The bill introduced to the Rhode Island General Assembly seeks to establish the "OLD GROWTH FOREST PROTECTION ACT" to protect old growth forests, natural area preserves, and rare forest ecosystems in the state. It defines specific criteria for identifying old growth forests and prohibits extractive logging on state-owned and municipal land, with exceptions for hazard or invasive trees. The bill mandates inventories to be conducted before any logging to determine if the forest meets the criteria for protection, and the results must be made public. The natural heritage program must approve all logging operations, and a forest ecologist or registered arborist must supervise on-site activities. Additionally, the bill designates all natural heritage areas on state-owned land as natural area preserves without requiring approval from the director or compliance with the procedure set forth in § 42-122-6.

The bill also establishes the natural heritage program within the executive branch of state government, with a director and support personnel who have not been previously employed by the timber industry. The program is responsible for protecting native biodiversity, inventorying before logging, designating natural area preserves, approving logging operations and prescribed burning, and maintaining a natural heritage database. Violations of the provisions are considered felonies, with fines and potential imprisonment. The bill includes insertions, such as the expansion of the powers and duties of the director of the natural heritage program, and deletions, such as the removal of certain terms to be replaced with more specific language. It also amends sections of the General Laws related to forest fire management, increasing fines for violations and outlining the responsibilities of the director of environmental management and the director of the natural heritage program.