Earth Day recognition also addresses wildfire prevention.
An executive order signed by President Biden on Friday directs the Interior and Agriculture secretaries to conduct the first inventory of old-growth forests on federal lands and develop new policies for their management and conservation. It would also require them to develop 2030 reforestation targets for their respective agencies.
The order is seen by the White House as vital to both conservation and reducing the risk of wildfires. Old-growth forests typically have more vegetation than younger ones, and thus more fuel for fires.
The order, in recognition of Earth Day, also addresses a commitment the U.S. made at 2021’s COP26 climate summit to do its part in ending natural forest loss by the end of the decade. The State Department is to coordinate with other agencies to develop a report on phasing out agricultural commodities growth on illegally-deforested land.
The order also directs the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a group of 13 federal agencies to develop an assessment of the state of nature within the U.S.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture Departments as they develop conservation plans.
- For officials of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management as they make their surveys and inventory forests.
- For the president and his advisors to seek God’s leading as they implement environmental protections.
Sources: The Hill, NPR
