A New Era for the Northwest Forest Plan(?)
On June 25-27, a Federal Advisory Committee comprised of 21 citizens from around the Pacific Northwest met to finalize their recommendations to the U.S. Forest Service on how to amend and modernize the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP). The result was an 89-page report with 200 recommendations across 8 different categories ranging from fire resilience to addressing climate impacts and supporting sustainable communities. Notably, the recommendations include a prohibition on logging of old growth forests—in language that is arguably stronger than that of the proposed National Old-Growth Amendment—but what is most striking about the report is that 113 of the 200 recommendations pertain specifically to Tribal inclusion and honoring treaty rights and trust responsibilities.
That more than half of the total number of recommendations are dedicated to this sole issue speaks to the magnitude of the shift at hand. As Bark’s Forest Watch Coordinator pointed out when the Notice of Intent to amend the NWFP was released this past winter, and as the Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) members remind us, the original NWFP adopted in 1994 failed to meaningfully consult Tribal communities and neglected tribal values and Indigenous Knowledge—knowledge that we now know is crucial to effectively responding to climate change. This exclusion of Indigenous Knowledge and perspectives has not only been deeply harmful to Indigenous communities, but also has had grave consequences for the health of our forests. The wildfires burning across the state of Oregon today (which include the largest active fire in the U.S.) are a testament to the negative consequences of ignoring Indigenous Ecological Knowledge about the role of beneficial fire, as the Forest Service’s 100-year-old policy of fire suppression does.
“Forest restoration and management cannot and should not be accomplished without centering Indigenous people, knowledge, and stewardship, or without Tribes and Tribal people playing a key role in NWFP updates and implementation.” – FAC report
Bark is thus in full agreement with the FAC’s assessment that “Forest restoration and management cannot and should not be accomplished without centering Indigenous people, knowledge, and stewardship, or without Tribes and Tribal people playing a key role in NWFP updates and implementation” (9). We are encouraged by the attention given to this issue in the FAC’s recommendations, but make no mistake—we must remain alert and engaged. We need you to remain engaged. After all, it remains to be seen whether the Forest Service will adopt these recommendations and whether they will be enforced even if they are adopted.
The draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) of the NWFP amendment is slated to be released at the end of August and will be accompanied by a 90-day comment period. Here at Bark, we’re eager to mobilize our community to submit comments on the EIS in support of meaningful Tribal inclusion and co-management, increased use of intentional burning for wildfire resilience, and substantive protections for our mature and old-growth forests.
Plus, we’ve got a special event in the works with two members of the FAC, so stay tuned, folks! Lots of exciting ways to get involved are on the horizon.