The Northwest Forest Plan

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: EARTHJUSTICE SEATTLE OFFICE 203 Hoge Building 705 Second Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 343-7340 www.earthjustice.org OREGON NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL 5825 North Greeley Portland, OR 97217 (503) 283-6343 www.onrc.org THETHE NORTHWESTNORTHWEST FORESTFOREST PLANPLAN Ancient Forests: At Risk Again Publication of Earthjustice 426 17th Street, 6th Floor Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 550-6700 www.earthjustice.org than not, the two agencies have missed deadlines Uncertain and failed to protect forest health. For example, the agencies missed the deadline for phasing in the Future HEN LEWIS AND CLARK ARRIVED IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST "survey and manage" requirement for rare species, The Northwest even though they were given several years to do so. Forest Plan is IN 1805, MILLIONS OF ACRES OF ANCIENT FOREST BLANKETED The two agencies also attempted to short-circuit the currently at a THE LAND–A DARK GREEN CARPET THAT STRETCHED FROM Plan by excluding numerous species and areas from critical juncture. W the survey requirements. Although it is still NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TO SOUTHEAST ALASKA. IT WAS A FOREST in effect, the Plan is Without protective buffers, logging can Environmental groups quickly responded with overwhelm streams with sedimentation UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN THE WORLD. FED BY THE REGION'S ABUNDANT facing its greatest and debris (Tom Giesen). litigation, and a federal court issued a stinging challenge yet. The RAINFALL, AND SPARED FROM EXTREME WINTERS BY THE PACIFIC OCEAN, rebuke of the agencies' actions. The judge pointed Bush administration, in a firm partnership with the out the survey requirements were clear and THE ANCIENT FOREST OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONTAINED MORE timber industry, wants to strip the Plan of its teeth unmistakable, "the surveys are designed to identify by removing key provisions that stand in the way of LIVING MATTER PER ACRE THAN ANY OTHER ECOSYSTEM ON EARTH. and locate species; if they are not done before timber harvesting. It is proposing sweeping changes logging starts, plants and animals listed [in the to the Aquatic Conservation Strategy as well as the Plan] will face a potentially fatal loss of protection." elimination of the survey and manage requirements. If the Bush administration succeeds, the state of Many rare species northwest ancient forests could return to the days of are difficult to find indiscriminate logging. but are ecologically important. As The Northwest Forest Plan remains the best tool we Over the next 150 years, much of the ancient forest In the last decade, as a result of greater scientific conservationist have to protect and restore the ancient forest passed into private ownership and was logged by understanding, changing economics, and immense Aldo Leopold once ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest. Past actions by timber companies large and small. By the end of public outcry, much has changed for the ancient said, "the first rule Congress and federal agencies have prevented the World War II, these forests had virtually disappeared forest. The public now overwhelmingly favors the of intelligent Plan from realizing its true potential. If the from privately held lands. protection of old growth forests for their ecological Pacific giant salamanders–the largest land tinkering is to save salamanders in the world–are found in Northwest Forest Plan is fully and faithfully carried value, and the threat of lawsuits has forced the Pacific old growth forests and must be all the pieces." out with the cooperation of government agencies, “surveyed and managed” by federal Without the The ancient forest still had a stronghold, however, as government to reassess the way it has been agencies (Dawn Wilson). conservation groups, and the timber industry, future millions of acres remained untouched on federal managing public forests for the past half century. survey and manage generations may still come to enjoy the cathedral lands in Washington, Oregon, and northern requirements, many of these “pieces” would be lost and forests, legendary salmon runs, and clear, cold California. Sadly, government agencies saw little In 1994, the federal government adopted a the overall health of the forest could suffer. streams Lewis and Clark encountered in the Pacific value in preserving these forests and began to landmark ecosystem-based plan for protecting Northwest nearly two centuries ago. liquidate them rapidly. By the late 1980s, only ancient forest on public lands. The new Northwest The two agencies have also tried to cut corners with remnants of the region’s majestic forest remained. Forest Plan abandoned the old policy of liquidating the Aquatic Conservation Strategy–the key old growth, and instead adopted a more balanced, to Pacific salmon survival. For example, environmentally sound approach to forest although they set aside protective buffers management. along streambanks as required, the agencies hese public lands belong to continued to