U.S. officials would allow logging on federal lands in the Pacific Northwest in the name fighting forest fires and boosting rural economies under proposed changes to a comprehensive forest management plan that has been in place for three decades.
The US Forest Service proposal released Friday would overhaul the Northwest Forest Plan, which governs about 38,000 square miles (99,000 square kilometers) in Oregon, Washington and California.
The plan was passed in 1994 under President Bill Clinton amid pressure to reduce widespread logging and habitat-destroying logging practices used by spotted owls. The timber harvest fell significantly in the following years, pushing political reaction
But federal officials now say the wildfires are getting worse due to climate change it means that forests need to be managed more actively to increase their resilience. Increased logging would give timber companies a more predictable supply of trees, officials said, helping rural economies that have suffered after sawmills closed and forestry jobs disappeared.
The proposal could increase annual timber harvest by at least 33% and potentially more than 200%, according to a draft environmental study. The number of wood-related jobs would increase accordingly.
Harvest volumes in the 17 national forests covered by the Northwest Forest Plan averaged about 445 million board feet over the past decade, according to government data.
Cutting down more trees would help reduce fire risk and make communities safer, the study found. This would be achieved, in part, by allowing felling in some areas with trees up to 120 years old, above the current 80-year threshold.
The change could help promote conditions for growing older, larger trees that are more fire-resistant by removing younger trees, officials said.
Another proposal pending under President Joe Biden’s administration aims to increase protections nationwide for old trees, which play an important role in storing the carbon dioxide that causes climate change.
“Much has changed in society and science since the creation of the Northwest Forest Plan,” Jacque Buchanan, regional forester for the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region, said in a statement. He said the proposal would help the agency adapt to changing conditions as global warming increases the frequency of droughts and other extreme weather events.
The proposed plan also calls for closer cooperation between the Forest Service and American tribes to take advantage of tribal knowledge about forest management. The tribals were left out when the 1994 plan was drafted.
Environmentalists greeted the proposal with skepticism. The group Oregon Wild said it is “deeply troubling” that the Forest Service is releasing the proposal before the change of presidential administrations.
“It appears that the Forest Service wants to abandon the core purpose of the Northwest Forest Plan: to protect fish and wildlife and the mature, old-growth forests they need to survive,” John Persell, an attorney for the group, said in a statement. .
During former President Donald Trump’s first term, administration officials sought to open it up Millions of acres of West Coast forest to new logging, removing habitat protections for the endangered spotted owl. The move was opposed by government biologists and Reversed under Biden.
A draft environmental study looked at several potential alternatives, including leaving components of the existing plan in place or changing them, either reducing or expanding operations.
A timber industry representative who chaired an advisory committee on the Northwest Forest Plan said the proposed plan emerged from discussions involving committee members, the Forest Service and others.
“We want to see a modern approach to federal forest management that protects us from catastrophic wildfires, reduces toxic smoke, meaningfully engages tribes, and empowers our rural communities and workers,” said Travis Joseph, director of the American Forest Resource Council. the presidents of
The proposal begins to be published a 120-day public comment period. The Forest Service’s environmental review is expected to be completed by next fall, and a final decision is expected in early 2026.
