Biden administration withdraws old-growth forest plan after getting pushback from industry and GOP

The Biden administration is dropping its plan to conserve old-growth forests after getting pushback from Republicans and the timber industry. The surprise move was announced Tuesday by U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in a letter to forest supervisors. It brings an abrupt end to a yearslong process to craft a nationwide plan that would better protect old trees that are increasingly threatened by climate change. Conservationists backed the effort as one of the most significant forest preservation efforts in decades. But the timber industry and their allies in Congress said the proposal wasn't needed and would have hurt logging companies.