What is old growth?
Old growth forests can be loosely described as forests that look largely as they would appear if Europeans had not settled North America and that have experienced little or no direct disruption by EuroAmericans. Scientists have not been able to come up with a more precise definition for old growth, in part because the characteristics of old growth vary from forest type to forest type. An old-growth oak forest on a dry ridge will differ greatly from an old-growth bottomland hardwood forest, for example.

How much old growth is there in the East?
Old-growth forests are "the least represented habitats on the eastern landscape." Less than 0.6% of the forest that remains in the East today has not been heavily logged or grazed, and forest types attractive to loggers may now be numbered only in the hundreds of acres.

Are the remaining old-growth forests protected?
At least 50% of the remaining old growth is still in private hands or controlled by agencies that may and surprisingly often do log it. Even protected site suffer from such human-caused disruptions as the logging of their buffers and the incursion of non-native species.

What is the value of old growth?
Old-growth forests have rightly been characterized as "the key" to biodiversity. The invaluable roles they play include making unique contributions to the gene pool; harboring native species; demonstrating natural processes; and serving as cores for future large wilderness areas and as nodes of biodiversity linked by corridors. They are also important carbon sinks.  Old-growth forests continue to sequester carbon for many centuries.  Logging them causes a new input of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere until re-growth is mature enough to take in more carbon than it gives off, usually five to twenty years.