Colorado’s forests provide us with clean air and water, outdoor recreation, a serene getaway from our busy lives and are some of our best allies to reduce carbon pollution, but only if we let them grow.
The U.S. Forest Service is taking public comment through Friday on its proposed nationwide policy to elevate conservation of old-growth forests, including the ones across Colorado. This historic change in policy would result in amending all 128 national forest plans, which govern how our forests are managed across the country. This is a necessary move as climate change threats, like fire and drought, become increasingly evident in Colorado.
Currently, no law or national policy specifically governs the management of old-growth forests. To the extent that old-growth is protected, it is through local forest management plans. The direction provided in these local plans is inconsistent and often inadequate to ensure the survival of what little old-growth we have left and is devoid of any attempt to reestablish old-growth forests in the future.
Old-growth ponderosa pine and spruce-fir forests were once common in the Centennial State, but more than a century of logging and recent climate-driven wildfire and drought have threatened these trees’ survival. In fact, according to the Forest’s Service national inventory, less than 25% of Colorado’s national forest estate is old-growth.
Older forests are carbon storage powerhouses. As they grow, these trees absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere and, in return, give off oxygen. Keeping our oldest trees standing is one of the simplest things we can do to fight climate change. Rooted in President Biden’s Executive Order 14072, which calls to conserve old-growth forests on public land, the U.S. Forest Service’s proposed amendment would create consistency across the country regarding how it should conserve our nation’s oldest trees and forests.
The proposed forest plan amendment comes at a critical time as Coloradans experience a rapidly changing climate. In 2020, the largest wildfires in the state’s history roared through several of our national forests and Rocky Mountain National Park. The East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires are a clear warning that without climate-informed management of our national forests, we will increasingly be at risk of wildfire damage and losing some of our oldest, invaluable forests.
Perfect conditions for uncharacteristically severe wildfires aren’t going away. The norm used to be that less severe fires consumed grass, seedlings and saplings but left big, old Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir growing. A long history of fire suppression (the Smokey the Bear effect) has left us with an excess of younger, smaller trees that fuel intense wildfire and poor air quality across the state.
To boot, a recent report about climate science relevant to Colorado warned that Coloradans should expect more frequent drought and heat waves in the coming decades. Never has there been a more important moment to facilitate climate-informed forest management — management directed at removing the overabundance of younger trees while leaving the older ones to grow in the forest.
The proposed amendment should not stop at just conserving our remaining oldest forests. In Colorado, some of our most visited and cherished recreational hubs like the Arapaho-Roosevelt and Pike-San Isabel National Forests have very little old growth left. To secure healthy, stable and resilient ecosystems, the U.S. Forest Service, in its final policy, should commit itself to identifying areas on each national forest that can be stewarded into becoming old-growth forests for future generations.
Coloradans are uniquely passionate and proud of their outdoors. The U.S. Forest Service can learn a lot from our communities by listening to a wide range of interests, including tribal leaders, scientists, conservationists and the timber industry in shaping this proposed amendment over the next year.
That is why inclusivity and collaboration must also be fundamental pillars of the proposed nationwide forest plan amendment. I am encouraged by the proposed amendment’s goal to recognize tribal sovereignty and Indigenous knowledge and encouraging co-stewardship, but the U.S. Forest Service should strengthen this language to be more than just an aspirational goal. It must make this a requirement when local forest managers undertake efforts to conserve old-growth forests.
The future of our forests depends on the actions we take now. By adopting this amendment, the U.S. Forest Service has an opportunity to make concerted progress toward mitigating the worst effects of the climate crisis while protecting the forests we hold dear from logging, wildfire, drought and climate extremes.
Josh Hicks is a campaign director at The Wilderness Society and is based in Golden. Josh has been working on federal forest policy for 16 years with The Wilderness Society.
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