pictured: Headwaters Forest Reserve
| Take Action |
| Donate |
The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages more acreage than any other U.S. agency, including millions of acres of forest and woodland.
But BLM still has not carried out the president's 2022 mandate to develop policies to safeguard the priceless and rapidly disappearing resource of older forests.
In California the BLM manages some 15 million acres of public land, while nationwide the figure exceeds 245 million acres. Much of the forested portion of these holdings lies outside the boundaries of any conservation designations. These stands especially are vulnerable to logging and other forms of degradation and destruction.
In 2022 President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14072, unambiguously directing the federal government to develop policies to protect old-growth and (slightly younger) "mature" forests—to combat the climate and species-extinction crises.
Since then the U.S. Forest Service issued its latest in a series of draft policies in June. But the BLM still has not stepped up.
Saving forests is arguably the cheapest way we can sequester carbon. Bigger, older trees accomplish this best.
Forest conservation provides a myriad of other co-benefits: water purification, wildfire control, and strong, sustainable tourism and recreation economies, to name just a few.
BLM issued its landmark Public Lands Rule in April. But while it commendably elevated the role of conservation alongside extractive land uses the rule did not address forest protection per se.
Time is up! Tell the BLM it must now deliver its policies to protect old-growth forests.
| Take Action |
Paul Hughes
Executive Director
Forests Forever
 Forests Forever's new Swag Store offers a sizable array of fun items with which you can amplify our message, start a conversation— or just stay warm or hydrated. All carry our distinctive old-growth-forest-and-crescent-moon logo and many have our "Restore, Reinhabit, Re-enchant" motto. Except for our stock of books and bumper stickers all items are strictly printed to order, which means we don't produce and store unsold stock, with its attendant cost and potential waste. So browse our store and wear our logo with pride! All net proceeds benefit Forests Forever and its work to protect and restore Callifornia's forests. |
 |
RESOURCES →
- Here is the president's April 2022 Executive Order 14072 addressing the imperative to save older forests to combat the climate and biodiversity crises.
- Visit the BLM's web pages on its California holdings, including California Forests and Woodlands.
- Forests Forever's alert supporting BLM's Public Lands Rule is here.
- Here's a good page explaining what makes an old-growth forests special.