by Ryan Henson, Senior Policy Director
On November 15th, the U.S. Forest Service (FS) released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Northwest Forest Plan Amendment (NWFPA). CalWild has been sharing with our community about the NWFPA as the process has rolled out, including last month when we offered a short background and update on the pending release. The official release of the DEIS initiates a 120-day comment period, with a deadline of 3/17/2025.Of additional note for your calendars is the upcoming public webinar on Dec. 5th from 12:00-1:30 p.m. PST (click for details) where the FS will share about the details of the NWFPA and how to engage in the public comment period.
For those who have not been following our updates on the NWFPA, the NWFP covers 24.5 million acres of federally managed lands in California, Oregon, and Washington (click for 3 decades of FS documents on the historic plan) and is an opportunity to accommodate changes in ecological and social conditions since it was created 30 years ago. Beyond that, the NWFPA follows best science by noting that there are great differences between the “wet forests” of western Oregon and Washington and the “dry forests” that make up old-growth in NW CA’s National Forests (NFs). Dry forests evolved with frequent fire and require periodic “good fire” to stay healthy. This is consistent with the recommendations of such esteemed scientists as Dr. Jerry Franklin and with the lived experience of NW CA Tribes. As a result, the NWFPA identifies all but the smallest alpine areas as “dry” in CA’s NFs. With this plan amendment process, the FS intends to:
- Improve wildfire resistance and resilience
- Adapt to expected future climate conditions
- Improve ecological conditions related to old-growth forests
- Expand tribal inclusion
- Support local economies
While the language offered in the DEIS is a good start in some ways, we believe there is room for improvement. One such example includes reducing the 150 year+ prohibition on logging by a few decades to whatever our most trusted sources tell us it should be. This 150 year+ prohibition can be found in the DEIS Alternative B (Alt B). Other elements of Alt B include:
- Promote fire resilience through an aggressive fuel reduction program with an emphasis on “treating” NF lands around communities and in strategic locations such as along roads and in designated fuel-breaks.
- Promote the restoration of old-growth forest ecosystems “where appropriate” in young forests using proven ecological forestry techniques. In other works, we can use “eco-forestry” to restore future old-growth in our NW NFs over time.
- Establish a goal of treating at least 790,000 to 964,000 acres of dry forests in the first 15 years after the NWFPA is approved. The treatments encouraged by the NWFPA include using all the appropriate tools that we have long supported, depending upon local conditions and needs.
- “Move beyond consultation with Tribes and include specific, actionable strategies to incorporate Indigenous Knowledge in decision making and provide opportunities to expand co-stewardship with Tribes.” The proposed plan amendment includes, “strategies to build trusting working relationships with Tribes and incorporate their feedback into land management decisions. Tribal inclusion is focused in the areas of Access and Gathering, Co-stewardship, Forest Stewardship, Indigenous Knowledge, Treaty and Protected Tribal Rights, and Workforce.”
Again, we believe the NWFPA is off to a good start in the DEIS that was released, but with help from our supporters, CalWild will urge the FS for a better final outcome.
