Mature and old-growth forests can store carbon, filter drinking water, and provide wildlife habitat — with added wildfire resilience and natural beauty to boot.
Plans are now in the works to conserve and steward those trees on millions of acres of federal land, with public comments accepted this summer. The guidance stems from President Biden’s 2022 executive order to “define, inventory and analyze threats to mature and old-growth forests” and develop recommendations related to “land management and changing climates,” according to the USDA, which oversees the Forest Service.
A new documentary advocating for permanent protections tied its release to that public comment period; it screens at Explore Booksellers in Aspen on Tuesday night.
“Crown Jewels” takes viewers to threatened forests across the country, and puts the spotlight on communities trying to preserve them.
The federal plans to manage these forests would nix logging for “economic reasons,” but would allow some work to make these forests adaptable to future stressors, reduce hazardous fuels, and address other matters like “culturally significant practices.”
The national Climate Forests Campaign believes the current proposed guidance still leaves too much room for discretion — and would like to see more from language protecting these ecosystems.
“I think for a lot of Americans, they think, ‘Oh, we stopped logging old growth.’ We didn't,” said Len Montgomery, the campaign’s coordinator. “So, I think takeaway number one is to understand that there's still pretty damaging practices happening in our public forests across the country. And then I hope takeaway two is the optimistic: we are in a position right now where we can actually change that.”
Montgomery, who also works as the public lands campaign director for Environment Colorado, said she hopes this film will motivate people to learn about the policy and submit public comments.
“I don't know if it's inherent or learned, but you know, we like trees. We value trees. We like being in the woods,” Montgomery told Aspen Public Radio. “I think visual representations of that — and, in the film, there are a number of interviews with people in the forest — that, I think, will really … tug at people's heartstrings.”
The Climate Forests Campaign has already collected and sent more than 2,800 comments, mostly using the same form letter, asking for an end to old-growth logging on National Forest lands and to the commercial exchange of old-growth timber logged on federally-managed lands. The federal guidance is accepting public comment through September 20.
“Crown Jewels” will screen at Explore at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a Q-and-A with Montgomery and the film’s director Alex Haraus.
