Maine woods could store more carbon at current harvest with 'climate smart' forestry, study finds

I'm not sure at all as to what to think about this article, so I'm just posting it without any real opinion.

That said, we have long thought that Maine's status as the most forested state, along with its relatively low population, dwarfed any effect on CO2 which the fraudulent wind industry claimed would result from wind power. This was detailed here, well over 10 years ago: https://www.windtaskforce.org/page/nrcm-s-co2-analysis

Note that Alec Giffen, mentioned in the article, chaired Governor John Baldacci's Task Force on Wind Power Development, a group which greased the skids for the wind industry's assault on the state of Maine, some 15 years ago.

https://www.windtaskforce.org/page/the-expedited-wind-law

These are the task force members. Publicover was an alternate.

R. Alec Giffen (Chair), Director, Maine Forest Service
Senator Phillip Bartlett
Juliet Browne, Verrill Dana LLP
Pete Didisheim, Director of Advocacy, Natural Resources Council of Maine
Judith A. Dorsey, Retired Lawyer
Representative Stacey Fitts
Senator Walter Gooley
Jody Jones, Wildlife Ecologist, Maine Audubon Society
John Kerry, Director, Governor’s Office of Energy Independence & Security
Kathleen Leyden, Coastal Program Manager, State Planning Office
David Littell, Commissioner, Dept. of Environmental Protection
Representative W. Bruce MacDonald
Milton McBreairty, Business Manager, IBEW Local Union 567
Patrick McGowan, Commissioner, Dept. of Conservation
Dave Publicover, Appalachian Mountain Club (alternate member)
Steve Timpano, Environmental Coordinator, Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife
David Wilby, Executive Director, Independent Energy Producers of Maine

ARTICLE:

Maine woods could store more carbon at current harvest with 'climate smart' forestry, study finds

Maine Public | By Susan Sharon
Published March 6, 2023 at 5:17 PM EST

Maine forests already absorb about 70% of the state's annual fossil fuel emissions. Now, a new study shows that Maine's commercial forest landowners could increase annual carbon storage by at least 20% over the next 60 years while maintaining timber harvest levels. The findings are timely as the demand for carbon offset projects accelerates.

The forest modeling study across 7.6 million acres of mostly privately-owned commercial forest lands in northern Maine was conducted by researchers from the University of Maine, the New England Forestry Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service. Under current management practices, the forestlands are expected to remove 36 million metric tons of CO2 per year. But, if climate smart strategies such as increased planting, thinning and selective harvesting were widely adopted, the study suggests even more carbon could be stored without decreasing harvest levels.

"Unless you maintain harvest there's the potential for there to really be no benefits to the atmosphere," said Tom Walker, a natural resources economist and project coordinator.

"If a landowner in Maine cuts back on their harvest and stores more carbon, which makes a lot of sense, [and] if somebody else cuts that wood in Maine or in the U.S. or in the world, you know, there's no net benefit to the atmosphere," Walker said.

The study's authors also say undertaking these improvements could be done at relatively low cost compared to other ways of mitigating climate change. The research comes as demand from companies looking to offset their carbon emissions through forest carbon removal projects increased four-fold between 2020 and 2021. Alec Giffen of the New England Forestry Foundation said there are other reasons to be encouraged by the findings.

"We can improve wildlife habitat. We can produce more wood. We can produce higher quality wood. We can increase the returns that landowners see from owning land," Giffen said. "And I see this as potentially a game changer in terms of the kinds of things you can do in a financially beneficial way with forest management in Maine."

The New England Forestry Foundation was recently awarded a $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pilot forest management programs that pay forest landowners for carbon storage. Giffen said it's essential for landowners to be compensated because it takes several decades for improved forest practices to pay off.

Where that funding comes from and how it's distributed is something that has yet to be worked out.

The study was commissioned by the Forest Carbon for Commercial Landowners Initiative, a group of conservationists, scientists and commercial landowners who want to better understand the carbon storage potential of the Maine woods.

https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2023-03-06/maine-woods-could-st...

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