Biden-⁠Harris Administration Advances Commitment to Protect Old Growth Forests on National Forest System Lands

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Alishia Orloff, NEWFC Board Member; Colville Forest Coordinator for Conservation Northwest. Mobile: 509-900-6067. Email: alishia@conservationnw.org

WASHINGTON, DC - The Biden-Harris Administration is today taking new and historic steps to implement President Biden’s direction – issued in his Earth Day 2022 Executive Order on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies – to conserve and restore America’s mature and old growth forests. America’s forests are a key climate solution, absorbing carbon dioxide equivalent to more than 10% of U.S. annual greenhouse gas emissions. President Biden is leading and delivering on the most ambitious climate agenda in history, including by already protecting more than 26 million acres of lands and waters, and today’s actions will build on this historic progress.

Old and mature forests are vital to providing clean water, absorbing carbon pollution, and supplying habitat for wildlife. Today’s actions include a first-of-its kind proposal from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to amend all 128 forest land management plans across the country to conserve and restore old-growth forests across the National Forest System. This will provide consistent direction across the Forest Service on how to conserve and restore old-growth forest conditions across the nation, and marks the first time that the Forest Service has adopted a nationwide forest plan amendment to guide new management direction on all national forests at once.

To ensure consistency during the amendment process, proposed management actions in old-growth forests will be governed by an interim policy outlined in more detail in a letter from the deputy chief of the National Forest System to regional foresters.

USDA’s Forest Service and the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) together manage approximately 32 million acres of old growth and 80 million acres of mature forests on federal lands, for a total of 112 million acres. Today’s steps are part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing work to deliver on President Biden’s historic climate, conservation, and restoration agenda, including through better informed management decisions and unprecedented investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Implementation: As directed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Forest Service issued leadership direction to the field on how to integrate mature and old growth forest stewardship and ecological restoration into wildfire mitigation projects. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $5.5 billion to USDA and $1.5 billion to the Department of the Interior for wildfire, forest health, and restoration. The law also directs agencies to fund projects that maximize the retention of large trees and fully maintain or contribute toward the restoration of the structure and composition of old growth stands consistent with the characteristics of that forest type.

Mature and Old Growth Inventory: At the President’s direction, the Forest Service and the BLM completed the first-ever nationwide inventory of old and mature forests, and developed definitions for over 200 types of forest types in the United States. Released on Earth Day 2023, this initial inventory report shows that the BLM and Forest Service manage approximately 32 million acres of old growth and 80 million acres of mature forests on federal lands, for a total of 112 million acres. Old-growth forests represent 18% and mature forest another 45% of all forested land managed by the two agencies.

Forest Service Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: The Forest Service issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for National Forest and Grassland Climate Resilience in April 2023 to better inform the stewardship of the national forest system. The Forest Service received 92,000 individual submissions, including 30 petitions with 426,000 signatories, and information received helped to inform the issuance of today’s announcement and will be used to continue to inform additional actions in the future.

The Inflation Reduction Act also provides Urban and Community Forestry Grants that NEWFC is pursuing. With urban forests making up 20% of all forests in the United States, urban trees are essential to helping communities access nature and reduce the impacts of climate change. USDA’s Urban and Community Forestry Program is the only federal program dedicated to the nation’s urban forest resources, reaching more than 140 million acres of urban and community forests across the United States. Understanding the importance of urban forests and trees, the Biden-Harris Administration made a historic investment of $1.5 billion in urban and community forests through the Inflation Reduction Act. In 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $1.13 billion to provide direct federal support to local communities for urban tree-planting and management through the Urban Community Forestry Program. All of the nearly 400 awards went to disadvantaged communities in line with the President’s Justice40 Initiative. Another $250 million in funding was allocated to state and territory forestry agencies. This historic funding will support projects in cities and communities throughout the U.S. to improve public health, increase access to nature, build climate resilience, and deliver tangible economic and ecological benefits.