Climate Change: What Have Forests Got to Do with It?
But another important focus will be on the protection of forests and other natural systems that absorb CO2 and keep it out of the atmosphere," writes Will Rogers, President and CEO of The Trust for Public Land in a Huffington Post blog. "The need to prevent third-world deforestation is a well-established and vital global priority. Less well known is the role our own domestic forests can play in absorbing and sequestering greenhouse gases."
According to the EPA, America’s forests can sequester and store as much as 25% of annual U.S. emissions.
The American Forest Foundation and The Trust for Public Land are two leaders in a diverse group of forestry, wildlife, conservation, and woodland owner organizations that are supporting legislation before Congress that would provide the 10 million family woodland owners--who together own nearly two-thirds of America’s forestland--with opportunities and incentives to increase domestic carbon sequestration in forests.
Two mechanisms--forest carbon offset markets and carbon incentives--are needed to ensure that America's woodlands can be part of the climate solution.
A recent op-ed in the Oregonian by David Ford, executive director of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association, and Geoff Roach, Oregon state director of The Trust for Public Land, supports this notion and highlights some of the challenges facing woodland owners in these tough economic times. They congratulate Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with several of their colleagues, for developing a program to reward landowners for capturing and storing carbon on their lands. The program, contained in the Forest Carbon Incentives Program Act, would pay owners for practices that will increase carbon uptake beyond usual levels, like reforesting damaged areas, improving forest management, or preventing development with a permanent conservation easement.
A robust carbon incentives provision, with U.S. Forest Service and state forestry agency administration of woodland-related provisions, is especially needed to provide technical expertise to woodland owners who hold parcels of 100 acres or less. And a strong role for USDA in development and implementation of forest offset markets, and flexible options for landowners, are key to the success of forest carbon offset markets.
For more information, and to learn what you can to do to support forestry elements in the climate change bill, sign up to receive AFF's legislative alerts and updates.
