The Pacific Northwest is famous for clean flowing rivers, native salmon runs, and ancient old-growth forests. All of these values are most prevalent in our National Forests -- and we have the Northwest Forest Plan to thank for that.
It may be hard to imagine today, but just over 30 years ago the US Forest Service was on a course to cut all of the old-growth forest across the western parts of Washington State, Oregon, and northern California, imperiling the spotted owl, marbled murrelet and other species that depend on these ancient forests. While vast areas of ancient forests were lost to unchecked logging, much of what remains was able to be conserved through the Northwest Forest Plan. Enacted in 1994, the Plan was the first - and remains the only - plan to guide federal forest land management in a way that was grounded in science, and at the scale of the full forest ecosystem.
Now, 30 years after its creation, we can see that the Northwest Forest Plan’s vision to protect and restore old-growth forests and imperiled species was ahead of its time. It has been overwhelmingly effective. And, there are reasons that it should be amended to be made even more effective. Those include incorporating perspectives of Tribes and indigenous communities who were functionally left out of the original planning process; addressing climate change and fully recognizing the carbon storage and sequestration values of old-growth forests; and ensuring land managers follow best available science to appropriately manage forests in an era of wildfire.
But the Northwest Forest Plan faces an uncertain future. The US Forest Service is considering an amendment to the NW Forest Plan that includes provisions that undermine the Plan’s guiding vision, and promote significantly more commercial logging and salvage logging in our National Forests. The U.S. Forest Service needs to hear from people across the region that our oldest forests are more important than ever.
The Forest Service should focus on the areas that need to be fixed, and build on the strong foundation of the original plan -- not attempting to fix what’s not broken. Our water, wildlife, and communities depend on it. Now is the time to speak up for our cherished older forests across the region.
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