Why no one knows exactly how much old-growth forest we have left

To use older trees to fight climate change, we need to know where they are. But new maps created by the Forest Service aren’t that detailed

This statement, say critics, is especially true of the maps created by the U.S. Forest Service to inventory the nation’s largest carbon sinks: its mature and old-growth forests.

In April 2023, under pressure from the Biden administration, the Forest Service completed its first-ever nationwide inventory of mature and old-growth forests found on federal lands.

This inventory of older trees is part of an ambitious Biden administration plan to harness the power of our nation’s forests as a nature-based solution to the climate crisis.

Read more on Columbia Insight.