For 30 years, the Northwest Forest Plan has successfully conserved old-growth forests, restored watersheds, and protected fish and wildlife across the Pacific Northwest.

Today, the U.S. Forest Service released a draft environmental impact statement for public review for the first Northwest Forest Plan amendment. This is the beginning of a process that must result in an even stronger and more durable forest plan. That plan must meaningfully include tribes in forest management, protect mature and old growth forests, and continue to preserve and heal ecosystems so fish, wildlife, and people can thrive, especially considering new challenges caused by climate change.

When initially adopted in 1994, the Northwest Forest Plan broke ground as the first science-based ecosystem management plan in the country, representing a critical shift in Forest Service resource management. The plan protected mature and old growth forests from unsustainable logging and preserved and enhanced habitat for threatened or endangered species like the northern spotted owl, Chinook and coho salmon, and the marbled murrelet.

A northern spotted owl in Oregon.  (Kyle Sullivan / BLM)

The plan critically shifted forest management away from destructive logging practices, including rampant clear-cutting of old-growth forests, toward a more science-based approach that recognized the need to preserve mature and old-growth forests along with other critical habitat and watersheds that fish, wildlife, and people all depend on. We now understand even more about the critical role old-growth forests play to sequester carbon which helps reduce harmful climate change impacts.

“The Forest Service must maintain and enhance the protections of the Northwest Forest Plan and center tribal involvement in forest management,” said Earthjustice Senior Attorney Aurora Janke. “If the agency’s proposed amendment falls short — if it does not keep current protections, include robust tribal involvement, and protect climate-buffering forests in the face of climate change — then it should not go forward.”