Old growth forests are not only critical for carbon sequestration, but many species of animals require not just forest, but specifically old growth forest for them to survive.
Almost all of the 256 living species of owls nest in trees, but they cannot make nests. They require existing nests from other animals or hollowed dead and rotting trees for nesting cavities. Martens, fishers, woodpeckers, insects, plants, and microorganisms also require damaged, dead, or dying trees to provide suitable habits.
Planting new trees is great and all, but these “forests” are essentially monoculture deserts where the trees are the only things living. It takes 100-200 years until a forest is suitable for many other living plants and animals. All new trees are good for us cutting down as soon as possible. These new trees are the ones we should be using for raw materials, and any old growth forests we haven’t yet destroyed should be preserved. They are just as priceless and irreplaceable as the rain forests!
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Thank you for a lovely and reasoned take, I would add that many old growth forests are rain forests (pacific northwest) and are incredible natural wonders. Kudos to this administration for making progress, where and when they can
Very true! Thank you for the reminder. I need to get out there to see them!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Biden administration on Tuesday took a step toward protecting older trees that store carbon dioxide and help to lessen climate change.
It issued a proposed plan with apparent limitations on cutting down old-growth trees — saying lands can’t be managed with the primary intention of logging such trees for economic reasons.
It does say that “ecologically appropriate” timber harvesting will be allowed as long as it meets certain standards.
The Agriculture Department also said it was proposing incorporating a “national intent” to maintain and improve old-growth forests into all of the land management plans within the National Forest System.
David Dreher, senior manager for public lands at the National Wildlife Federation, said the establishment of the “national intent” to protect these forests is important because it will inform decisions made by Forest Service officials.
Studies have shown that old-growth trees store significant amounts of carbon dioxide — making their protection important for fighting climate change.
The original article contains 225 words, the summary contains 155 words. Saved 31%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