approve clearcuts that would Tthe entire nation... Congress Although the Plan still guides our actions in the pour sediment into salmon streams. These Pacific Northwest today, political and economic clearcuts would not only degrade the best viewed them from the perspective pressures are threatening its future. With the Bush remaining salmon habitat, but also make not of a day but of generations. administration now at the helm, ancient forests are impaired streams completely unusable for once again at risk. What follows is the story of these salmon in the future. Conservation groups forests, the plan that currently protects them, and have confronted the agencies' illegal U.S. District Court Judge the new perils they face today. behavior with a series of lawsuits, and the William L. Dwyer By the 1950s, old growth forests were mostly eliminated courts have stopped a number of timber from private lands (Galen Rowell/Mountainlight). sales that would violate the Aquatic Conservation Strategy. Reservations From Both Sides The rider supposedly reduced the threat of wildfires by exempting the logging of diseased and burned I. The Northwest When the Plan was introduced, it met strong timber from environmental laws. But it also opposition from both the timber industry and contained two provisions that had nothing to do Forest Plan conservation groups. The timber industry argued with fire prevention: that it placed too much emphasis on environmental The Northwest Forest Plan is an innovation in modern forest management. It is grounded in protection at the expense of logging. Conservation The rider prevented all timber sales science and places the health of forests and groups, on the other hand, welcomed the new covered by the Northwest Forest Plan from wildlife ahead of timber production. The Plan approach but wanted the Plan to encompass all the being challenged by the public. In other requires the Forest Service and the Bureau of remaining ancient forests on federal lands in the words, under the rider, one could not sue the Land Management–the two agencies in charge Northwest. They also believed the Plan should have Forest Service and BLM for violating the of managing public forests–to protect forest included more protections for aquatic species like requirements of the forest plan. salmon and steelhead. species. It also provides the agencies with tools to protect and restore streams and waterways, a The rider also ordered the Forest Service crucial component of forest health. In 1994, a federal and BLM to approve sales that had been The logging of national forests surged in the latter half of the century, district court cancelled or held up because they violated peaking in the 1970s and 1980s (National Park Service). upheld the federal environmental laws. Some of these Northwest Forest contentious sales had been blocked, but the Protecting Forests Plan, rejecting the rider now allowed them to be sold under the The Northwest Forest Plan protects much of the Protecting Streams legal challenges original contract without following any of the remaining ancient forests through a system of large The Northwest Forest Plan also includes the first from both sides. rules of the forest plan. "reserves" where logging is not generally allowed. regional strategy for sustaining healthy populations By affirming the The reserves are designed to ensure the survival of of wild salmon and steelhead trout. Known as the If the Northwest Forest Plan is fully Plan, the court This “Logging Without Laws” rider renewed old- old growth- "Aquatic Conservation Strategy," this plan protects implemented, declining species like the acknowledged it steelhead trout may once again thrive in fashioned clearcutting in ancient forests that would dependent species, and restores watersheds that have been damaged by northwest streams (Steve Mashuda). was the best tool have been prohibited under the Northwest Forest like the northern widespread logging so they can once again support available for Plan. As a result, thousands of acres were destroyed, spotted owl. These fish and other aquatic life. protecting ancient forests. As the court noted, "If many containing trees that had been standing for reserves contain upheld on appeal, [the Plan] will mark the first time centuries. Before the plan could even take effect, virgin old growth as The Aquatic Conservation Strategy protects fish in several years that the owl-habitat forests will be congressional maneuvering at the urging of the well as logged areas through a system of streamside buffers in which managed by responsible agencies under a plan found timber industry had undermined its very purpose. where trees may logging and other forms of habitat destruction are lawful by the courts." regrow into a sharply limited. It also identifies key watersheds that natural forest system are either critical Although it was not perfect, the Plan was a step in in the future. for fish the right direction for responsible forest management. populations or The court made it very clear, however, that it expected For species that are are priority the Forest Service and BLM to implement the Plan extremely rare, more restoration areas.

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