The Biden administration is dropping its efforts to issue a policy to protect old-growth forests — though the president previously touted protecting such forests as an important component of his climate agenda. Late Tuesday, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore announced that the agency did not plan to move forward with proposed protections for old trees. The Forest Service also published a letter Moore wrote to regional officials. That letter cited “place-based differences that we will need to understand in order to conserve old growth forests.” …However, with the transition to the second Trump administration looming, even some environmental advocates say halting the effort may have been a savvy move. Alex Craven, for the Sierra Club, noted that a congressional repeal could prevent future Democratic administrations from pursuing a substantially similar rule in the future. …Biden’s proposal to protect the forests had garnered pushback from Republicans and the timber industry.
Related coverage in/by:
- Fast Company: Here’s why the Biden dropped his old-growth protections
- US Senator Steve Danes: Withdrawal is a victory for local forest management
- US Senator Barrasso: Biden’s policy failed to address forest wildfire threat
- Cattlemen’s Beef Association & Public Lands Council: We knew it was the wrong approach
- Huffpost: Biden Administration Pulls The Plug On Old-Growth Forest Protection Plan