Carbon sequestration and the role of forests

New reports from OSU and Oregon Wild cast more light on the helpful role of old-growth forests in mitigating climate change.

Some may question the value of forests if they aren't being made into wood products, but researchers point out that trees are excellent at absorbing carbon dioxide. Carbon sequestration, as it's called, is a key factor in mitigating global warming.

David Turner, a forestry professor at Oregon State University, says an unintended consequence of reducing logging on the national forests since 1993 was that the forests became carbon "sinks" for the first time in decades. We recently reported on that.

The Oregonian: Carbon-gobbling trees in Northwest forests change the forest equation, a new study finds

The environmental group Oregon Wild, using data from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, recently released maps showing that logged-off private timberland is a carbon "desert" while unlogged public forests are "looking like vast carbon reservoirs."

Oregon Wild believes the data makes a convincing case for preservation of old-growth forests on public land.

Oregon Wild: Oregon's Carbon Sinks

A 2006 state report said U.S. forests offset about 12% of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But storing more carbon in domestic old growth or secondary forests won't make much difference if primary forests in other regions of the world are harvested to produce the wood products that we use.

Oregon Forest Resources Institute: Forests, Carbon and Climate Change