Key findings:

• The policy and regulatory framework governing revision of national forest land and resource management plans requires careful consideration of how proposed management activities will amplify or mitigate the effects of climate change.
  
• The draft revised land and resource management plan (LRMP) and environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Nez Perce – Clearwater National Forest fails to disclose or mitigate the climate impacts associated with logging, road building, grazing and other land-disturbing activities even though the methods and sources of information to do so are readily available.
  
• To demonstrate, this report provides preliminary estimates of GHG emissions associated with logging, road building, and grazing activities and reviews the many ways these management activities could make the land more vulnerable to climate change.
  
• Across the five alternatives considered in the DEIS, GHG emissions from these activities are likely to range between 335,000 and 1,200,000 metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent per year. At the high end of this range, this is equivalent to putting 250,000 new passenger vehicles on the road.
  
• Logging, road construction and grazing activities are also likely to amplify the effects of climate change by making the land more susceptible to heat waves, droughts, water shortages, wildfires, wind damage, landslides, floods, warming waters, harmful algae blooms, insects, disease, exotic species, and biodiversity loss.
• To comply with recent National Environmental Policy Act guidance and other climate policy directives, the LRMP and DEIS should be supplemented to incorporate this information and minimize climate impacts.

Full Report

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