As Climate Threats Grow, U.S. Seeks to Restore Old-Growth Forests

Proposed Forest Service plan amendment is a good start but could be stronger

Article By: Blake Busse
Projects: U.S. Conservation
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As Climate Threats Grow, U.S. Seeks to Restore Old-Growth Forests
Yellow, orange, and red foliage in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire blends with the sky at sunset. Although forests vary across the country, they share a need for conservation and restoration of old growth.
Jacob Carringer U.S. Forest Service

Old-growth forests store significant amounts of carbon, contribute economic value, and provide habitat for an array of wildlife.

But because of a history of logging in the U.S., today only about 17% of the more than 144 million acres of forested land overseen by the U.S. Forest Service qualifies as old growth. And although logging is no longer a primary threat to old-growth forests, they are now at risk from climate change-fueled disturbances, including extreme wildfire, drought, insects, and disease.

There are many types of old-growth forests, and thus no single definition of them, but in general they tend to be many decades old and have multilayered canopies with gaps, along with standing dead trees and others that have died and fallen.

Clear waters tumble down Small Cascade in the Three Pools Recreation Area in the Willamette National Forest in Oregon. Healthy, resilient forests provide numerous benefits to people, including serving as sources of clean drinking water. Lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service provide water to over 60 million people across 33 states.
U.S. Forest Service Flickr Creative Commons

To help counter the new threats, the Forest Service has initiated a process known as the National Old Growth Amendment (NOGA). The NOGA provides a common goal for management outcomes but largely defers to individual forest supervisors—in collaboration with Tribes, communities, and other stakeholders—to determine how to best address the interrelated issues of old-growth conservation and restoration, wildfire risk reduction, and carbon stewardship.

By facilitating the development of local solutions, the NOGA recognizes the unique ecological and community needs of each national forest and provides flexibility to managers to address these needs.

A participant in the Rio Chama Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project identifies trees with superior seeds for use in reforesting areas affected by wildfire. The project—stretching from the headwaters of the Rio Grande and San Juan rivers in southern Colorado to the Rio Chama Valley in northern New Mexico—and others like it use collaborative landscape approaches to meet a variety of ecological and community needs.
Preston Keres U.S. Forest Service

The Forest Service’s draft proposal is open for public comment through Sept. 20. The Pew Charitable Trusts recommends that the finalized amendment be strengthened to:

  • Clearly define the desired management outcome for conservation and restoration of old-growth forests.
  • Encourage the stewardship of existing old-growth forests through ecologically appropriate management approaches.
  • Ensure that management does not degrade old-growth characteristics but instead promotes high-quality old-growth forests that exceed minimum standards for old growth.
  • Articulate a clear need and framework for establishing future generations of old-growth forests.
  • Provide robust and meaningful opportunities for forest managers, Tribes, communities, and other stakeholders to design strategies for implementing the objectives of the NOGA in a manner that reflects the ecological and community needs of individual national forests.

Pew looks forward to continuing its collaboration with the Forest Service, Tribes, and stakeholders to ensure that the finalized NOGA achieves these important management outcomes, including supporting place-based implementation of the amendment. Through climate-informed management approaches like the NOGA, we can secure a resilient future for people and nature.

Blake Busse is an officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ U.S. conservation project.

Learn more about Pew’s work on national forest management.