A few different devs have commented on how they didn't like the "deforest EVERYTHING" approach that CIV encouraged, so chopping bonuses have been cut down drastically (but still exist IIRC), lumber mills are available earlier (machinery), and you get +2 research from working forest tiles if the city has a University (cause
students study harder if the campus has an arboretum?) So it looks like mass early deforestation isn't going to be the be-all-end-all strategy it was in almost every case in CIV, and a few previewers have confirmed that.