Forestry Experts Outline Role for Markets in Enhancing Forest Carbon Sequestration

Resources for the Future, a nonprofit research institution, hosted a panel of forestry experts February 11th for an event titled “Forests and Climate Change Mitigation: The Role of Markets.” Panelists discussed the carbon sequestration potential of both living forests and wood products, and made recommendations for financial incentives to improve forest productivity. Panelists agreed that by investing in forest management, improving forest productivity, and creating markets for a greater number of forest products, the United States can reduce its carbon footprint, stimulate rural economies, and protect forest land from development.

Featured speakers included Janaki R.R. Alavalapati (Auburn University, National Association of University Forest Resource Programs), Robert Bonnie (Resources for the Future, Duke University), Kate Gatto (National Alliance of Forest Owners), and David Wear (Resources for the Future). Ann M. Bartuska (Resources for the Future) served as moderator.

Highlights and key recommendations from the expert discussion are as follows:

 

Forests as a tool for climate mitigation

Current forest carbon inventories in the United States store about 52 years of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at 2017 levels. Forests capture atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis. Carbon can be sequestered in both living trees as biomass and in wood products, both of which are key components of climate mitigation that can be expanded. Wood products not only provide sequestration benefits, but can be a substitute for other materials with more harmful environmental effects.

 

Rural Constituent Engagement

Rural constituents can engage in climate change policy through forest and soil management programs. Because these sectors offer such large climate mitigation possibilities, federal programs should be ready to work with local communities in directing investments in the most productive ways possible. Increasing forest productivity can have ripple effects throughout the entire wood products supply chain, from transportation to construction to recycling.

 

Enhancing forest productivity

The panelists agreed that improved forest management techniques can enhance the carbon sequestration potential of forests. There are roughly 11 million non-industrial forest landowners in the United States, and only about 10 percent of them have management plans. Providing technical assistance to a greater number of forest owners could help improve their management practices and increase the carbon sequestration potential of their properties.

Regional differences in forests affect productivity management practices. Forests on the East Coast are generally younger than those in the West, can sequester carbon more rapidly, and can also sequester a higher amount of carbon at their peak levels. There are also more privately-owned forest lands in the East, which tend to be more actively and productively managed. Western forests require managing disturbance patterns on older, high-carbon forests, patterns which include more frequent fires and invasive insect infestation. Market opportunities for Western forests include harvesting trees or other forest products that present a fire risk.

Speakers noted that the most productive forests will accommodate a diverse array of markets, which will further protect forests as market demands alter over time. Biomass, which is the cheapest forest product, can be harvested over the short term while higher-value wood products can be grown in the long term. Timber harvesting has grown by 80 percent from the 1950s to the 1990s, but has declined 25 percent since then. Throughout that period, the supply of timber has expanded, so there is more material available for market utilization.

 

Longleaf Pine

Longleaf pine habitat at Camp Blanding in Florida (Credit: Leo Miranda, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Longleaf pine used to be plentiful in the American Southeast, encompassing over 90 million acres along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, from Texas to Virginia. Overharvesting and development in the late 19th and early 20th century dramatically reduced that area to less than 4 million acres today. Panelists discussed programs that have helped longleaf pine recovery, including federal cost assistance for both tree planting and prescribed fires. While landowners are incentivized to manage longleaf stands in order to demonstrate good land stewardship, longleaf has also been helped by market forces that value its high quality wood and other products such as pine straw.

 

Sustainable Forestry

Panelists emphasized the importance of sustainable forest management by noting that if private forest owners wish to stay in business, it is essential that trees both continue to grow and return value. Private owners can collaborate in knowledge-sharing cooperatives, which compile actionable research and management best practices between members. Certification programs such as those run  by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Forest Stewardship Council, or American Tree Farm System are becoming the norm for forest owners to assure consistent product quality and sustainable forest management. As a part of the certification process, auditors evaluate private forests for sustainable water and wildlife management, among other categories.

Landscape level forest monitoring is essential to understand complex forest dynamics and monitor forest health. Panelists noted the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program as a world-class source of essential and high-quality forest monitoring data.

Speakers also observed that forest restoration must be considered within the context of a changing climate. Climate change will impact the trees species that are able to grow in a given area and also make forests increasingly vulnerable to a wider array of pests. Restoration work will require scientific experimentation and observation of forest trends under evolving climate stresses in order to “restore forward.” While there is a tremendous store of knowledge of forest dynamics to work off of, moving research forward is an issue of increasing concern as forest sector research and development capacity is shrinking.

 

Biomass

Panelists, particularly Janaki R.R. Alavalapati, of Auburn University, discussed the National Association of University Forest Resource Programs’ 2019 report Science Fundamentals of Forest Biomass Carbon Accounting, which concluded through an extensive literature review that forest bioenergy has well-established carbon benefits over the long term. Alavalapati noted that while some research raises concerns about converting forest biomass to energy over the short-term, IPCC recommendations generally encourage replacing fossil fuel energy consumption with biomass. Exceptions are made for high-density carbon areas such as old growth forests and peatlands, which are discouraged for use as biomass energy.

The European Union has created a demand for U.S. bioenergy through wood pellets, particularly from Southeastern forests. Panelists noted that this demand has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by replacing coal while expanding the carbon forest sink. By creating such market-based incentives for forest products, forest owners would be incentivized to manage their stands more efficiently and productively.

 

Mass Timber

Mass timber products, specifically cross laminated timber (CLT), present a large opportunity for market-based incentivization of forest management and forest products. CLT is a strong building material that can both sequester carbon and replace carbon-intensive materials, such as concrete and steel, in high rise buildings. Panelists noted that the American CLT market is underdeveloped compared to its European counterparts, where 20 story buildings made of CLT are common. The University of Arkansas recently took a step forward on CLT construction through its new 202,027 square foot dorm building, the largest CLT building in the United States. It was noted, however, that the CLT used in that construction came from Austria, highlighting the need to promote domestic CLT manufacture and use through updating building codes. Panelists also recommended conducting outreach on the benefits of CLT.

Storage of wood carbon in wood products or landfills has declined in recent years, from 35 teragrams per year to 27 teragrams, in part due to the Great Recession (2007-2009), which decreased demand for construction-related wood products and due to competition with other construction materials. Building a strong mass timber economy can enhance climate mitigation through the increasing use of wood products in construction.

 

See the slides from the introductory presentation by David Wear here

 

Author: Amber Todoroff