Page:Executive Order 14072.pdf/2



resilient forest conditions using active, science-based forest management and prescribed fires; by incorporating indigenous traditional ecological knowledge; and by scaling up and optimizing climate-smart reforestation. My Administration also is committed to doing its part to combat deforestation around the world and to working with our international partners toward sustainable management of the world’s lands, waters, and ocean.

Restoring and Conserving the Nation’s Forests, Including Mature and Old-Growth Forests. My Administration will manage forests on Federal lands, which include many mature and old-growth forests, to promote their continued health and resilience; retain and enhance carbon storage; conserve biodiversity; mitigate the risk of wildfires; enhance climate resilience; enable subsistence and cultural uses; provide outdoor recreational opportunities; and promote sustainable local economic development. Science-based reforestation is one of the greatest opportunities both globally and in the United States for the land sector to contribute to climate and biodiversity goals. To further conserve mature and old-growth forests and foster long-term United States forest health through climate-smart reforestation for the benefit of Americans today and for generations to come, the following actions shall be taken, in consultation with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments and the public, and to the extent consistent with applicable law:

The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretaries)—the Federal Government’s primary land managers—shall continue to jointly pursue wildfire mitigation strategies, which are already driving important actions to confront a pressing threat to mature and old-growth forests on Federal lands: catastrophic wildfires driven by decades of fire exclusion and climate change.

The Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System lands, shall, within 1 year of the date of this order, define, identify, and complete an inventory of old-growth and mature forests on Federal lands, accounting for regional and ecological variations, as appropriate, and shall make such inventory publicly available.

Following completion of the inventory, the Secretaries shall:

The Secretaries, in coordination with the heads of other agencies as appropriate, shall within 1 year of the date of this order:

(iii) develop, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, and with the private sector, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and the scientific community, recommendations for community-led local and regional economic development opportunities to create and sustain jobs in the sustainable forest product sector, including innovative materials, and in outdoor recreation,