Environmental Activists are Calling on U.S. Forest Service to Halt Logging of Old-Growth Trees

Thursday, August 11th, 2022 -- 8:06 AM

(Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) Environmental and climate activists are calling on the U.S. Forest Service to halt logging of mature and old-growth trees that are crucial for storing carbon to combat climate change, including a project in northern Wisconsin.

According to Danielle Kaeding of Wisconsin Public Radio, the Fourmile Vegetation Management Project in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is cited among the 10 worst logging projects on federal lands, according to a report released by a coalition of groups this summer.

The project 7 miles east of Eagle River would log nearly 12,000 acres in parts of Oneida, Vilas and Forest counties. It's expected to yield around 45 million board feet of timber.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Earth Day that directed federal officials to inventory older forests on federal lands. They’ll then have to coordinate strategies to reduce wildfire risks, analyze threats and develop climate-smart policies.

Environmental and climate advocates fear older trees will be lost to logging before that work is done, according to Andy Olsen, a senior policy advocate with the Environmental Law and Policy Center or ELPC.

"At ELPC, we are calling on the Forest Service to freeze all logging of mature and old-growth trees while this process goes forward, and especially in the Fourmile project area," Olsen said. Olsen said more than half of timber stands set to be logged are 80 years and older.

Wisconsin has nearly 17 million acres of forest land and roughly 1.5 million acres in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. State data shows old-growth forests that are 120 years or older account for a little more than 1 percent of timberland.

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