Despite Biden’s promise to protect old forests, his administration moves to cut them down

By: April Ehrlich, McKenzie Funk & Tony Schick
Oregon Capital Chronicle
November 27, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

On Earth Day in 2022, President Joe Biden …uncapped his pen, preparing to sign an executive order to protect mature and old-growth forests on federal lands. …But two years later, at a timber auction in a federal office in Roseburg, this new day was nowhere to be seen. …Up for sale this September morning were the first trees from an area of forest the Bureau of Land Management calls Blue and Gold. …An Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica analysis found the bureau has allowed timber companies to cut such forests at a faster pace since the executive order than in the decade that preceded it. …“We are a multi-use agency,” spokesperson Brian Hires wrote in response to questions from OPB and ProPublica. “We are committed to forest health and providing the timber Americans need.” …The BLM also has tried to avoid detailed environmental reviews as it moves to log in new areas, saying it sufficiently considered impacts in 2016.

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