A coalition of more than 120 environmental groups applauded what it called "an important first step" Tuesday, when the U.S. Forest Service announced a more conservation-friendly proposal for its management of 128 national forests and grasslands. In a April 2021 executive order, President Joe Biden told the US Forest Service to start inventorying and protecting the 150-year-old "old-growth" forests which face logging threats. More than two and a half years later, the Forest Service is now finally proposing a change to its management policy of the ancient trees — a move that only comes after critics accused the Forest Service last June of dragging its feet on behalf of the logging industry, as first reported by The Huffington Post. Citing disastrous threats to the forests, the Forest Service proposal would mark the first nationwide amendment in the agency's 118-year history and restrict logging on 25 million acres of old-growth timber. But "mature" forests — those just shy of 150 years — are still vulnerable to destruction.
“The FS has squandered the opportunity to respond meaningfully to [Biden’s executive order] by limiting the scope to old growth only, with no provisions — none — for mature trees and forests,” Jim Furnish, former Forest Service deputy chief, told HuffPost. “This small step forward is certainly better than nothing, but a far cry from the big leap needed to respond to our climate change crises. The FS logged and liquidated most of the old growth with tragic consequences and has an obligation to not only protect what remains but restore millions of acres by allowing mature forests to grow. This proposal fails entirely in that regard.”
Along with the Climate Forests Campaign coalition, support for the proposal came from the Sierra Club which called the proposal "a meaningful step towards averting climate catastrophe" and "safeguarding vulnerable ecosystems." Meanwhile, US companies are producing more oil than any country in history and is set to produce a global record of 13.3 million barrels per day by the end of the year, after President Joe Biden urged them to pump more last year and then approved a controversial Alaskan drilling project this March. The new oil production flood is outpacing the record of 13.1 million daily gallons, set by companies under former President Donald Trump in 2020. The new surge in production also comes as part of a new drilling technique that consumes vast amounts of water. The Forest Service's proposal now awaits finalization by President Joe Biden.
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