For 30 years, the Northwest Forest Plan has guided the management of 17 national forests stretching from western Washington and Oregon south to northwestern California, and until 2016, governed the management of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands as well.
While the original impetus for the plan was to curb the impacts of destructive logging on the northern spotted owl, the plan created standards that protected and accounted for a host of values provided by these landscapes, including habitat for a host of imperiled and unique species, watersheds that supplied communities, recreation, carbon storage and climate benefits, and commercial timber volume. This plan created stable jobs throughout the Pacific Northwest and supported many rural communities that would have otherwise vanished under the volatile boom and bust dynamics of the private timber industry.
The Northwest Forest Plan necessitated hiring landscape architects to account for the visual impacts logging would have on scenic corridors; arborists responsible for topping trees to restore nesting habitats, wildlife surveyors, biologists, silviculturists, fire scientists, burn crews, economists, recreation specialists, and fisheries experts. The plan has spawned and sustained numerous different fields of scientific research. The plan involved such sprawling complexity because the areas that it governs are vast and diverse and the values these landscapes serve are similarly complex.
But despite its lofty goals and far reach, the plan had serious shortcomings. Most notably was the U.S. Forest Service’s exclusion of Tribal Nations in the development of the plan and failure to incorporate Indigenous Knowledge and stewardship practices. Regarding this point, we refer the agency to our previous letter which recommends the agency adopt the full suite of Tribal Inclusion measures recommended by the Federal Advisory Committee and included in any of the alternatives analyzed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).
The Northwest Forest Plan also permitted the logging of old-growth forests, a practice which now has clearly lost any prior social or ecological license. These older forest areas are prized by local Tribes and recreationists and not only provide essential habitat for imperiled species and safeguard our region’s water sources, but also mitigate severe climate and fire effects. The scientific research that was conducted by the Forest Service throughout the life of the Northwest Forest Plan ultimately concluded that the logging of old growth no longer holds any scientific value.
Additionally, the Northwest Forest Plan is three decades old. It does not account for climate change, associated ecological changes and changing fire patterns, issues that have emerged as essential to sound forest management in the region for the safety and sustainability of our communities. Current Forest Service timber sale projects analyze each of these issues under existing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents, but these issues warrant relevant standards and guidelines based on the best available science to properly guide forest management.
In amending the Northwest Forest Plan, the Forest Service should honor the first principles that undergirded the 1994 Plan—scientifically sound, ecologically credible, and legally responsible—and avoid controversies that threaten gridlock in the region. The agency must also take this opportunity to correct the foundational flaw of Tribal exclusion in the original Northwest Forest Plan, and make meaningful commitments to respect Tribal sovereignty, honor treaty rights, fulfill trust responsibilities, and facilitate co-stewardship.
Click here to read the full comments on the Northwest Forest Plan Draft Environmental Impact Statement, signed by 22 advocates representing thousands of individuals who wish to see public forests in the Pacific Northwest thrive for generations to come. These comments were submitted online to Regional Foresters Jacqueline Buchanan and Jennifer Eberlien on March 17, 2025.