America's Forests and Climate Change

Forests play a critical role when considering ways to address the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and any comprehensive solution addressing climate change.  Globally forest ecosystems store fifty percent more carbon than the atmosphere.  US forests sequester approximately 200 to 280 million tons of carbon per year, offsetting 10 to 20 percent of our country’s emissions from fossil fuels --equivalent to the greenhouse gases emitted by ~ 235 million cars annually.

It is therefore critically important to stabilize, or preferably increase, the world’s forest land base.  In actuality, the opposite is occurring.  The world has a net loss of about 45 million acres of forest per year.  In the United States alone, we lose about 1 million acres per year to development.

Our carbon strategy must seek to maintain healthy forest ecosystems.  To the extent that climate change results in a hotter and drier climate, this will stress forests, making them additionally vulnerable to drought, insect, disease and wildfires.  Similarly, maintaining healthy forests to minimize increases in freshwater fish mortality, especially salmon that require cool streams, is essential.   Reducing the potential effects of catastrophic wildfire is another essential policy consideration for any carbon strategy.  In 2006, wildfires in the United States burned nearly 10 million acres.  It is estimated that, depending on the forest type and intensity, a wildfire emits up to 100 tons of greenhouse gases per acre.  The 2002 Hayman Fire alone emitted more GHG’s than from all the automobiles in Colorado that year

Forests are unique in that no other means of sequestering or offsetting carbon has the added benefits of providing clean water, biodiversity, clean air, wildlife habitat, and settings for recreation.  It is essential that we include forests in any strategy to address global climate change.