The Effort to Protect Old-Growth Forests across the Nation and North Carolina

Environmental advocates want the US Forest Service to protect the few remaining old-growth forest patches in North Carolina’s mountains. 

The NC League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) has joined 16 other citizen conservation groups in co-signing a letter to President Joe Biden urging the protection of these old-growth and mature tree areas in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. The US Forest Service (USFS) is in the process of finalizing new management plans for these forests. Conservationists say that the USFS should bar logging projects which would cut old-growth trees for any reason, or threaten other mature tree areas.

What it means for North Carolina

The letter specifically notes two proposed logging projects which should be halted: “The Buck Project is one of the largest timber sales in North Carolina in recent history, threatening 150 acres of trees more than 100 years old and 375 acres of mature carbon-dense rich cove forests. An estimated 60% of the forest area targeted for logging in the Southside Project is more than 100 years old, and the old growth trees on top of Brushy Mountain have been around for over 200 years. These projects trade critical, life sustaining organisms for short-term economic gain. North Carolina’s mature and old growth trees and forests are worth more standing.” 

The USFS plans for Pisgah and Nantahala are the target of litigation filed in April on behalf of several North Carolina conservation groups. The litigation points out wildlife and other forest values which are threatened by proposed logging projects there. Concerned citizens can support the protection of old-growth and mature tree areas in these forests by signing on to a letter to the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture Departments.