WASHINGTON — When the U.S. Forest Service opened 947 acres in a remote section of western Colorado to commercial logging in July, officials expected at least a few companies to jump at the opportunity. Not one did. That isn’t just a problem for the loggers. Timber sales are an important tool for preventing catastrophic wildfires. …President Donald Trump has taken steps to promote the U.S. timber industry, increasing access for logging companies to federal lands …Yet loggers are passing up on timber sales across federal lands because of an accelerating downturn in the industry. …Logging has been declining for decades in the US, but the slide has accelerated as costs for fuel and equipment rose and the prices for many types of forest products dropped, said Scott Dane, executive director of the American Loggers Council. Forest Service officials said it is not unusual to get zero bids for a timber sale; about 15% of sales do not attract bidders.