When impact producer Alex Haraus – who hit the big time with his activism working to stop the Willow Oil Drilling Project in Alaska – wanted to get involved with protecting old-growth last summer, we were excited and figured we could use all the help we could get. Half a million public comments later, we were beyond thrilled with how effective social media platforms turned out to be to raise awareness and transform casual video viewers into action-takers for our forests and climate.
Now, as a more comprehensive draft plan for old-growth forest protection is rolled out for public feedback, we’re counting on Alex’s new feature-length film, “Crown Jewels” to inspire even more action for our forests this summer.
Back in December, the U.S. Forest Service announced a proposed nationwide forest plan amendment to advance protections for the remaining old-growth trees in all of the country’s National Forests. A draft Environmental Impact Statement for this amendment was just released in June, and it could add new restrictions on old-growth logging. It’s a step toward fulfilling the President’s Earth Day 2022 Executive Order 14072, which directed federal agencies to develop policies to protect mature and old growth forests on federal lands as a natural carbon and climate solution.
But one step doesn’t win the race. While this could be the first-ever national policy to protect old-growth forests on Forest Service-managed lands from commercial logging, it needs to eliminate loopholes that can still send old-growth trees to the mill, and it needs to include meaningful protections for mature forests (future old-growth) as well. The outcomes of this process, and how meaningful they actually are, will depend on how far the public can push the agency and the Executive Branch to establish enforceable protections.
Here in Oregon, we know full well how important our last remaining ancient forests are. They’re home to imperiled wildlife, they filter and cool our drinking water, and we visit them for recreation, renewal, and to practice cultural traditions. Many of us have been working for decades to stop old-growth logging sales, protect roadless wildlands, and enact policies that keep these forests intact for the many benefits – practical and intrinsic – they provide.
Haraus’ film, debuting in Eugene and Portland next week, explores these themes as his film crew travels from the rolling hills of West Virginia to the serene valleys of Wisconsin and to the temperate rainforest of Oregon. More than that, through grassroots storytelling, the film makes a case for protecting mature and old-growth forests across the federal estate and shows how the audience can help.
Take action:
- Attend a film screening and panel discussion for “Crown Jewels”
- Join an outing to the proposed Grasshopper Logging project near Mount Hood to see what’s at stake. RSVP here.
- Submit your comment to protect old-growth forests.
