Demand Stronger Protections for Forests, One of Our Most Powerful Climate Solutions

In 2022, President Biden issued an executive order to protect mature and old-growth trees on federal lands across the country. This was a major milestone, charting a course to create forest protections that environmentalists and local communities have fought for for decades.

The US Forest Service is on the cusp of protecting old-growth in every National Forest. This exciting outcome is thanks to advocates like you, who submitted more than half a million comments last summer supporting a strong rule to protect mature and old-growth forests. Thank YOU for helping to protect our forests!

But we’re not done yet, and the clock is ticking. Now, we need the US Forest Service to fulfill the President’s commitment to preserve existing old-growth forests and ensure we recover more old forests by protecting mature trees.

For far too long, profit-driven corporations have looked at our oldest forests only for the value of their timber. But the value of old-growth and mature forests is much more significant. Mature forests -- or "future old-growth" -- represent the majority of the national forest system and, overall, hold the majority of the forests' stored carbon. Protecting these trees would protect our clean water and clean air, safeguard wildlife habitats, and offer a much-needed buffer against the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

The biodiversity and climate crises are closely intertwined, and this administration has set ambitious goals to address them. We know the magnitude of the solution must match the magnitude of the challenge. President Biden took an important step with this proposed amendment to protect old-growth forests from logging, and now we need to finish the job. To fully address these twin crises — and fully deliver on the President’s commitments — we need lasting protective measures for forests that safeguard both mature and old-growth trees.

The administration set a bold, but necessary, goal to finally protect mature and old-growth forests for the myriad benefits they provide. It's up to us to make sure the Agency finishes the job and meets their commitments.

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We must use every tool at our disposal to protect our communities and avoid the worst effects of climate change. If you enact a policy that safeguards mature trees from commercial logging, they will continue to absorb and store carbon and have the chance to transform over time into the next generation of old-growth. Protecting mature and old-growth will boost the health of our national forests and offer a much-needed buffer against the worst impacts of the climate crisis. An amendment to conserve older forests can be a first step in that process. Any protective measure for forests must fulfill President Biden's promise to protect mature and old-growth, and make real strides toward solving these linked crises.

Please act today to finish the job and fulfill President Biden’s Executive Order by ensuring the NOGA provides real protections for mature and old-growth forests in all of our National Forests.

On Earth Day 2022, the administration boldly declared its commitment to protecting our oldest trees with EO 14072. This action committed the U.S. to "identify, inventory, and protect" mature and old-growth forests on federal lands. In the last year and a half, more than a million people from a coalition of organizations have submitted comments to the US Forest Service in favor of the strongest possible protections for our forests. In addition, Tribes, elected officials, stakeholder groups, and scientists have sent dozens of letters to the U.S. Forest Service calling for permanent protections for old growth. The Forest Service’s commitment to creating an amendment that protects old-growth from commercial logging is a meaningful step in the right direction. Many people have been calling for this kind of measure for decades, and forest protection continues to have broad support. In order to be effective, the national old-growth amendment must do the following: - Include immediately applicable, durable protections for mature forests, to ensure that they are able to develop into our next generation of old-growth - Stop old-growth trees from going to the mill. There is broad agreement that what we have left is too precious to cut. - Fully include the Tongass National Forest in Alaska We must use every tool at our disposal to protect our communities and avoid the worst effects of climate change. If you enact a policy that safeguards mature trees from commercial logging, they will continue to absorb and store carbon and have the chance to transform over time into the next generation of old-growth. Protecting mature and old-growth will boost the health of our national forests and offer a much-needed buffer against the worst impacts of the climate crisis. An amendment to conserve older forests can be a first step in that process. Any protective measure for forests must fulfill President Biden's promise to protect mature and old-growth, and make real strides toward solving these linked crises. Please act today to finish the job and fulfill President Biden’s Executive Order by ensuring the NOGA provides real protections for mature and old-growth forests in all of our National Forests.

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