Can carbon offsets drive forest management and fuel treatment?
In forests that are likely to be impacted by future intense fires, the key is “preemptive reduction of intense-fire risks,” according to Bormann. Strategies like using prescribed fire, reducing fuels, and changing the distribution of fuels across the landscape are essential strategies to reduce losses in long-term productivity, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and improve carbon storage ability. Of course, land managers have struggled for years to develop fuel reduction strategies that are economical and effective. The scale of the problem is now so large that land management is falling farther and farther behind the growing problem. Matt Hurteau, a forest ecologist with Northern Arizona University, thinks that the increased interest in forests for carbon sequestration may actually help drive a new approach to managing forests and treating fuels. Carbon sequestration programs help carbon producers offset their emissions by paying to store carbon in standing forests. One liability of the
Related Questions
- What are the fuels treatment and vegetation management rules for old forest emphasis areas (OFEAs) and owl home range core areas (HRCAs) under the preferred alternative?
- Won’t forest carbon offsets distract us from fossil fuel emissions reductions?
- Does forest management play a role in the forest carbon balance?
