Environmental groups delivered more than 122,000 public comments today urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to protect mature and old-growth forests and trees on federal public lands as a cornerstone of U.S. climate policy.
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act, which includes the Environmental Justice for All Act, along with provisions to codify the Roadless Rule, annual funding for firefighter salaries, and funding for forest and water management projects.
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service initiated an emergency action to protect giant sequoias, in an area covering over 13,000 acres.
Today, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (SENR) will consider several important bills that impact public lands and waters and conservation efforts. Senior Sierra Club policy staff are available to speak about individual bills listed below.
In the report released today, Worth More Standing, the Climate Forests coalition details federal logging proposals targeting nearly a quarter of a million acres of old-growth and mature forests overseen by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The report outlines “a pervasive pattern of federal forest mismanagement that routinely sidesteps science to turn carbon-storing giants into lumber” and calls on the Biden administration to pass a permanent rule to protect these big old trees.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday signed a memorandum to clarify the U.S. Forest Service’s direction on climate policy. The memo, "Climate Resilience and Carbon Stewardship of America's National Forests and Grasslands," follows a recent White House executive order highlighting the importance of conserving mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as a climate solution. The memo, which lays out “actions to restore forests, improve resilience, and address the climate crisis”, falls short in meeting the ambition outlined in President Joe Biden’s order on old forests and trees. Secretary Vilsack acknowledges the role that older trees play in absorbing and storing carbon and supporting biodiversity. But he fails to outline a plan for his agency to protect mature and old-growth forests and trees from commercial logging.
Washington, DC – Today, House Republicans will release a strategy that uses the words climate change. The plans are expected to detail numerous measures that not only reject the scientific consensus on efforts required to address the climate crisis but would exacerbate it.
In response, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce released the following statement:
Just as there’s no negotiating with arsonists on how much of a building they can burn, there’s no negotiating with a party of climate deniers on climate action. For decades, the overwhelming majority of Republicans in Washington, DC have made their views on climate change abundantly clear: It’s much ado about nothing, if it even exists.
Today, as calls continue to mount demanding bold climate action through legislation and administrative action, President Biden issued an executive order on climate forests and nature-based solutions. The order, which was detailed in a speech celebrating Earth Day, launches a process to define and inventory old and mature forests on federal lands, so that policies are enacted to conserve them, and initiates a nature-based solution assessment to understand nature capital and ecosystems to help in the preservation and conservation of natural places.
Today, President Joe Biden will issue an executive order that directs federal agencies to conduct an inventory of mature and old-growth forests on America’s federal lands so that policies can be adopted to protect them. The administration framed the move as a key strategy to store carbon and address climate change.
Conserving our remaining older forests and trees on federal public lands is one of the country’s most straightforward, impactful, and cost-effective climate solutions. If the Biden Administration is going to lead in solving the climate and biodiversity crises, it must protect these carbon critical climate forests and set an example for the world. Along with over 70 groups that support the Climate Forests Campaign, Sierra Club calls on the Administration to enact a strong, lasting rule that protects old and mature trees and forests across federal lands as a cornerstone of US climate policy.
Today, a coalition of more than 70 groups launched a new campaign called the Climate Forests Campaign, calling on the Biden administration to take executive action to protect mature trees and forests on federal lands, which are critical in the fight against climate change.