This is the first of two Public Lands Blog posts on the president’s executive order (EO) on forests, which, among other things, unambiguously directs the federal forest agencies to conserve the remaining mature and old-growth forests. Part 1 dissects the order. Part 2 will place it in the current political context and make recommendations to various key interests on how best to ensure that the potential of the EO is fulfilled.
Top Line: President Biden is poised to enter the pantheon of forest-protecting American presidents.
Figure 1. President Biden’s executive order on forests has the potential to transform the management of federal public lands administered by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Source: The White House.
This past Earth Day, President Joe Biden was in Seattle to announce, among other things, his “Executive Order on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies.” No president has paid this much attention to forests since Bill Clinton’s personal involvement in the Northwest Forest Plan and the Eastside Screens back in the early 1990s.
Any executive order (EO) is a big deal in that it involves lots of staff time from high government officials, complex strategic and tactical political calculations, and the balancing of short-term political expediency with long-term policy legacy. Most executive orders read as though they were written by a committee, because they were. In reading them, one inevitably finds internal contradictions, hedges, name checkings, and sound bites long on quotability and short on substance.
Figure 2. Sitka spruce on the Oregon Coast. Source: Sumner Robinson. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
This Biden forest EO is no different. It was conceived, drafted, perfected, and issued in the context of (including, but not limited to, and in no particular order of importance) a climate crisis, a biodiversity crisis, looming midterm elections, legislative and judicial pushback on decarbonizing the economy so as to save the climate, the US coming up short on commitments to meet the goals of the Paris agreement on the climate that seeks to limit the worst of global warming by limiting atmospheric temperature rise to 1.5°C, a Forest Service at the apex of the bloated and fiscally and ecologically harmful fire-industrial complex, western Democratic senators and members of Congress, inflation, high gasoline prices, and rural decline.
Here is a discussion of the five sections of the EO. Excerpts from the EO are in italics, followed by my commentary and analysis.
Figure 3. Old-growth Douglas-fir in the Valley of the Giants Outstanding Natural Area in the Oregon Coast Range. Source: David Stone, Wildland Photography. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Section 1
Section 1. Policy. Strengthening America’s forests, which are home to cherished expanses of mature and old-growth forests on Federal lands, is critical to the health, prosperity, and resilience of our communities—particularly in light of the threat of catastrophic wildfires.
The first sentence of Section 1 of the EO is a combination prebuttal and misdirection. Ongoing catastrophic logging by the federal forest agencies is a far greater threat to our “cherished” older forests than the “threat of catastrophic wildfires,” but one would not have a clue from reading the EO.
Figure 4. Old-growth Port Orford cedar in the Oregon Coast Range. While temperate rainforest fires are infrequent and usually stand-replacing, not always. Source: Steve Miller. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Section 1 goes on to state the case for the importance of forests to the climate, both domestically and internationally.
Forests provide clean air and water, sustain the plant and animal life fundamental to combating the global climate and biodiversity crises, and hold special importance to Tribal Nations. We go to these special places to hike, camp, hunt, fish, and engage in recreation that revitalizes our souls and connects us to history and nature. Many local economies thrive because of these outdoor and forest management activities, including in the sustainable forest product sector.
All the important boxes are checked here: climate crisis, biodiversity crisis, Tribes, recreation, souls, local economies, sustainable forest products.
Figure 5. Old-growth ponderosa pine in the Elkhorn Mountains, Oregon. Source: Sandy Lonsdale. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Globally, forests represent some of the most biodiverse parts of our planet and play an irreplaceable role in reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Terrestrial carbon sinks absorb around 30 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities each year. Here at home, America’s forests absorb more than 10 percent of annual United States economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions. Conserving old-growth and mature forests on Federal lands while supporting and advancing climate-smart forestry and sustainable forest products is critical to protecting these and other ecosystem services provided by those forests. [emphasis added]
Of course, neither “climate-smart forestry” nor “sustainable forest products” are defined in the EO, leaving it to readers to fill in their own definitions until the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management do so.
