Dear NRDC Activist,

Forests can help save us from the climate crisis — especially our nation's mature and old-growth forests.

These vital forests fight climate change by removing and storing carbon naturally, protect drinking water for our communities, and provide habitat for at-risk wildlife.

Unfortunately, mature forests on federal lands are under threat by timber companies that want to log these critical carbon capturing ecosystems for profit. And even worse, the federal agencies charged with managing federal forests — the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — continue to encourage logging.

Tell USFS and BLM that mature forests on federal lands must be protected from logging!

In April, President Biden issued a welcome executive order that recognizes the importance of mature and old-growth forests in the fight against climate change. It directed government agencies to inventory these forests nationwide, identify threats to them, and develop policies for their protection. It was a move in the right direction, but urgent action is needed to ensure these climate-critical forests are meaningfully protected from logging.

USFS and BLM must follow the President's lead and implement a strong, durable rule that protects mature forests across federal lands from logging.

Mature trees are a small fraction of total trees. But they have an outsize impact, absorbing tens of millions of tons of carbon pollution, and retaining most of that carbon for decades, even when dead. And the lion's share of the country's remaining mature and old-growth forests are on federal lands.

Protecting mature trees means saving more than just our climate. They are naturally more fire-resistant. And they protect water quality and provide habitat for wildlife.

Furthermore, America no longer gets significant lumber from mature and old-growth forests on federal lands. Ninety-four percent of our wood comes from other sources, and private industry and timber towns have effectively made the transition to sourcing and processing smaller trees. When mature trees are logged and processed, much of their stored carbon is rapidly released — and recapturing it through forest regrowth takes decades or centuries.

But the climate crisis is upon us now. We do not have decades or centuries to regrow forests. We must protect carbon-absorbing mature forest stands today!

Urge USFS and BLM to implement a strong rule that protects the mature and old-growth forests that are essential to fight climate change.

And it's even more urgent that we act now to protect carbon-absorbing forests given the recent devastating West Virginia v. EPA Supreme Court ruling that narrows the EPA's ability to limit climate-busting carbon emissions from power plants. This ratchets up the pressure to tackle climate change anywhere and everywhere we can.

We need a strong, durable rule that protects mature forest stands on federal lands from logging nationwide and promotes the recovery of old-growth forests that have been lost. And USFS and BLM need to start making this rule now. But they are unlikely to move forward with this urgently needed rule without a push from us.

Remind USFS and BLM to follow through on the promise of the President's executive order and implement a strong, lasting rule that protects mature forests on federal lands from logging!

Sincerely,

Garett Rose
Staff Attorney, Alaska Project, Nature Program, NRDC