DAVID SCHECTER: Quinn Reed is the executive director of the nonprofit Oregon Wild.
QUINN REED: These trees have seen a lot.
SCHECTER: She doesn't dispute the importance of careful thinning, but says the size and speed of Trump's plan will destroy the forest.
REED: I think the justifications, if they were true, are certainly worthy, but if you look at what’s actually called for, it doesn't meet any of those goals. This is the kind of logging that’s simply for profit.
SCHECTER: And now that the Trump administration has fired 10% of the U.S. Forest Service workforce, Reed says there are not enough people to enforce careful cutting.
REED: This used to be a forest much like we just saw just a few moments ago.
SCHECTER: So some of this is acceptable, or none of this is acceptable?
REED: You know, none of this is acceptable. They had a quota to meet, and so they came and they clear-cut it. This isn't what I want to see on the landscape. This isn't what I want to see on lands that we all collectively as Americans own.
SCHECTER: Do you see a possible risk that those clearcuts- what happened in the forests? With fewer staffers and fewer regulations?
JEFF BRINK: I certainly don't want to see it, and every stakeholder here that I've talked to doesn't want it, either.
SCHECTER: For some, the president's order is a long-overdue push toward responsible logging and fire reduction. Others would argue you can't save the forest by cutting it down.