Here at home, the primary threats to forests, including mature and old-growth forests, include climate impacts, catastrophic wildfires, insect infestation, and disease. We can and must take action to conserve, restore, reforest, and manage our magnificent forests here at home and, working closely with international partners, throughout the world. [emphasis added]
Notice how the singularly most important threat to forests—logging by the federal forest management agencies—is explicitly not included but can be implicitly construed to count as a threat.
Figure 6. Old-growth ponderosa pine. They are quite resistant to fire, as are all old-growth trees of all species. Source: Leon Werdinger. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
It is the policy of my Administration, in consultation with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, as well as the private sector, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and the scientific community,
[•] to pursue science-based, sustainable forest and land management;
[•] conserve America’s mature and old-growth forests on Federal lands;
[•] invest in forest health and restoration;
[•] support indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and cultural and subsistence practices;
[•] honor Tribal treaty rights; and
[•] deploy climate-smart forestry practices and other nature-based solutions
to improve the resilience of our lands, waters, wildlife, and communities in the face of increasing disturbances and chronic stress arising from climate impacts. [emphasis and bullets added]
It’s quite a to-do list, but the command to conserve all mature and old-growth forests on federal public lands is unambiguous.
Figure 7. Old-growth ponderosa pine on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Oregon. The Forest Service often wants to thin out the younger encroaching forest to protect the older p-pines from fire and/or moisture stress exacerbated by more younger trees in the stand. Sometimes such is ecologically desirable. In this case, the Forest Service need only let the next wildfire burn, or drop a match itself. The understory and lower canopy will burn, but in all likelihood the big pines will be fine. Source: Ric Bailey. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Section 2
Sec. 2. Restoring and Conserving the Nation’s Forests, Including Mature and Old-Growth Forests. My Administration will manage forests on Federal lands, which include many mature and old-growth forests, to promote their continued health and resilience; retain and enhance carbon storage; conserve biodiversity; mitigate the risk of wildfires; enhance climate resilience; enable subsistence and cultural uses; provide outdoor recreational opportunities; and promote sustainable local economic development.
This command policy is applicable to all federal public forestlands, not just the remaining mature and old-growth forests. “Sustainable local economic development” need not be limited to, nor necessarily include at all, the logging and manufacture of wood products.
Figure 8. Old-growth Douglas-fir and western redcedar on Indian Ridge in the McKenzie River watershed, Oregon. Source: Sandy Lonsdale. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Science-based reforestation is one of the greatest opportunities both globally and in the United States for the land sector to contribute to climate and biodiversity goals.
Unfortunately, “reforestation” often means planting one species of tree back after clear-cutting a diverse forest, which is more religion-based than anything else. Science-based reforestation would mean planting a diversity of tree species—not just the one most profitable for logs on truly deforested sites, such as after clear-cutting. A stand-replacing wildfire does not result in deforestation but rather in the renewal of the forest.
To further conserve mature and old-growth forests and foster long-term United States forest health through climate-smart reforestation for the benefit of Americans today and for generations to come, the following actions shall be taken, in consultation with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments and the public, and to the extent consistent with applicable law:
(a) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretaries)—the Federal Government’s primary land managers—shall continue to jointly pursue wildfire mitigation strategies, which are already driving important actions to confront a pressing threat to mature and old-growth forests on Federal lands: catastrophic wildfires driven by decades of fire exclusion and climate change.
And also driven by humans’ decades of logging and grazing by domestic livestock—both of which exacerbate climate change.
Figure 9. A “management fire” area in Crater Lake national Park. The National Park Service attitude toward wildfire is enlightening. It generally lets fires burn in the backcountry and even sets some on purpose. Source: Elizabeth Feryl, Environmental Images. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004)..
(b) The Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System lands, shall, within 1 year of the date of this order, define, identify, and complete an inventory of old-growth and mature forests on Federal lands, accounting for regional and ecological variations, as appropriate, and shall make such inventory publicly available.
Kind of surprising that the agencies don’t have such an inventory already.
