Conservation groups say nearly 500,000 people have submitted comments to federal officials calling for more protections of the nation’s old-growth forests.
During the public comment period for a revision to how the U.S. Forest Service approaches climate resilience and forest management, groups including the Sierra Club recently delivered some of the comments to the agency’s Washington D.C. headquarters.
Environmental advocates say 50 million acres of old-growth forests on federal lands are vulnerable to logging, and the areas are critical to removing carbon from the atmosphere and provide key animal habitat.
According to conservationists, nearly two-dozen logging projects on federal land currently threaten 370,000 acres of old-growth forests.
The Forest Service has proposed a nearly 30,000-acre thinning project on the Kaibab Plateau called the Burnt Corral Vegetation Management Project they say would improve forest health, but the groups claim it would target large, fire-resistant trees.