Guest View: Oregon needs clear carbon accounting - The Register-Guard
Guest View: Oregon needs clear carbon accounting - The Register-Guard |
| Guest View: Oregon needs clear carbon accounting - The Register-Guard Posted: 23 Jan 2021 05:15 AM PST  opinion To reduce the threat of the climate crisis, we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources, including emissions from logging and agriculture. At the same time, we must accelerate uptake of carbon out of the atmosphere and store it in forests, soils, wetlands and other plant-based systems. Forests are not just trees. A plantation of Douglas fir or a Christmas tree farm is not a forest. Forests are multi-species, multi-story, mixed-aged and living and dead trees and shrubs with nearly half the carbon in the soil. They store water, create local climate conditions, stabilize soil, provide habitat and contribute to the Earth's carbon cycle by storing carbon in living species. The ability to store carbon in Oregon's western forests rivals that of the tropics. They can hold more than twice as much carbon as is currently stored. The largest 1% diameter trees hold half of all above ground biomass in western forests. Mixed mature forests store more carbon over time making it important to preserve intact forests with larger diameter trees. The most effective strategy is to allow forests to grow to maturity and selectively harvest trees after 80 years, while preserving the largest trees. Mature forests help to preserve water quality and quantity, control erosion, allowing for biodiversity and recreation. In Oregon, 75% of all drinking water comes from forested watersheds. Oregon's forests are a key contributor to the water cycle that provides free water service to all species. Healthy forests with layers of mulch minimize water loss caused by evaporation along with filtering the water. When we transform Oregon's forest landscapes with large clear-cuts, we are drying the soil from more sun exposure for 15-20 years before a canopy regrows. This reduces evapotranspiration and speeds snowmelt increasing flooding. Douglas fir re-plants after clear-cuts have been found to reduce summer water flows for 40-50 years because of evapotranspiration from replanted trees. Less waterflows affect fish, forests and people. Our State Forest Practices Act regarding water quality from clear-cut forests does not comply with the Federal Clean Water Act for fish habitat or drinking water. We only create greater costs for communities to have to add expensive additional water treatment to pull sediment from their local surface water supplies, as is the case for the Rockaway Beach watershed and Salem's recent problem with algal bloom toxin costing up to $75 million to remedy. In order for timber industry and climate scientists to agree on forest carbon emissions, Oregon needs clear carbon accounting. Forest clear-cuts contribute more GHG emissions in Oregon than transportation. However, these emissions have not been counted in Oregon's GHG emissions data. All but 16% of carbon is lost to the atmosphere from clear-cutting. Logging debris burned or decays rapidly (46%). Scrap-milled wood is landfilled (22%). Log transportation and timber machinery (17%). Lastly, replanted trees do not result in net carbon uptake and storage for 10-15 years after planting. It takes forests at least 100-350 years to restore the amount of carbon previously stored. Oregon needs independent, scientific analysis on the total emissions from logging in our forests just as it does for agriculture. All emissions must be included in the Oregon Department of Energy accounting across all sources. Oregon needs a plan to improve carbon sequestration in the next 10 years and should consider these recommendations from its own climate scientists. A statewide plan is necessary to reduce emissions from forest management. The initial report is due in June. Land-use laws need to be modernized to include the value of carbon sequestration, health of forest ecosystems, watershed water quality and quantity. We must incentivize longer logging rotation periods recommended as 80-100 years and retain the largest trees. We need to stop clear-cutting state forests and move to selective logging as a model for increasing jobs in areas of rapidly growing western forests. We have 10 years to reduce the world's carbon emissions by 50%, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Every day we delay these changes in forest management, we risk making Oregon hotter, drier, more prone to fires, reduced water supply and a less desirable place to call home. Catherine Thomasson, M.D., is the former executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. She lives in Portland. Linda Perrine, is a former NASA/JSC engineer, environmental educator and climate activist. She lives in Eugene. |
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