The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), adopted in 1994 during Bill Clinton’s administration, covers 24.5 million acres in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. The NWFP was created in response to logging practices that decimated old-growth forests, created expansive clear-cuts, destroyed critical habitat for endangered species, and were deemed illegal in federal court. Timber harvests dropped dramatically in subsequent years.
In August 2023, a team of scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, the Forest Service, and Oregon State University published a report based on a quarter century of data collection at more than 1,000 sites in 219 watersheds protected under the NWFP. The report documents “steady improvements in watershed condition” resulting from “broad-scale forest recovery combined with targeted forest, road, and stream management under the Northwest Forest Plan.”
The Plan has helped restore damage done by decades of unsustainable logging — protecting drinking water, keeping wildlife species off the endangered species list, restoring salmon runs, and improving quality of life and outdoor recreation, which provides the basis of a growing regional economy.
But Ag Department bureaucrats, timber-industry officials, and many in the Forest Service never supported the NWFP, and the Forest Service leadership has decided it’s time to amend the plan more to their liking. The proposed changes to the Plan are contained in a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), and the Forest Service will accept public comments on the proposed amendment until 11:59:59 p.m. March 17.
The Forest Service DEIS proposes to overhaul the 30-year-old NWFP by increasing logging on federal lands across the Pacific Northwest in the name of fighting wildfires and boosting rural economies. According to the DEIS, the proposed amendment would increase annual timber harvests by at least 33% and potentially more than 200%. The number of timber-related jobs would increase accordingly, but taxpayer-subsidized wildfire-mitigation logging is economically sustainable only as long as it receives government subsidies.
“The Forest Service must maintain and enhance the protections of the Northwest Forest Plan,” said Earthjustice Senior Attorney Aurora Janke. “If the agency’s proposed amendment does not keep current protections, include robust tribal involvement, and protect climate-buffering forests … then it should not go forward.”
Prior to the March 17 comment deadline, anyone can submit comments on the proposed Northwest Forest Plan Amendment at tinyurl.com/mtuwdbk3.
Image: A map produced by the Forest Service shows areas that could be affected by impending amendments to the landmark Northwest Forest Plan.
