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Sara Duncan
503-586-1246
Oregon Forest & Industries Council <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\nOn Wednesday, August 22, hundreds of policymakers will gather in Lincoln City for the annual\nOregon Coastal Caucus Economic Summit to discuss\ncarbon cap-and-trade mechanisms and ways to\nreduce Oregon\u2019s carbon footprint.\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\u201cSolutions to decrease unchecked wildfires and\nincrease the production of sustainable wood\nproducts in our federal forests must be part of the\ndialogue of Oregon\u2019s cap-and-trade program,\u201d said\nKristina McNitt, Oregon Forest & Industries Council\nPresident. \u201cRampant megafires in federal forests\nhave catastrophic consequences for our safety,\nhealth, communities, and economy. Private\nforestland owners already contribute sizable\nsolutions to climate change by managing forests for\nfire resiliency and sustainably producing renewable\nwood products that store carbon for the entire life of\nthe product. Federal forests should do the same.\u201d\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\nLast summer, more than 7,600 people were evacuated from their homes. Oregonians suffered unhealthy\nair quality and emergency-room visits spiked. The\ncancellations of Oregon Shakespeare Festival\nperformances, the Sisters Folk Festival, and Cycle\nOregon cost our state millions in tourism dollars.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\nOf the more than 700,000 acres that burned in\nOregon last fire season \u2013 roughly the size of Rhode\nIsland \u2013 an equal number of fires started in federal\nand private forests, but about 96 percent of the\nacres burned were in federal forests. This summer,\nover 210,000 timbered acres have already burned \u2013\nan area larger than Portland, Eugene and Seattle\ncombined \u2013 and roughly 90 percent is in federal\nforests. Since 2008, nearly 80 percent of burned\nacres in Oregon were in federal forests.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a better way to do this,\u201d said Jim James,\nExecutive Director for the Oregon Small Woodlands\nAssociation. \u201cOregon policy-makers can do something to improve the health and economic vitality of\nall Oregonians, reduce forest fires, and mitigate\nclimate change: take the position of the International\nPanel on Climate Change and encourage the use of\nOregon-grown wood from federal forests.\u201d\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2007 and 2008, the International Panel on Climate Change concluded that in \u201cthe long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fiber or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\nOf the roughly 30 million acres of forestland in\nOregon, about 60 percent of it is federally-owned,\nand roughly 34 percent of it is privately owned (the\nremainder is tribal and state land). Conversely,\n75 percent of Oregon\u2019s timber harvest comes from\nthat private forestland (and only 15 percent from\nfederal land), making Oregon the number one\nproducer of softwood lumber and plywood in the\nU.S. Producing renewable, environmentally-friendly\nproducts helps the planet: trees literally use\nsunlight to capture carbon dioxide (a primary\ngreenhouse gas) from the air and turn it into\nsustainable building products.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\nIn 1971, Oregon pioneered forest regulations and\ntoday observes some of the strictest environmental\nprotections in the nation, including mandatory\nreforestation after harvest. For every tree that is\nharvested in Oregon, four are planted in its place.\nNotably, reforestation after fire is not required, but\nnearly all private forests are rehabilitated after fire\nand replanted. Federal forests mostly remain\ncharred.\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\u201cWhen our forests go up in flames, decades of\ncarbon sequestration and storage goes with it,\u201d said\nMcNitt. \u201cWe can either breathe that carbon into our\nlungs as smoke, or we can store that carbon in\nrenewable, sustainable wood products and plant\ntrees to re-start that carbon cycle. We encourage\nour policy-makers to support wood products to\nmeet Oregon\u2019s climate goals.\u201d\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n