John,

Logging and other threats are encroaching on what little mature and old-growth forests we have left.

Our oldest forests deserve to be kept whole and wild. And right now, we have the opportunity to be guardians of the forests and speak for the trees.

The Biden administration is accepting input on a potential rule to permanently protect mature and old-growth trees on federal lands. This is one of the most important opportunities we've ever had to protect our forests, and we need to mobilize as much public support as possible.

Tell the Biden administration: Protect our mature and old-growth forests.

As our forests grow older, they get richer with age just like a fine wine. Trees rise higher and higher into the sky. Roots grow deeper into the soil. Each year adds another ring to a trunk already filled with decades of history.

Our oldest forests support a vast network of plants, animals and insects, sheltering the diversity of nature.

And trees grow even faster the older they get, storing more carbon from the atmosphere and acting as a natural climate solution.1

Protecting our old-growth and mature forests is one of the best things we can do to help tackle climate change, save wildlife habitat and keep our country beautiful.

But with logging proposed on thousands of acres of federal land, we need the Biden administration to act quickly to save the mature and old-growth trees we have left.

There are two government agencies that need to work together to protect our oldest forests -- the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Both agencies oversee public lands with some of our oldest forests. We need to ensure that the agencies choose to protect mature and old-growth trees and not sell them to logging companies.

Help us convince the Biden administration to protect our mature and old-growth forests for decades and centuries to come. Add your name.

This could be the biggest thing to happen for our forests since the Roadless Rule.

Our national network helped win the Roadless Rule in 2001 to protect 58.5 million acres of national forests from logging, including the Tongass. And we were able to win thanks to the hundreds of thousands of supporters like you that sent in a public comment.

Now we have the chance to protect the 112 million acres of mature and old-growth forests on federal land from logging and other threats.2 That's an area bigger than the entire state of California.3

Right now, the Biden administration is seeking public input on the next step to protect our oldest trees from Oregon to Vermont and everywhere in between. Don't miss your chance to weigh in.

Submit your comment for our forests before the June 20 deadline.

Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. John Vidal, "Trees accelerate growth as they get older and bigger, study finds," The Guardian, January 15, 2014.
2. "Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Steps for Climate Resilience and Forest Conservation," Forest Service, April 20, 2023.
3. Matthew Brown, "US inventory: old forests cover area larger than California," Associated Press, April 20, 2023.