USDA: National forest energy projects to ‘maximize output per acre’
Published 6:48 am Monday, August 25, 2025
A new USDA directive intends to bolster the efficiency of U.S. energy production in national forests but timber and environmental groups are uncertain of its practical effects.
The policy means to reduce “reliance on foreign energy sources” — such as solar panels manufactured overseas — by prioritizing projects that “maximize output per acre,” according to a statement from USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.
“Under this memorandum, we are putting America first, ensuring that every acre of federally managed land is used wisely, balancing the needs for energy security with our responsibility to safeguard natural resources,” Rollins said.
Among other screening criteria, the directive requires that proposed energy projects be compared with “alternative generation technology” that may “deliver a similar amount of effective annual power while using a smaller perimeter,” thus “destroying less natural habitat and displacing fewer species.”
The directive says “higher land-use efficiency” will optimize “the amount of useable energy produced per acre,” leaving more forestland for “multiple uses,” such as timber, recreation and wildlife.
In her statement about the directive, Rollins specifically calls out solar panels as an example of “foreign energy sources” that would “undermine our national security,” implying they’ll be discouraged under the policy because of the amount of acreage required.
However, neither Rollins nor the directive point to examples of energy projects that would be favored under the land-use efficiency criteria or where they might be built.
The U.S. Forest Service, which is overseen by the USDA, did not respond to questions about the directive, such as whether it’s likely to encourage facilities that rely on fossil fuels and in which national forests they may be located.
From an initial read of the memorandum, “any nexus with timber and forestry is unclear,” said Nick Smith, public affairs director of the American Forest Resource Council, a timber industry group focused on federal lands policy.
Given the Trump administration’s track record, “the reasonable assumption is that this directive aims to pave the way for oil and gas production on national forest lands with little or no public oversight,” said Grace Brahler, wildlands director for the Cascadia Wildlands environmental nonprofit.
Regarding where such development might occur and other specifics, “it’s too early to say without more information, and those are great questions for the administration,” she said.
The Oregon Wild nonprofit expects that USDA’s directive is meant to formally implement President Donald Trump’s disparaging comments about wind and solar power, said Arran Roberson, the environmental group’s communications director.
It’s likely that Forest Service officials themselves don’t yet know how on-the-ground projects may be affected, as the directive is basically a reaction to Trump’s statements, Robertson said.
“This memo is simply the latest effort to translate Trump’s social media tantrums, conspiracy theories, and personal grievances —this time aimed at wind and solar—into government policy,” he said.
Currently, renewable energy is under-represented on federal lands compared to fossil fuels production, according to a federal interagency study released early this year, shortly before the Trump administration came into office.
About 11-12% of the oil and natural gas produced in the U.S. is derived from federal lands, compared to about 3% of the energy generated by solar, wind, geothermal and hydrothermal technologies, the report found.
About 43 million acres of federal property is suitable for wind turbines, compared to 44 million acres for solar panels, though the latter technology has a higher energy-producing potential within that area.
Roughly 39 million acres of federal land would be available for hydrothermal and geothermal facilities, which rely on heat from water and rocks, respectively, the study said.
Geothermal and hydrothermal facilities have a higher energy-producing potential than wind turbines despite the lower amount of suitable land, but solar panels have nearly six times more energy potential than the other technologies, the study said.