More than 330,000 people call on the Bureau of Land Management to protect mature and old growth forests

The public comment period for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) “Conservation and Landscape Health” rule concluded today with more than 330,000 members of the public calling on the federal government to protect mature and old-growth trees and forests.

The public comment period commenced after BLM announced in March its wide-ranging conservation rule, which declared a goal to “promote ecosystem resilience on public lands” and included an acknowledgment of the importance of mature and old-growth trees and forests. Comments were submitted by dozens of environmental and grassroots organizations, including through the Climate Forests Campaign.

“Hundreds of thousands of people have spoken out in strong support of President Biden’s order to protect mature and old growth trees from logging and other threats,” said Blaine Miller-McFeeley, senior legislative representative at Earthjustice. “By establishing a durable rule to protect these invaluable trees, BLM can make great strides in storing carbon in our national forests, safeguarding vital biodiversity, and making the country more resilient against more frequent wildfires.”

Twenty-one Climate Forests Campaign member organizations also submitted detailed technical comments in support of a rulemaking to protect mature and old-growth forests from logging on BLM lands.

Meanwhile, a public comment period is still underway at the U.S. Forest Service for a rulemaking process that would also protect mature and old-growth trees and forests.

In addition to both rulemakings processes, the Forest Service and BLM released an inventory of mature and old-growth forests, the first of its kind, as required by the Executive Order that President Biden signed on Earth Day 2022. The White House called on the Forest Service and BLM to inventory and conserve mature and old growth forests on federal land and implement policy to address threats upon them.