Biden administration proposes new steps to preserve the nation’s old-growth forests

Washington (CNN) — The Biden administration proposed new steps Tuesday to conserve and restore the nation’s old-growth forests in a move it projects could combat greenhouse gas emissions and counter the effects of climate change.

The proposal from the US Department of Agriculture would amend all 128 forest land management plans across the country for the first time, with a goal of preserving and restoring old-growth and mature forests across the nation.

According to a fact sheet shared with CNN, the USDA and the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management oversee a combined 112 million acres of old-growth and mature forests on federal lands.

Old-growth and mature forests are a crucial part of the administration’s efforts to combat climate change, serving as a carbon sink by absorbing the equivalent of more than 10% of the nation’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. Old-growth forests in particular tend to have a higher carbon density, which the USDA says makes them well suited to store more carbon than younger forests.

The proposal, the White House said Tuesday, falls under a 2022 Earth Day Executive Order from President Joe Biden aimed at tackling the climate crisis and strengthening climate resilience.

In addition, for the first time since 2007, the National Forest Service is updating its Northwest Forest Plan, which guides management of roughly one quarter of the continental United States’ federally managed forests, all located in Washington, Oregon and California, to better prepare for climate resilience.

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