NorthWest Forest Plan Action Alert – Due 3/17/25

Help protect our mature and old-growth
forests. Submit your comments at:

US Forest Service
Northwest Forest Plan
Amendment #64745

Note: It can be discouraging to think that any comment we submit is unlikely to change the proposed amendments.  But, it will matter that a large number of Oregonians are on record as opposed to the changes.

Please personalize your comments. Possible talking points:

• The NWFP is an excellent, science-based regional plan that has successfully worked to safeguard the region’s remaining mature and old-growth forests and watersheds.We are concerned that the Forest Service’s proposed amendment weakens protections for our older forests, clean water, and wildlife habitat.
• We are concerned that the proposed amendment greatly increases logging on public landsand opens upformerly protected mature and old-growth trees to commercial logging.
• We support the components of the amendmentthat calls for tribal inclusion. Butthis action should not be tied to dramatic reductions in conservation measures.
• Preserving biodiversity and habitat, protecting imperiled species,and protecting and restoring riparian areas and watersheds should be a core principle of this forest plan amendment.
• Older forests store massive amounts of carbon and older forestsare more resistant and resilient to wildfires.
• We oppose the redefinition of “mature” and “old-growth” forests to weaken protections and increase logging.
• We object to the rationale to dramatically increase logging for economic reasons given that the Forest Service’s own report stated that outdoor recreation and tourism contributes more jobs and money to the economy than does logging.

For more info, see the Conservation Column.