Threatened Forests

A New Tool for Helping Save Threatened Forests

 Sadly, threatened forests are common nowadays, especially with more and more development taking place across the country. Whether a forest is rural, urban, or somewhere in between, pressures from logging and/or development are felt across the board. Many common scenarios that create threatened forests include:

• plans to clear-cut to make way for roads, buildings, and other bits of infrastructure

• logging project proposals that cut down entire swaths of trees for profit

• the sale of tracts of forest to landowners who don’t have conservation in mind

• and many other ways!

One of the best ways to help save these threatened forests is to bring the issue out of the shadows and into the public eye, particularly through news outlets, social media posts, marches, and petitions. Most important to saving threatened forests are the on-the-ground local advocacy groups who push the issue forward and ensure that the voice of the community is heard. These groups work tirelessly to protect the forests they know and love so well and are truly essential to the success of the cause.

Opal Creek Wilderness in Oregon

OGFN recently unveiled a Threatened Forest Index as a way for friends of the forest to learn more about currently threatened forests, forest locations, progress updates, action items, and more. Feel free to check back frequently as the index is consistently changing with updates on existing forests and information on new forests. Do you have a threatened forest in mind but don’t see it on the index yet? Please email our Communications Manager, Christine Upton, at christine@oldgrowthforest.net with more details about the forest in question.

To get your forest advocacy thoughts flowing, here are three threatened forests that need your help today!

1). Success in Guilford Woods! 

Guilford Woods is located near the main campus of the University of Maryland in College Park. Residents, students, faculty, and staff alike make frequent visits to this peaceful 15-acre stretch of mature trees just southwest of campus. The woods are home to the headwaters of the Guilford run, an important ecological feature that supports a wide variety of flora and fauna. Guildford Run ultimately drains into the Chesapeake Bay, almost 100 miles away. Guilford Woods is owned by the University of Maryland and due to a variety of pressures, was under threat of being clear-cut to make way for a small grad student housing facility and many single-family units. However, due to enormous outcry from the local community, including the students of UMD, President Pines recently put the project on hold. Though this is a monumental win for Guilford Woods, the project could continue forward if President Pines changes his mind. Continued support for the local advocacy group, Friends of Guilford Woods, is crucial to ensure that the development project is either canceled outright, or a safe alternative created- one that doesn’t involve the deforestation of Guilford Woods. 

2). Drew Forest- Another Successful Case

Another University-owned forest, Drew Forest, otherwise known as the Forest Reserve, is located in Morris County, New Jersey. The forest is a distinctive feature of Drew University, occupying 53 contiguous acres in the southern stretch of campus and creating a beautiful, natural setting for students, faculty, and staff to enjoy on a daily basis. The Forest Reserve is such an integral part of campus that Drew University is nicknamed “the University in the Forest”. For many years, Drew Forest was under threat of being sold and clear cut to make way for housing and other development projects. Thankfully, after heavy advocacy work from the Friends of Drew Forest, local residents, and University stakeholders, the City Council of Madison, NJ voted in favor of protecting the forest, which added significant weight to the cause. Currently, a market-value conservation sale of Drew Forest is a potential consideration. Yet again, this is not a clear win for Drew Forest advocates, but it’s a hopeful move in the right direction. You can help by continuing to support the Friends of Drew Forest and spreading the word about this special forest.

3). Kootenai National Forest- Stop the Black Ram Project!

The Kootenai National Forest is a 2.2 million-acre forest in the northwestern and northeastern corners of Montana and Idaho, respectively. The forest is home to rugged, craggy peaks, gently rolling hills, and bountiful river valleys. This ecosystem is ideal for some of the area’s most prominent coniferous trees, such as western red cedars, subalpine fir, ponderosa pine, western larch, and lodgepole pine. A current Forest Service project, the Black Ram Project, is gaining traction to clear-cut over 2,000 acres in the Yaak Valley, with over 950 of those acres being old-growth trees. What’s more, this section of the Yaak Valley is home to a small and relatively isolated population of grizzly bears, one of the few surviving groups in this region. This group of bears is already under stress due to other logging projects in the area, and the Black Ram Project will only further decrease their chance of survival. The head Forest Manager for the Kootenai National Forest is pushing forward with the project, despite the numerous public outcries and environmental studies showing just how deeply harmful this logging project will be. The Yaak Valley Forest Council is working tirelessly to hold the Forest Service administration accountable, as well as advocating for local politicians to stop the logging project. Be sure you check out all the hard work they’ve done and join with them to support this incredible section of forest.