Critics of the timber program point to its costs and relatively low returns overall. In Alaska’s Tongass National Forest — the nation’s biggest — timber sales have lost money for years, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

The group said the Forest Service loses around $1 billion a year on timber sales there. The organization will publish an updated analysis this summer, said Tyler Work, a policy analyst.

“Preparing timber sales is costly and time intensive,” Work said. “The Forest Service typically spends years selecting suitable stands, thinning them when necessary, analyzing environmental effects of various harvest options, calculating financial viability, advertising sales, and evaluating bids from logging companies.”

Building access roads for timber harvest sites costs money, too, Work said. “These costs — spread across multiple budget line items — directly reduce the net return from timber sales.”