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After spending more than two years drafting a plan to manage and protect the nation’s old-growth forests to withstand the ravages of climate change, the Biden administration abruptly abandoned the effort.
The U.S. Forest Service’s decision to shelve the National Old Growth Amendment ends the federal government’s goal of creating a consistent approach to managing the oldest trees on the 193 million acres of land it manages nationwide. , ends for now. Agency Director Randy Moore said those steps would be taken at the local level.
“There is strong support and expectation that we continue to protect these forests based on the best available scientific information,” he wrote. letter sent on tuesday The move was announced to local foresters and forest managers. “We also use the best available scientific information, which is key site-based and based on ecological conditions, to identify site-specific key areas to protect primary forests to be resilient and sustainable into the future.” There was also feedback that we needed to understand the differences.
President Biden launched a wide-ranging effort to make the nation’s forests more resilient to climate change. presidential order He issued this order on Earth Day in April 2022. Under the order, the Forest Service sought to ensure consistency in the protection of mature and old trees in the 154 forests, 20 grasslands, and other lands it manages. Such changes are natural. That’s because government agencies define “old-growth forests” differently in different parts of the country depending on the characteristics of the local forest, but generally speaking they are at least 100 years old.
Many of the nation’s remaining ancient forests are in places like Alaska and California, where some trees in the Tongass National Forest are over 800 years old. In the East, many old-growth forests are concentrated in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. In all, primary forest on lands managed by the Forest Service covers approximately 24 million acres, and mature forest covers approximately 67 million acres.
The plan would limit logging in old-growth forests, with some exceptions to reduce fire risk. The Forest Service spent several months gathering public comments on the proposal. Associated Press reported. A final decision was expected to be made soon. Many scientists and advocates say The proposed amendment would codify the loophole. Logging will become possible in virgin forests. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers and timber industry representatives who introduced the bill to block any rule say logging is critical to many state economies and that there should be more involvement and control in forest management, according to the Associated Press. insisted. According to the Associated Press, such criticism led to the decision to cancel the project.
Republican Sen. Ron Daines of Montana issued a statement The Forest Service’s decision is a “victory for good local stewardship of our forests,” he said, adding, “Montana’s old-growth forests are already protected by their own forest plans, so this proposal simply protects them from wildfires.” It will only slow down efforts to protect it, which is one of the threats facing our native forests.”
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Political disagreements over old growth preservation are not new. Jim Furnish, a former Forest Service deputy director who retired in 2002, said the agency has become more sensitive to calls to protect older trees over the years. In the 1950s and ’60s, Furnish says, “they were generally looking at old-growth forests as the place where they could get the most amount of wood at the best value.” Discussions surrounding the protection of spotted owls, Roadless Regulations 2001has helped pave the way for more diligent protection of primary forests and the creation of “new” primary forests through the conservation of mature secondary forests.
Ultimately, the amendment was doomed by the Forest Service’s failure to act quickly after Biden issued his executive order, Furnish said. Under the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to review and sometimes overturn regulations issued by federal agencies, the new Republican-controlled Congress has 60 days to invalidate new regulations and could impede future efforts to adopt such amendments.
Will Harlan, director of the South East Center for Biological Diversity, said canceling the plan was the best option as it would allow protection of old-growth forests to continue at a local level under current regulations, while leaving room for future protection. He said it might be the result.
“It’s probably going to be a project-by-project battle over the next few years, no matter which logging project the Forest Service chooses,” he says. “Advocates and conservation groups will be keeping a close eye on any old plants that may be included in these projects and will fight to protect them.”
