must continue to work,” Steve Pedery, conservation director with the environmental nonprofit Oregon Wild, said in an email. “We need to remind Congress and the Trump administration that public lands belong to the public, not just the corporate interests exploiting them.”

“If work proceeds during a shutdown without the usual oversight or opportunities for collaboration, that is concerning,” said Alyssa Cudmore, forestland program manager with Wallowa Resources, which helps organize forest collaborations between multiple stakeholders.

“Our region has worked hard to move away from the old ‘timber wars’ mindset toward a more restorative, trust-based model,” Cudmore said in an email.

Local timber industry advocates have sided with the Trump administration on the move.

“We believe it’s important for federal agencies to maintain these essential operations so land managers can continue reducing wildfire risks and carrying out forest projects that support Oregon jobs and communities,” Nick Smith, public affairs director of the American Forest Resource Council, an industry association, said in an email.

The federal shutdown that started on Oct. 1 is the result of Congress’ failure to continue funding the government, and has at its heart disagreements between Republican and Democratic lawmakers over Affordable Care Act health subsidies.

Aside from logging operations, some other Forest Service programs are temporarily on hold, including oversight of cattle grazing.

Ranchers get permits from the Forest Service so they can set their cattle out to graze in certain areas. Those permits set limits, like the number of cattle allowed and their grazing boundaries, to protect soil and water quality. Permit requirements also help prevent damaging sensitive habitats, like sagebrush steppe landscapes where vulnerable sage grouse roam. According to Corckett’s memo, monitoring those permits isn’t happening during the shutdown.

Some of the Forest Service’s wildfire prevention work was also temporarily stalled. October is an essential time for setting prescribed fires, which burn off grasses and underbrush to prevent larger fires in the future. The Forest Service paused this work during the first week of the shutdown. In the memo he sent Wednesday, Crockett said the agency resumed prescribed burning on Oct. 7.

Other Forest Service operations continue as usual, including reforestation, seed collection and non-commercial thinning.

Similar to national parks, which are managed under the U.S. Department of Interior, camp sites, trails and other recreational sites in national forests remain open through the shutdown, but with limited services.

Employees who “directly support developed recreation site operations” are still working. Visitor centers, where people can obtain maps and information about the trail or weather conditions, are closed.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/10/logging-national-forests-oregon-government-shutdown/