More protections coming for old-growth forests under federal plans

America’s oldest trees, most of which are in the West, will get added protection from wildfire and climate change under updated forest plans from the U.S. Forest Service. 

In announcements over the past week, officials from the Forest Service said they would begin the process of amending forest management plans affecting all 128 of the agency’s forest and grasslands, including the Northwest Forest Plan governing federal forests in northern California, Oregon and Washington. The amendments, both nationally and in the Northwest, are meant to bolster forest health to combat climate change and to further protect the last of the nation’s old-growth trees, many of which have been threatened by growing wildfires, drought and diseases.