June 6, 2023

Source: NPR

Excerpt: 

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration has identified more than 175,000 square miles (453,000 square kilometers) of old growth and mature forests on U.S. government land and plans to craft a new rule to better protect the nation’s woodlands from fires, insects and other side effects of climate change, officials said Thursday.

Results from the government’s first-ever national inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal land were obtained by The Associated Press in advance of the public release.

U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands combined have more than 50,000 square miles (129,000 square kilometers) of old growth forests and about 125,000 square miles (324,000 square kilometers) of mature forests, according to the inventory.

Read more: The U.S. plans new protections for old forests facing pressure from climate change