Federal Forest Webinar – Defending the Northwest Forest Plan (Part 1)

The Nothwest Forest Plan (NWFP) has been doing the hard work of trying to keep our region's National Forest managers focused on restoring mature and old-growth forest ecosystems in western Washington, Oregon and northern California lost during the intensive logging of virgin forests over the last 200 years. It was the response to a system of 'forest management' based on the premise the mature and old growth forests were wasteful––biodiversity deserts with little new growth contributing little to ecology or society. An idea we now know to couldn't be further from the truth.

Join us to learn why the NWFP came about and what it does to protect mature, old-growth and legacy forests and the plant and animal species that depend on them. We'll look back at the destruction and conflict that eventually led to a groundbreaking new management tool design to approach forest stewardship on a regional scale not seen before. And we'll consider how that tool has been working to support functioning forest ecosystems and biodiversity by protecting habitat both terrestrial and aquatic, protecting old trees and restoring late-successional forests.

And come back in October for Part II, when we'll dive into how the Plan is coming up short (including climate adaptation and Tribal consultation), the amendment process underway and our concerns that the increasingly politically motivated Forest Service leadership will use the amendment to weaken conservation protections in the in the Plan.