Climate Forests
Our Comments
Click on each of the buttons to read the comments submitted by Friends of Blackwater on the proposed rulemaking and National Forest Land Management Plan Revisions.
The Background.
On Earth Day 2022 President Biden issued an Executive order calling on the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to conserve mature and old growth forests as a climate solution. This was a momentous step towards meaningful protections, but now it’s up to us to ensure that this first step turns into real and lasting changes in how federal agencies manage older forests.
In March, Friends of Blackwater’s Project Coordinator, Frank Gebhard, joined the Climate Forests Campaign to advocate for protections for mature & old-growth forests on national lands. Our coalition of organizations from across the nation were in meetings with the Senate, House, and White House presenting on issues with logging projects from our local project areas. Frank brought up our concerns with the Upper Cheat River logging project; cutting along steep slopes, contributing to flooding and sedimentation of streams and rivers, and cutting mature & old growth trees that harbor the greatest capacity for carbon storage.
In response to the President’s Executive Order, both USDA and DOI have announced a proposed rulemaking to put permanent protections on federal mature and old-growth forests. Both departments have opened (and now closed) up comment periods asking what such a rule should look like, and now it’s up to us to ensure the trees most critical in the fight against climate change receive the lasting protections they deserve. (Read our comments above)
In early May, Frank went down to Asheville, North Carolina, to take part in a conference with other organizations working in eastern forests. The conference was organized by The Wilderness Society with the goal of strengthening organizational relationships and determining our goals with this proposed rulemaking. The meeting was very beneficial, shedding light on many issues regarding the current way our national forests are managed.
In December 2023, the Forest Service submitted a notice of intent to modify each and every one of their 128 National Forest Management Plans. We submitted comments on this related to the Monongahela National Forest, with a broader focus on eastern forests. (Read our comments above)
