President Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill.” Now, he also wants to log. Mr. Trump directed federal agencies to examine ways to bypass endangered species protections and other environmental regulations to ramp up timber production across 280 million acres of national forests. …Randi Spivak for the Center for Biological Diversity, said “Clearcutting these beautiful places will increase fire risk, drive species to extinction, pollute our rivers and streams, and destroy world-class recreation sites”. …Mr. Trump called for the convening of a committee of high-level officials nicknamed the God Squad because it can override the landmark Endangered Species Act. The committee has rarely been convened since it was created, in 1978, through an amendment to the endangered species law to allow for action during emergencies like hurricanes and wildfires. Mr. Trump also directed official  to look for ways to streamline regulations and reduce costs for timber production. [to access the full story a NY Times subscription is required]