Nancy Polan: U.S. Forest Service must protect mature and old-growth forests on public lands

A walk into an old forest is a walk into a natural cathedral surrounded by majestic trees and an amazing diversity of life. I am embraced by the cool, dim quietness and filled with wonder and a great sense of peace. We need old forests, not just because they are good for our souls, but because they are critical to our survival in a rapidly warming world.

In 2022, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to save old growth trees on public lands. This year the U.S. Forest Service released a draft National Old Growth Amendment, which could ultimately require weighing the climate impacts of their logging plans, and a commitment to save old growth forests. But that amendment needs to be strengthened before it is finalized. Contrary to current climate science, it includes managing old growth forests with extensive logging, under the guise that logging improves old-growth trees and makes forests more resilient to climate disruptions, extreme heat, fires, and pests.

The public and the scientific community are calling on the Forest Service to stop logging old growth forests, and to prioritize the value of forests for climate and biodiversity above the value of timber. These are seismic changes for the Forest Service, which has always prioritized the value of timber over the value of forests.

What you can do to save old forests: 1. Send a comment to the U.S. Forest Service, deadline Sept. 20, 2024. Urge the agency to leave vast areas of national forests unmanaged and wild, because they are the most carbon-dense, biodiverse and resilient. 2. Vote on Nov. 5. Vote for an administration that would enforce stringent climate rules to sharply reduce emissions, which includes greater protection of old forests. Vote against an administration with goals to reverse environmental regulations, and to allow extractive industries almost unfettered access to public lands.

Nancy Polan

Co-leader of the Forest Protection Team, MA chapter of the Sierra Club, Southampton