The OCA Board of Directors unanimously agreed to sign onto this petition, from The John Muir Project alongside a coalition of over 200 conservation, climate, and social justice organizations, as well as 200 leading scientists, urging President Joe Biden to issue an executive order halting logging in
all mature and old-growth forests on federal lands. This appeal calls for immediate and robust executive action to safeguard our nation’s mature and old-growth (MOG) forests to mitigate the climate crisis and protect imperiled biodiversity.
The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, which oversee most of the nation’s MOG forests, continue to defy overwhelming public support for protection, scientific calls for a moratorium on logging, and the president’s initial direction to develop conservation options for MOG. Instead, these agencies are now targeting the last, best MOG forests with huge new timber sale proposals. In the face of pressing environmental concerns and a growing consensus within the scientific community, our sign-on letters call for a comprehensive executive order that ceases logging in MOG while the Administration’s
upcoming environmental impact statement develops conservation options–a process that will take more than a year. The requested order would institute a moratorium on MOG logging across National Forests and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. The urgency of this request is underscored by the ongoing Forest Service Old Growth Amendment Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and related BLM rulemaking processes that contain serious loopholes to allow ongoing logging.
Sign on Letter from John Muir Project (Olympic Climate Action is #139)
Sign on Letter from Wild Heritage (Scientists)
Key Points of the Sign-On Letters:
1. Immediate Executive Action: We express gratitude for the steps already
taken toward protecting MOG forests. However, we stress the need for swift
executive action through a signed and issued order. Such action holds the
potential to establish enduring protections for MOG forests, ensuring their
preservation for future generations.
2. Acknowledging Logging as a Primary Threat: The signatories call for the
identification of logging as a primary threat to forest carbon storage and biodiversity. Addressing logging as the foremost concern is crucial, given
its impact on our ecosystems.
3. Closure of Logging Loopholes: The letter advocates for the closure of
existing loopholes that permit logging under the guise of forest health or
fire management. Preserving felled trees as essential habitat and stored
carbon is emphasized.
4. Inclusion of Mature Forests: The coalition insists on the full
protection of not only old-growth but also mature forests from logging.
Recognizing mature forests as vital components of future old-growth
ecosystems is crucial for comprehensive conservation efforts.
5. Enduring Protection Regardless of Natural Processes: Signatories call
for a commitment to the enduring protection of designated areas,
irrespective of future natural processes. This includes safeguarding MOG
forests from logging after events like insect outbreaks, wildfires, or wind
storms.
6. Full Protection for Tongass Old-Growth: The letter demands the removal
of the Tongass old-growth logging exemption. Upholding the conservation
directive in EO 14072 is vital for the global biodiversity and carbon
importance of the Tongass.
Dr. Dominick A. DellaSala
Chief Scientist, Wild Heritage, Project of Earth Island Institute
Mobile: 541-621-7223
Email: dominick@wild-heritage.org
Jennifer Mamola
Policy and Advocacy Director, John Muir Project
Mobile: 202-657-7270
Email: jennifermamola@johnmuirproject.org
Independent analysis and inventory of the nation’s MOG forests:
<https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.979528/full> &<https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/5/717>.
Scientists’ editorial calling for a moratorium:
<https://theconversation.com/old-forests-are-critically-important-for-slowing-climate-change-and-merit-immediate-protection-from-logging-220771>
Olympic Climate Action 