Two pieces of writing by NE Sierra Club volunteers calling for people to write to the US Forest Service before Sept 20, 2024!
With so much going on in the world, it may be easy to take for granted some of the incredible sources of beauty and life that we have in Massachusetts as well as in other parts of the United States. For many, our great forests fall into that category. Take a walk in a mature or old growth forest and you will instantly feel its majesty, its life and its ability to heal the planet.
A forest is always busy - providing food and shelter for all forms of wildlife, filtering air and storing water, capturing and storing enormous amounts of carbon, regulating weather patterns, building the soil, and cooling the planet. And the older a forest is, the better it does all of these things.
For these reasons, it is imperative to protect forests both from resource extraction as well as development. In April 2022, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 14072 to strengthen protections of federally managed mature and old growth forests. As a result of this order, the United States Forest Service (USFS) issued the National Old-Growth Amendment (NOGA). We applaud protecting these critically important ecosystems on a national scale. However, this amendment does not protect mature and old forests from commercial logging. USFS represents timber harvests as “good for forest health,” “climate smart,” or promoting biodiversity. There is mounting evidence, however, that the resulting younger forests do not support the complex biodiversity or massive carbon sequestration and storage as forests that are largely left alone. We support EO14072 and ask that the USFS fully deliver on the President’s goals by immediately ending timber harvests in mature and old growth forests, including the Tongass National Forest. These forests belong to the public. It is especially important to finalize this now since a change in administration would likely end protections for federal lands.
Let’s encourage the USFS to permanently preserve our most valuable forests. Readers can submit comments to the US Forest Service regarding NOGA through September 20, 2024 directly using this link. Send copies of your comments to your federal legislators to let them know that you support preservation of mature and old growth without human intervention. Find your federal legislators HERE. And don’t forget to VOTE on November 5! Our future depends on it!
-Lynne Man, MA Sierra Club Forest Protection team leader
On two separate June hikes, I paused to watch hawks glide over white pines and green birches. To nurture local woodlands, Massachusetts can support old growth by protecting mature forests as wildlands. Preserving our environment is a protection of our own health and well-being.
Recently, the US Forest Service released a draft National Old Growth Amendment that offers protective guidelines, but that amendment needs to be strengthened by a larger commitment to preserving old growth forests before it is finalized. Specifically, it needs to end the practice of commercial logging in these forests in order to allow mature forests to become old growth.
Before September 20, 2024, the US Forest Service is accepting public comments. Please request that National Forests, our most biodiverse lands, be unmanaged and left wild for current and future generations.
-Maggie Ferguson, MA Sierra Club Forest Protection team volunteer