The U.S. Forest Service, an agency with a long history of prioritizing timber production, has taken a first step toward protecting the nation’s most ancient forests from logging. The agency announced a proposal to amend management plans for all 128 national forests and grasslands across the country to better conserve carbon-rich “old-growth” forests, typically defined as those at least 150 years old and largely undisturbed by human activity. …The Climate Forests Campaign, a coalition of more than 120 environmental groups, applauded Tuesday’s announcement as “an important first step” but called on the Forest Service to also take action to safeguard mature trees. …Alex Craven, forests campaign manager at the Sierra Club, said in a statement. “We are pleased to see that the Biden administration continues to embrace forest conservation as the critical opportunity that it is.”
Additional coverage in:
- CNN: Biden proposes new steps to preserve the nation’s old-growth forests
- Capital Chronicle: More protections for old-growth forests under federal plans
- USA Today: New protections for very old trees covering a huge swath of the US
- The UK Guardian: Joe Biden plans to ban logging in old-growth forests in 2025