Old Grow Forest

RICARDO PALMA UNIVERSITY


The Old-Growth Forest of the Pacific Northwest

The Old-Growth Forest of the Pacific Northwest

Issues surrounding old-growth forest are at the very center ofdiscussions about forest management in the Pacific Northwest.
For many observers, May 29, 1991, marks a turning point in the management of forests in
Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Onthat date in Seattle, Federal District Judge William Dwyer ended almost all logging on 17 national forests in these three states
until the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and other federalresource-management agencies could demonstrate that they had cured logging-related violations of the nation’s environmental laws. In particular, Judge Dwyer issued an injunction forbidding the Forest
Service fromselling more timber in habitat suitable for the northern spotted owl, a species
threatened with extinction, until it could provide assurance that it could sell timber without
significantly undercuttingthe species’ continued survival.
The injunction stimulated a process that, in 1994, produced the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) covering 24.5 million acres of federal lands in western Washington,Oregon, and
northern California. Much of the NWFP focuses on providing adequate habitat for northern
spotted owls, marbled murrelets, salmon, and other species having a close association with theold-growth forests of this region. Within the confines of the NWFP, the term old-growth forest has a specific definition:

A forest stand usually at least 180-220 years old with moderate to high canopyclosure; a
multilayered, multispecies canopy dominated by large overstory trees; high incidence of large trees, some with broken tops and other indications of old and decaying wood (decadence); numerouslarge snags; and heavy accumulations of wood, including large logs on the ground.

A common criticism of the NWFP is that its restrictions on logging old-growth forests are bad for the economy....