North Carolina environmental groups urge Biden administration to protect old-growth trees

North Carolina environmental groups are urging the Biden administration to take action to protect the state’s oldest trees. 

Seventeen North Carolina environmental organizations sent a letter to President Joe Biden this week, asking his administration to prohibit the sale of logged old-growth trees. 

The move comes as the U.S. Forest Service seeks input on the development of a National Old-Growth Amendment, a proposal intended to “steward old-growth forest conditions” in response to climate change.

Emily Mason is with nonprofit advocacy group Environment North Carolina. She says old-growth trees provide climate benefits in part because they are able to absorb more carbon than younger trees. 

“And they actually store carbon through the end of their lifespan. So if they're allowed to grow old and then decompose, that carbon is then recycled back into the soil," she says. "If they’re cut down, we lose that tool to mitigate climate change.”

Mason says logging has devastated the state’s old-growth forests, but more can be done to save what’s left. She says the state still has a large population of mature trees, or trees that are between 50 and 75 years old. The letter her group sent to the Biden administration also calls for their protection from logging. 

The National Old-Growth Amendment process is expected to be completed by early 2025.