BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration announced on Tuesday the unexpected withdrawal of a proposal aimed at safeguarding old-growth forests, following significant opposition from Republicans and the timber sector.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore communicated this decision in a letter directed to forest supervisors, marking an abrupt end to a multi-year effort to develop a comprehensive national strategy to protect aging trees, which are increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts. This initiative had garnered support from conservationists, who regarded it as a potentially significant forest conservation measure in recent times.
The initiative was initiated by President Joe Biden through an executive order on Earth Day in April 2022. The proposal underwent a thorough public comment phase and detailed reviews by government officials, with its finalization anticipated imminently. The plan included provisions to restrict logging within old-growth forests, while allowing for some logging in select areas as a measure against wildfires.
However, these concessions did not satisfy the timber industry or congressional Republicans, who vehemently opposed the plan, arguing its necessity was overstated given existing protections for many forested areas. They warned that such restrictions could significantly harm logging companies dependent on accessible timber resources from public lands. During the planning phase, Republican lawmakers even put forth legislation aimed at halting the plan’s implementation.
In his correspondence, Moore noted the valuable insights gained from this unprecedented initiative that aimed to identify old-growth trees nationwide on public lands. He also recognized critiques received regarding the administration’s methods, acknowledging that old-growth forests can vary significantly among distinct ecosystems. Moore stated, “There is strong support for, and an expectation of us, to continue to conserve these forests based on the best available scientific information,” indicating the need for a careful understanding of local differences in conservation efforts.
Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines hailed the abandonment of the old-growth proposal as a “victory for commonsense local management” of forests.
While much of the nation’s old-growth forests were lost to logging during its development, some ancient tree clusters remain scattered across the U.S., particularly in regions like California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky Mountains, with more extensive areas preserved in places like Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.
There is widespread agreement on the necessity of preserving these ecosystems, not only for their intrinsic natural value but also for their critical function in carbon storage, which helps mitigate the effects of climate change.
Alex Craven, the forest campaign manager for the Sierra Club, expressed that there exists a “scientific necessity and public expectation” to protect these vital habitats, asserting that the issue of formal old-growth protections is a matter of timing rather than possibility.
In recent years, wildfires have devastated significant portions of old-growth forests in western U.S. states, resulting in the deaths of thousands of giant sequoias. Between 2000 and now, wildfires, insects, and diseases have accounted for nearly 1,400 square miles of old-growth losses, reports indicate. In contrast, logging has led to the clearing of approximately 14 square miles of these forests—a statistic cited by industry representatives to argue against the need for additional restrictions.
Bill Imbergamo, associated with the Federal Forest Resource Coalition, labeled the administration’s proposal as “legally dubious and ecologically flawed,” asserting, “The exercise demonstrated that older forests are prevalent in the national forest system, most already being off-limits to timber harvesting.” He emphasized that management is necessary to combat the threats posed by fire, insects, and diseases to ensure the health and resilience of old-growth forests.
A spokesperson for the White House has not yet provided comments in response to inquiries regarding this matter.
The initiative’s path forward appeared bleak even had it been finalized, considering previous moves during the first term of President Donald Trump, which sought to open large swathes of West Coast forests to logging ventures. However, federal wildlife officials under Biden reversed such policies in 2021, identifying that political appointees had previously relied on flawed science to significantly reduce protections for vital habitats critical to the threatened northern spotted owl, a species that has been declining for decades as a result of old-growth forest destruction across Oregon, Washington, and California.
