America once had over 140 million acres of ancient forests; now only three to five million acres of these ancient trees, some of which are 1,000 years old, remain. Significant segments of the remaining ancient forests exist in the Pacific Northwest on federally owned lands. Bowing to the wishes of the timber industry, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have plans to allow the cutting of much of the remaining few million acres before the year 2000. 

Representative Jim Jontz (D IN-5) introduced legislation to establish a process to designate areas in California, Oregon, and Washington as a National Ancient Forest Reserve System, which would protect significant ancient forest stands on federal lands in those states. The Ancient Forest Protection Act (H.R. 842) creates a network of ""associated forests"" to connect patches of ancient forests. The bill also guarantees that actions taken in conflict with the Act could be appealed through the proper channels of judicial review.

The League has included co-sponsorship of H.R. 842 as a pro-environment position. Currently 132 Members of Congress have co-sponsored the Ancient Forest Protection Act.