Biden order aims to protect old-growth forests from wildfire

By MATTHEW DALY and JOSH BOAK
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — President Joe Biden is taking steps to restore national forests that have been devastated by wildfires, drought and blight. Biden is using an Earth Day visit to Seattle to sign an executive order protecting some of the nation’s largest and oldest trees. Old-growth trees are key buffers against climate change and absorb significant amounts of carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. Biden’s order directs federal land managers to define and inventory mature and old-growth forests nationwide within a year. The order being signed Friday requires officials to identify threats to older trees, such as wildfire and climate change, and develop policies to safeguard them.