Despite Biden’s Promise to Protect Old Forests, His Administration Keeps Approving Plans to Cut Them Down
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In Oregon’s Coast Range, mature forests can absorb more carbon per acre than almost any other on the planet. Yet logging here continues at a steady pace, putting the environment at risk.

Reporting Highlights

  • Earth Day Promise: In 2022, President Joe Biden announced a new effort to protect old forests, which are key to the fight against climate change. But it hasn’t made much of a difference.
  • Logging Continues: The Bureau of Land Management has allowed timber companies to cut these forests at a faster pace since Biden’s executive order than in the decade that preceded it.
  • Legal Battles: Conservation groups keep suing over what they claim are rushed timber sales, and they keep winning — but under a Trump administration, they may be unable to keep up.