Opinion: Draft of Forest Service’s policy is a good step, but it must go further to protect Colorado’s old-growth forests

The U.S. Forest Service’s Landmark Policy to Conserve Old-Growth Forests

The U.S. Forest Service is taking public comments through Sept. 20 on a landmark new policy to conserve old-growth forests in all 128 national forests across the country. Historically, our forests were mostly old growth, but those forests today cover less than 12% of our shared forest landscapes. 

Loss of Old-Growth Forests and the Need for Conservation

Old-growth forests have been lost at an alarming rate over the past century due mainly to logging, as well as natural disturbances such as severe fires and extensive insect outbreaks. This loss is only expected to grow as climate change continues to disrupt natural ecosystems in Colorado and across the country.

Old-growth forests contain our most ancient trees and ecosystems, and are home to unique ecosystem services such as providing clean water, exceptional wildlife habitats and carbon storage, and often encompass significant ecological, social, and scientific values not found in younger forests.

The Urgent Need for Protection

I am a dendrochronologist — tree-ring researcher — and for the past 40 years have sampled and aged trees in forests across the U.S. In many areas where we have done intensive sampling for old forests — such as the Front Range in Colorado and the Black Hills in South Dakota where we have aged thousands of trees — it is difficult to find remaining old-growth forests, and those that are still present are increasingly under threat. 

For example, a recent study in Colorado found that 93% of the forests we sampled had evidence of past timber harvest, and many of the oldest trees in what few older stands still remain had been recently killed by bark beetles. One of the most extensive stands of old-growth ponderosa pine on the Front Range surrounding Cheesman Lake on the South Platte River was almost completely wiped out during the 2002 Hayman fire, and resulted in extensive erosion and damage to the watershed.

The Need for Comprehensive National Policy

Currently there is no comprehensive national policy that governs the management of old-growth forests or protects them from threats posed by climate change-driven disturbances and commercial logging. To the extent old-growth forests are protected, local forest management plans typically provide only limited protection that is often outdated and inadequate.

This plan as written is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough in protecting what remaining old-growth forests we still have, as well as providing for management of currently mature forests that can replace old-growth forests moving into the future.

Recognizing the Diversity of Old-Growth Forests

One main issue is that the definition of old-growth forests vary depending on the forest type. Dense old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest are not at all the same as old-growth ponderosa pine forests in Colorado and much of the interior Rocky Mountain region. This must be recognized in the policy changes.

Improving Forest Management Strategies

Here in Colorado, the Forest Service is currently moving aggressively to reduce the buildup of young trees and brush caused by a century of fire suppression in forests that historically used to burn naturally every few years in low-severity fires. Many of these forest management plans include diameter-based criteria to remove only smaller trees, under the assumption that the biggest trees are the oldest.

However, size does not always equate to age. The study I mentioned looked at almost 9,000 trees and found that there are certain tree characteristics, such as bark color and canopy conditions, that are better estimators for tree age than size alone. Yet as written, the new draft policy could inadvertently promote ill-informed logging in remaining old-growth forests and removal of older trees that are smaller than any diameter limit.

Enhancing the Old-Growth Policy

To maintain the ecological integrity of old-growth forests, the Forest Service must strengthen various elements of the draft old-growth policy. 

The plan must include both a better nationwide strategy that enhances place-based old-growth forest quality and conditions instead of reducing standards to a bare minimum for what qualifies as old growth. Most critically, the plan must develop a collaborative, equitable and science-based process for identifying not only still existing old-growth forests, but also mature forests that are not old growth at present but could be stewarded into becoming old growth in the future. A collaborative process needs to be central to this process involving all stakeholders, especially Native American tribes.

Protecting and Promoting Old-Growth Forests

We have lost old-growth forests at an alarming rate over the past century and a half of intensive land use, and this loss is only expected to grow over the coming century as climate change continues to affect often abrupt and massive changes on natural ecosystems. 

The proposed old-growth plan on National Forests can be made better, and its implementation will go far in helping to protect and promote these unique and valuable ecosystems for future generations.

Peter M. Brown, Ph.D., who lives in Fort Collins, is the founder and director of Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research, a nonprofit organization with an expertise in tree-ring collection, dating and analysis.

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SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 15: Life on Land

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.
• Target 15.2: By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area.
• Indicator 15.2.1: Progress towards sustainable forest management.

4. Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

The issues highlighted in the article are connected to SDG 15: Life on Land, which focuses on the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, including forests. The specific targets identified from the article’s content are Target 15.1 and Target 15.2. Target 15.1 aims to ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of forests, while Target 15.2 focuses on promoting sustainable forest management and halting deforestation. The indicators mentioned in the article that can be used to measure progress towards these targets are Indicator 15.1.1, which measures forest area as a proportion of total land area, and Indicator 15.2.1, which tracks progress towards sustainable forest management.

Source: coloradosun.com