OCA just signed on to this NGO letter asking the Biden administration to strengthen protections of our older forests in its proposed National Old-Growth Amendment.
Main points:
- None of the alternatives include language to prohibit logging of old growth, only a vague statement of desired condition. The final plan should end the cutting and selling of old-growth trees on public lands. These forests can be effectively managed without selling or commercially exchanging those trees. End of story.
- Mature forests and trees need explicit protection. The country has lost most of its old growth to over a century of logging. Mature forests provide the bulk of the climate benefits on federal forests and are the nation’s future old-growth.
- We need solutions that match the magnitude of the threats we face. Conserving mature and old-growth forests on federal lands is a critical natural climate solution that will have a meaningful impact on the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis. We have a moral imperative to act boldly for future generations.
- There are logging projects in the pipeline that threaten mature and old-growth trees. The Forest Service included an elevated review process for proposed projects that contain old-growth in their announcement, but there is still a pressing need for the agency to follow through and ensure current projects are re-evaluated to reverse the loss of old-growth.
Asks:
The final record of decision should adopt a modified Alternative 3:
- End the cutting of old-growth trees in all national forests and all forest types and end the cutting of any trees in old-growth stands in moist forest types.
- End any commercial exchange of old-growth trees. Even in the rare circumstances where an old-growth tree is cut (e.g. public safety), that tree should not be sent to the mill. (Alternative 3 includes a “no commercial exchange” provision.)
- Remove the exception that allows for“de minimis” logging of old-growth trees.
- Eliminate the agency discretion to manage old growth out of existence in pursuit of “proactive stewardship” goals.
Olympic Climate Action 