Those that do are almost exclusively on federal lands, mostly in the West. Part of the problem, they argue, is the agency’s position that logging such forests is key to protecting them from wildfires, which are growing increasingly devastating as climate change fuels heat waves and drought.Īfter decades of intensive logging, few primary forests remain in the continental United States. It is the latest example of what Pedery and others see as an entrenched, pro-logging mindset within the Forest Service - and the Biden administration’s hesitance to push the agency to abandon its old ways, despite publicly proclaiming its support for protecting mature and old-growth forests. “I think if this gets delegated down in a time where it’s perfectly reasonable the administration has its focus on a lot of other things, we’ll see the Forest Service either run out the clock on it or come up with something that says, ‘Logging is the answer. “We are trying desperately to make sure the White House stays involved,” he said. He compared what the agency has done so far to a child being told to clean their room and instead stuffing all their belongings in a drawer and folding their arms. But he says it is clear the Forest Service is dragging its feet on proposing a rule, nevermind one that confronts the ongoing threat of logging to older forests. Steve Pedery, conservation director at environmental organization Oregon Wild, said Biden’s order was a big deal and challenged the Forest Service to reinvent itself - from an agency that largely prioritizes timber production to one that manages forested lands for carbon storage, wildlife and clean water, with timber as a byproduct. They say the Forest Service ― an agency within the Department of Agriculture established in 1905 primarily to ensure a steady supply of timber - isn’t taking the matter seriously enough, leaving the door open for the timber industry to keep chopping down mature and old-growth forests. The executive order reinvigorated environmentalists and forest advocates.īut a little more than a year later, some of those same forest experts have soured. Together, these ecosystems form a key natural climate solution.Įarly in his tenure, Biden found himself on shaky ground with green groups over the administration’s lack of commitment to protect these carbon hotspots. “Old-growth” forests, sometimes referred to as primary forests, are typically defined as those at least 150 years old and largely undisturbed by human activity, whereas “mature” forests are decades old but haven’t reached the old-growth stage. Forest Service, with inventorying the nation’s remaining carbon-rich forests and then crafting rules to better conserve them in the face of mounting climate change impacts. The order acknowledged the “irreplaceable role” forests play in sequestering planet-warming greenhouse gasses and tasked the nation’s two largest federal land managers, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. “It could have been a lot worse,” Lowderman said.On Earth Day last year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at protecting and restoring mature and old-growth forests on federal lands across the country - one that many environmentalists took as a sign that the administration could move to halt logging of ancient trees that help slow the effects of climate change. The assessor’s office came up with its totals after on-site inspections of 2,400 parcels. “We will probably have to review Black Forest in a year or two because we have no guarantee that those trees that were damaged are going to make it,” he said. A treeless lot sells for about 30 percent less than one with pristine trees, and buyers will pay about 15 percent less for a lot with damaged trees, Lowderman said. Sixteen members of his office, who have been working full-time on the fire, must now put dollar amounts to lost outbuildings, commercial structures and, perhaps most costly, trees. The fire - which killed two people and charred more than 14,000 acres, also caused $85,444,052 in damage to homes, Lowderman said in announcing the completion of the first of four parts of the Black Forest assessment. The blaze that started June 11 destroyed 486 homes - fewer than the sheriff’s department’s initial estimate of 511 - and damaged 37, county assessor Mark Lowderman said Tuesday. Last month’s Black Forest fire caused more than $85 million in damage, a number that is sure to rise as El Paso County assessors tally the devastation to outbuildings, commercial structures and trees. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |