|
The U.S. Forest Service announced protections for nearly 25 million acres it oversees with the first national plan to protect old-growth forests from commercial logging. The plan would prohibit cutting down old-growth trees, most of which are well over 100 years old and store vast amounts of carbon as well as provide essential habitat for hundreds of wildlife species.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said it is the first time the Forest Service has proposed simultaneously revising all 128 of its forest management plans, which dictate how all 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands are managed. “We think this will allow us to respond effectively and strategically to the biggest threats that face old growth,” Vilsack said, adding, “At the end of the day it will protect not just the forests, but also the culture and heritage connected to the forests.”
The announcement stems from an executive order President Joe Biden signed directing the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to inventory mature and old-growth forests across the nation and craft policies that protect them. The agencies found that more than 32 million acres of old-growth forests remain on public lands in the United States.
The Forest Service's announcement drew praise from many conservation organizations. “Loggers, conservationists, and the federal agencies have fought over old forests for nearly forty years. There’s a long, tumultuous history of lawsuits, log-truck rallies, and tree-sitters. A national plan amendment on old forest policy could finally set aside the acrimony of the past and allow us all to get to work on the critical task of managing forests for the future,” said David Dreher, senior manager for public lands at the National Wildlife Federation.
Bring me my fainting couch: Hardrock mining edition
For more than 150 years, hardrock mining in the U.S. has been governed by the General Mining Law of 1872, a law that has remained largely unchanged since its passage. The mining industry benefits greatly from this outdated law, and continues to fight efforts to update the law despite extraordinary increases in the scope and scale of modern mining. Various legislative attempts to update the General Mining Law of 1872 have been introduced over the past 30 years, but have failed to pass Congress thanks in part to aggressive opposition campaigns by the mining industry. Read the latest blog post from Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby about the mining industry's outrageous legislative push to expand rights associated with mining through legislation that would pose a very real threat to any future conservation efforts on lands that currently are not protected but could be, including as new national parks or national monuments.
|
If this bill were to pass, not only could companies obtain an overarching statutory right to dump mine waste on public lands, they could also build and maintain roads and other infrastructure on any public land while preventing any other land use, like conservation, recreation, or renewable energy development.”
