U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Response to Section 2(b) of Executive Order 14225 on Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production

Executive Order 14225, titled Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production, states that "the Director of the [FWS]…shall complete a strategy on USFS and BLM forest management projects under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA)…to improve the speed of approving forestry projects" and "examine any applicable existing authorities that would permit executive departments and agencies (agencies) to delegate consultation requirements under section 7 of the ESA to other agencies and, if necessary, provide a legislative proposal to ensure consultation is streamlined." In addition, our Action Plan for EO 14225 calls for the FWS to identify "existing and needed tools that streamline ESA compliance for forestry projects."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s responses to these directives are included in this document.