Figure 10. Old-growth ponderosa pines not covered by the Biden EO because they are not part of a “stand.” The Forest Service could decide to protect them anyway; I’m sure Biden wouldn’t mind. Source: Sandy Lonsdale. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
(c) Following completion of the inventory, the Secretaries shall:
(i) coordinate conservation and wildfire risk reduction activities, including consideration of climate-smart stewardship of mature and old-growth forests, with other executive departments and agencies (agencies), States, Tribal Nations, and any private landowners who volunteer to participate;
The federal forest agencies may seek to define “climate-smart” as anything involving a chainsaw. This is often the case in frequent-fire-disturbance (aka dry) forest types previously hammered by big-tree logging, fire exclusion, and cow bombing. However, no chainsaws are ever justified in mature and old-growth forest stands in infrequent-fire-disturbance (aka wet) forest types.
(ii) analyze the threats to mature and old-growth forests on Federal lands, including from wildfires and climate change; and
And also including from logging, roading, grazing, mining, and off-road vehicle abuse.
(iii) develop policies, with robust opportunity for public comment, to institutionalize climate-smart management and conservation strategies that address threats to mature and old-growth forests on Federal lands.
The new policies must be robust enough to survive a second Trump administration.
Figure 11. A young old-growth forest slated for clear-cutting until conservationists (and the northern spotted owl) threw sand in the gears of the BLM. If pending legislation sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Representative Peter DeFazio is enacted into law, this stand can be truly safe. Source: Jay Lininger. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Section 3
Sec. 3. Stopping International Deforestation.
Among other things, Section 3 of the EO calls for delivering on “collective global goals to end natural forest loss and to restore at least an additional 200 million hectares of forests and other ecosystems, while showcasing new economic models that reflect the services provided by critical ecosystems around the world” and “combating illegal logging and stopping trade in illegally sourced wood products.” Relevant government agencies are directed to, among other things, “submit a report to the President evaluating options, including recommendations for proposed legislation, for a whole-of-government approach to combating international deforestation.”
I could say more here, but as space (believe it or not) and my international forest expertise are both limited, I won’t—which should not be construed as meaning that I don’t think stopping international deforestation is of great importance. I do.
Figure 12. Oregon white oak along the Lower White River, Oregon. Not all mature and old-growth trees and stands are conifers. Source: Sandy Lonsdale. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Section 4
Sec. 4. Deploying Nature-Based Solutions to Tackle Climate Change and Enhance Resilience. Just as forest conservation, restoration, and adaptation generate broad benefits related to climate change and other areas, other nature-based solutions can advance multiple benefits. These solutions include actions that protect coasts and critical marine ecosystems, reduce flooding, moderate extreme heat, replenish groundwater sources, capture and store carbon dioxide, conserve biodiversity, and improve the productivity of agricultural and forest lands to produce food and fiber.
A plethora of federal agencies are to do a report to the National Climate Task Force “to identify key opportunities for greater deployment of nature-based solutions across the Federal Government, including through potential policy, guidance, and program changes.” The agencies include (to save space and boring you I list only their initials or acronyms here, but as a far-more-highly-educated-than-average reader you will likely recognize most of them) CEQ, OSTP, DOD, USDI, USDA, USDC (through NOAA), HUD, DOT, DOE, DHS (through FEMA), EPA, and SBA, plus the national climate advisor and “heads of other agencies as appropriate.”
Figure 13. Old-growth Sitka spruce on Cascade Head, Oregon. Source: Gary Braasch. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Some of my favorite “nature-based solutions” include but are not limited to
• ending abusive livestock grazing on federal public lands;
• reintroducing beavers at scale across watersheds to re-wet landscapes drying due to drought and decreased stream flows due to the loss of glaciers and snowpacks;
• conserving and restoring fresh water and tidal wetlands; and
• building green infrastructure.
Figure 14. Old growth along Bitter Lick Creek on the Rogue River National Forest. Source: Ken Crocker. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
Section 5
Sec. 5. General Provisions.
Four “savings” clauses ensure that the EO doesn’t screw the authorities of the executive branch or the powers of the White House Office of Management and Budget, is implemented consistent with applicable law and the availability of money, and can’t be used as a reason to sue somebody. Standard boilerplate.
Figure 15. Old-growth Douglas-fir and one of its most (in)famous denizens, the northern spotted owl. Source: Sandy Lonsdale. First appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness (Timber Press, 2004).
[Part 2 will appear next Monday.]