Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), and Vice Chairs Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Tom Tiffany (WI-07), released the following statements about the U.S. Forest Service’s withdrawal of their proposed updates to the National Old Growth Amendment.
“The Forest Service’s decision to withdraw the National Old Growth Amendment proposal is great news for proper forest management,” said Chairman LaMalfa. “Western Caucus members have been leading the opposition to this misguided plan that would have been detrimental to maintaining healthy forests and led to greater wildfire risks. There won’t be anything left to ‘conserve’ if the Forest Service doesn’t get to work thinning our forests and reducing fire risks. Year after year Congress gives them more money, less work gets done, and the fires get larger. They need to stop wasting time with more restrictive regulations and get to work. I’m happy they scrapped this plan.”
“I have long advocated for responsible forest management decisions to be made at the local level by the people who know the land and how to best handle it,” said Vice Chair Newhouse. “I am pleased to see the Forest Service withdraw this top-down regulation that would have been a detrimental blow to proper and common-sense management. I am looking forward to working in the new Congress on ways we can better support the regional stewards of our national forests to reduce the frequency and damage caused by catastrophic wildfires.”
“The National Old Growth Amendment’s environmental impact statement, which sought to restrict responsible timber harvesting, was an unscientific decision from an administration that repeatedly targeted rural America,” said Vice Chair Tiffany. “While the withdrawal of it is a welcome surprise, I look forward to the new Trump administration taking the reins and prioritizing active forest management to reduce wildfire risk.”
Background:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture initiated a scoping period for a proposed amendment to all 128 land management plans across the National Forest System in December 2023.
The draft Environmental Impact Statement was published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2024.
On June 27, 2024, Reps. LaMalfa, Newhouse and Tiffany introduced legislation to nullify President Biden’s Executive Order 14072 and prevent the U.S. Forest Service from finalizing the Old-Growth Amendment Plan’s draft Environmental Impact Statement.
On January 7, 2025, U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore announced his intent to withdraw the proposal.
