Petition to Protect Northwest Forests

For 30 years, the Northwest Forest Plan has safeguarded wildlife, clean water, and carbon storage while providing a global model for landscape-scale conservation. Now, the Forest Service proposes amendments that would weaken these protections, open 800,000 acres of mature native forests to logging, double if not triple logging levels across our national forests, and jeopardize imperiled species like spotted owls, salmon, and marbled murrelets.

Logging mature and old-growth forests undermines efforts to address the climate and extinction crises. These forests are natural climate solutions, fire-resilient, and critical habitats for wildlife. The proposed changes prioritize commercial logging over ecological health, climate action, and community safety.

We, the undersigned, urge the Forest Service to:

1. Strengthen protections for mature and old-growth forests to ensure habitat, water quality, and carbon storage, and recruit more mature and old forests to restore a functional ecosystem.

2. Maintain or expand protections for the network of forest reserves to allow natural processes to flourish, ensure connectivity for wildlife, and support the recovery of imperiled species. Any reduction in forest reserve protections would increase harmful impacts such as habitat destruction, sediment in streams, and carbon loss, further endangering sensitive ecosystems.

3. Genuinely consult with Tribes, respect their sovereignty, and provide resources to support their full participation in decision-making. The Forest Service must support co-stewardship agreements, cultural burning practices, first food harvesting, and youth education while ensuring equitable access to planning processes. Pairing these components with the Forest Service’s plan for weakened environmental protections is a false choice manufactured by the agency.

4. Address environmental justice by analyzing impacts on air, water, and communities and ensuring fair, sustainable working conditions.

5. Shift wildfire strategies to prioritize community safety and proven prevention measures over logging.

The Forest Service must reject plans to weaken core protections of the Northwest Forest Plan. Maintaining and expanding protection for forest reserves is critical to preserving biodiversity, clean water, and the long-term climate benefits our forests provide.

We demand strong conservation protections not found in the DEIS that preserve the ecological, cultural, and climate values of the Pacific Northwest’s forests.