Betsy Robblee
Growing up backpacking with my family in the Cascades and Olympics, I was introduced to our magnificent Northwest forests at a young age. Those summer trips where I collected pinecones and roasted s’mores over the campfire fostered my love for recreating in these iconic landscapes. These days, trail running and backcountry skiing through the same forests remind me why I was called to conservation work and the role the recreation community can play in protecting our lands and waters through outdoor advocacy.
The forests that first connected me to nature are changing due to the climate crisis. Decreased snowpack, drought, and increasingly intense wildfires are drastically affecting our forests and the outdoor opportunities they provide. Melting glaciers and smoky summers aren't just headlines, they’re on-the-ground consequences that underscore the critical need to adapt current land management practices to the realities of climate change.
The Forest Service is taking important steps to manage forests in a way that responds to and mitigates the impacts of a changing climate. To that end, the Northwest Forest Plan – which has guided management across seventeen national forests in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California for the last 30 years – is getting a much needed and overdue update. This process intends to help ensure a more sustainable future for these forests and the biodiversity, communities, and recreation experiences they support.
Bringing the recreation voice to northwest forest planning
That carefree kid hiking through towering trees would have never guessed she’d have the opportunity to advise the Forest Service on the future of climate-smart management of Northwest forests we all love. In June of 2023, I was appointed to serve on a new Forest Service Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) for sustainable, climate-adapted, wildfire-resilient landscapes in Pacific Northwest national forests.
The Federal Advisory Committee is made up of a diverse group of tribal leaders, local community members, environmental groups, industry leaders, and scientists responsible for advising the Forest Service on how to amend the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan to address modern challenges like fire resilience and climate adaptation. I was motivated to serve on this committee because it is essential that the recreation community’s values and perspectives are represented during the plan update.
Outdoor recreation is the primary way that people experience our national forests. The Northwest Forest Plan area includes over 10,000 miles of trails, more than 500 climbing sites, and almost 900 river access sites, including many critical areas for Mountaineers courses and programs. While preparing to join the Committee, I spent a lot of time thinking about the interests of The Mountaineers, the recreation community, and ideas that I could bring to the table that could make outdoor recreation more fire- and climate-resilient.
South fork Skokomish River Trail in the Olympic National Forest. Photo by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region.
Digging into the Northwest Forest Plan update
The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan contained historic protections for old growth forests, wildlife, and water quality. Although many elements of the original Northwest Forest Plan have withstood the test of time, our forests face new challenges that require management changes. The FAC focused on several key topics: fire resistance and resilience, climate change, mature and old growth forest ecosystems, tribal inclusion, and rural communities. After nearly a year of collaborative work, the Committee made nearly two hundred consensus recommendations to the Forest Service.
We recommended that the Forest Service:
- Prioritize protection of older forests and trees across the landscape, including conserving the remaining unprotected old growth forests.
- Accelerate restoration of dry, fire-prone forests on the east side of the Cascades to increase resiliency to high-intensity wildfire.
- Increase the capacity of ecosystems to adapt to climate change through new climate resilience strategies and adaptive management.
- Vastly improve meaningful consultation and engagement with Tribes and Indigenous communities, including expanded co-stewardship of federal lands and incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge into planning.
- Support economic opportunities for rural communities in the Northwest, including sustainable timber harvesting and outdoor recreation.
While many of these recommendations may not directly address outdoor recreation, the Committee’s recommendations seek to improve the sustainability and conservation of our forests, so we can continue to enjoy high-quality recreation opportunities. I contributed several recommendations to better integrate recreation into forest health projects and restore recreation infrastructure, like trails after climate-related events such as wildfires or severe storms. There may be future opportunities to make our recreation experiences more resilient to a changing climate through the Federal Advisory Committee process and the proposed amendment.
After receiving the Committee’s consensus recommendations and input from the public and Tribes, the Forest Service created a draft amendment and environmental analysis. Now the public - including The Mountaineers community - has an opportunity to provide feedback on the draft.
The An Evening of Advocacy speaker panel. Photo by Matt Hagen.
An evening of northwest forest advocacy
To celebrate The Mountaineers deep investment in forest planning advocacy, inform our community on the Federal Advisory Committee process, and prepare to take action on the draft amendment, we highlighted this work as part of this year’s An Evening of Advocacy event in October. An Evening of Advocacy is The Mountaineers annual fundraiser directly supporting our conservation and advocacy work and impact. I brought two of my fellow FAC Committee Members – Dr. James Johnston from the University of Oregon and Ann House with the Snoqualmie Tribe – as well as our key conservation partner, Megan Birzell from The Wilderness Society, to discuss current challenges and opportunities presented by the Northwest Forest Plan update and to share their passion for our forests.
Event attendees asked thoughtful questions of the panel, highlighting the deep connection our members, supporters, and partners have to our region’s forests. Our community’s engagement in the discussion demonstrated how we’re well-positioned to help ensure that the recreation community’s values and perspectives are included in the Northwest Forest Plan amendment and the future management of our forests.
Speak up for our forests
The next opportunity for our Mountaineers community to help shape a sustainable future for Northwest forests through a climate-smart amendment to the Northwest Forest Plan is here. A public comment period on the Forest Service’s proposed action and draft environmental impact statement is now open, and will through March 17, 2025. This is a rare opportunity to help make our forests more sustainable, and the recreation community has an important role to play. The Mountaineers will be commenting along with our partners at Outdoor Alliance on behalf of our community, and we encourage our members to share their comments directly with the Forest Service.
“The key to making your voice heard during the comment period is personalization,” shared Megan at An Evening of Advocacy. “Where you can shine is by putting your heart into your letter and sharing your connection to these forests and the things you want to see in the plan.”
Thanks in advance for adventuring with purpose with us by speaking up about the forests we love – from the Olympics to the Deschutes and beyond. In January 2025, we'll share more about the public comment period and how you can craft your own comments. In the meantime, visit the Forest Service’s project planning page to learn more and comment.
This article originally appeared in our winter 2025 issue of Mountaineer magazine. To view the original article in magazine form and read more stories from our publication, visit our magazine archive.
