In December 2023, the Department of Agriculture published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement to amend all 128 forest land management plans. This significant action demonstrates how committed we are to stewarding and conserving old growth forest conditions, knowing the actions of today have implications for future generations.  

As I mentioned in our recent national call, this amendment is intended to create a consistent approach to how we manage for old growth forest conditions. It will ensure old growth forests have sufficient distribution, abundance and ecological integrity that can persist over the long term. Increased effects from changing climates require us to act with intention to meet the Forest Service mission—to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.  

When I think about our conservation values—protection when necessary, preservation when appropriate, restoration when needed and wise management for multiple use and enjoyment always—I can’t help but think about the Indigenous perspectives I have always valued. As Chief, I work closely with tribes and often hear how Indigenous cultures emphasize how the decisions made today determine what is left for future generations. Some tribes embrace a “Seventh Generation” philosophy, where decisions from today should result in a sustainable world for the next seven generations. This perspective recognizes that while lands and resources are ours to use, it is also our responsibility to conserve and protect them.  

This concept really hit home at the Capitol Christmas Tree lighting when listening to the young boy who wrote about his great-great-grandfather, who was the forest supervisor on the Monongahela National Forest in the 1940s. This young man wrote about the love for nature that he and his great-great-grandfather shared, and he recognized how incredible it was to visit virgin forests on Cheat Mountain, an area of forest comprised of virgin and some second growth. This is a place where individual trees range up to 40 inches in diameter at breast height and are up to 300 years of age—a place that is incredibly different than the areas his great-great-grandfather helped reforest.  

Listening to this young man made me think about how our management actions have lasting effects. This young man and others like him recognize and appreciate the value of old growth forests. As a learning organization we recognize that past land management practices have not always been made through a conservation lens and custodial world view. With that recognition comes a need for action. This is why the agency put a lot of thought into an ecologically sound, ethical action to steward and conserve old growth forests.  

I know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but as we do this work, I want us all to feel a sense of pride, knowing how our decisions will benefit future generations.  

Learn more on the Mature and Old Growth Forests webpage.

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