TNC applauds US administration's steps towards climate-smart management of national forests, with release of first-ever inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal land

The inventory assessed old-growth and mature forests on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The follow-on plans to evaluate threats to these forests will position the USFS to design climate-smart strategies to retain and reduce threats to the carbon stocks and biodiversity these forests contain.

USFS also announced it would be accepting public input on the development of strategies to protect, conserve, and manage existing mature and old forest stands national forests for climate resilience. It will also seek input on plans to facilitate science-based management and strategies to develop future mature and old-growth, resilient, resistant, and climate-adapted forests.

The following is a statement by Alix Murdoch, Senior Policy Advisor for The Nature Conservancy: 

“This inventory and threat assessment are important first steps in developing climate-smart strategies to conserve, manage, and restore these critical lands. Developing forest- and threat-specific strategies, including active management where they are needed to reduce threats, will support climate mitigation and forest resilience as well as promote biodiversity by conserving habitat.

“We recognize the significant efforts of the Forest Service to complete this preliminary inventory and take steps to advance climate-smart management of our national forests. We look forward to working with the administration to plan for conserving, managing, and restoring the mature and old-growth forests of today and into the future.”