Biden Administration Report on Mature and Old Growth Forests Underscores Need for Proactive Forest Management
By American Forest Resource Council
President Travis Joseph had the following to say regarding the Biden Administration’s announcement on policies relating to mature and old growth forests on federal lands:
“This announcement and year-long effort confirms what we’ve known: we’re not lacking old growth, we’re lacking common sense in stewarding our forests. Our national forests and old growth are dying and burning up because we’ve neglected to take care of them for decades. The impacts are obvious to Americans living in the West: polluted air from wildfire smoke, degraded drinking water, eviscerated landscapes and communities, and lost opportunities to enjoy our public lands.
“Some special interest groups in the Pacific Northwest are promoting the old way of thinking: walking away and doing nothing will save our forests. The science, data, and our lived experience demonstrates the old way is failing our old growth, forests, and communities. The answer is obvious to everyone but anti-forestry groups focused on conflict: we need to take immediate action to thin our forests and reduce carbon-emitting mega fires, to reforest what we’ve lost to wildfires, and transition to using more renewable wood products that store carbon.”
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More Background: “Managed Forests and Wood Products – Climate Solution”
Scientists at the local and international level, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recognize the climate benefits of forest management, timber harvest, and wood products. Read about what climate scientists, including from Oregon State University and the University of Washington, are saying about managed vs. unmanaged forests and wood products vs. nonrenewable materials in mitigating climate change.
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