Since the Northwest Forest Plan was written, there have been a few developments
FEATURED STORY: Is it logging or restoration? Take a trip into Mount Hood National Forest.
Regulation rewind
Before the Northwest Forest Plan was unveiled in 1994, ending the timber wars, the 19 national forests within its jurisdiction already had forest plans, and some were more environmentally friendly than others.
Wildlife protections among forests varied depending on the nature of the relationship between each U.S. Forest Service district and the timber industry.
The Northwest Forest Plan brought consistency to those plans, forcing forest managers within northern spotted owl territory in Oregon, Washington and northern California to comply with the same rules and guidelines, which were aimed at repairing badly clear-cut forests and at protecting at-risk species by improving ecosystems over the next 100 years.
Since the Northwest Forest Plan’s implementation, logging in national forests has decreased, and according to a 20-year monitoring report on the plan’s progress released in June, it’s achieving many of its ecological goals.
But since the Northwest Forest Plan was written, there have been a few developments.
Changes in climate are affecting forests, the Northwest is coming off another record-breaking wildfire season, and science behind forest management has evolved.
In 2014, the U.S. Forest Service announced it was time for a plan revision, but rather than have one overarching set of rules, it wants to go back to having an individual plan for each forest.
That approach didn’t go so well for the environment in the past, so with this announcement, conservationists grew concerned.
On Oct. 1, a letter signed by 37 environmental groups, including Bark, Audubon Society of Portland and Oregon Wild, urged the Forest Service to maintain the framework of the Northwest Forest Plan, incorporate the best relevant science and “engage in further dialogue with us before making final decisions.”
Brenna Bell, attorney for Bark, said conservationists would like the Forest Service to revise the Northwest Forest Plan rather than do away with it, and then update individual forest plans to comply with the new version.
On Sept. 20, Seattle Times published an editorial stating that returning to the old model of forest planning “would be a mistake” and a reversal of the 1994 plan’s forward thinking.
