Trees in three national forests in Oregon will be auctioned off for logging by the end of the month, even though the federal workers preparing these timber sales are not getting paid and many of their colleagues in the U.S. Forest Service are furloughed. …But the Trump administration has determined that staff who organize and process timber sales — auctioning the right to log trees in national forests to the highest bidders — are essential workers, according to a Forest Service memo sent Wednesday. …Its next timber sales in Oregon include sections of the Deschutes, Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla national forests. Those three sales are expected to produce 123,047 tons of timber — enough to build more than 11,000 single-family homes. …“If work proceeds during a shutdown without the usual oversight or opportunities for collaboration, that is concerning,” said Alyssa Cudmore, forestland program manager with Wallowa Resources, which helps organize forest collaborations between multiple stakeholders.