…Many scientists agree that much of the nation’s federal forests—particularly in the West—are in dire condition. Decades of aggressive wildfire suppression combined with logging have left forests crowded with dense stands of small trees and shrubs, rather than bigger, fire-resistant, old-growth trees that once predominated. Selective logging could help. But experts caution there are more obstacles than simply red tape. Like previous forest-health campaigns, including a multibillion-dollar initiative by former President Joe Biden’s administration, the new push will confront a timber industry in decline, forests crowded with trees of limited economic value, and a USFS hamstrung by a lack of experienced staff. …Forest health problems have “been discussed ad nauseum since 2000,” says Scott Stephens, a fire ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley who served on a 2023 federal commission that examined ways to reduce wildfire threats. “Federal initiatives have come, good ideas have come, and this [problem] continues.”