Both public and private lands are key to the future of wild forests
The article “Climate change is central to logging battle in NH National Forest” (Page A1, October 28) focuses on the environmental impacts of logging on public lands. But holistic and sustainable land management in New England depends on private forest land.80 percent of the region’s forests are privately owned), which acts as the connective tissue between public lands. This dynamic presents a tremendous opportunity for stakeholders to work together to protect and grow the less than 1 percent of old growth remaining in the Northeast. As Erin Douglas’ article points out, old-growth forests store more carbon than their young and middle-aged counterparts and can halt biodiversity loss.
Old growth forests are an important part of a diverse land use regime, the kind endorsed by the Wildlands, forests, farmlands and communities collective. Our organization, Northeast Wilderness Trust, works with other conservation groups to ensure that “wildlands,” natural areas where forests can freely evolve and grow old, make up at least 10 percent of that mix. increased from the current 3.3 percent.
With the right level of commitment, we can secure a future of resilient, climate-stabilizing wild forests within the broader landscape of economic needs and uses.
Jon Leibowitz
Chairman and CEO
Northeast Wilderness Trust
Montpelier, Vt.
Forests can be managed to support ecology and produce climate-friendly timber
We cannot afford to choose between locally sourced wood products and increasing carbon storage in forests. Approximately 7 million people live in Massachusetts. We use nearly 360 million cubic feet of wood per year. We need to find climate-smart ways to manage our forests to produce biomaterials like wood, otherwise we will just end up using more carbon-intensive steel and concrete and contributing to cooking the planet (or asking others to supply us with wood while ignoring where it comes from).
There are ways to manage our forests to support ecological health, store carbon and produce climate-friendly wood products. The New England Forestry Foundation Exemplary forest management standards achieve these goals while recognizing that wilderness is an essential part of the landscape.
That of the foundation research shows that climate-smart forestry across New England, combined with the positive effects of this approach which would benefit the construction sector, could keep more than 646 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere over the next thirty years, equivalent to approximately 30 percent of the required emission reductions that New England will achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
The right approach can store more carbon in our forests while providing renewable wood to build our local bioeconomy and grow more of what we need where we live.
Andrea Colnes
Deputy Director and Climate Fellow
New England Forestry Foundation
Littleton
End logging now, starting with public lands
I find it hard to believe that today the Globe would use a headline on its website like: “Can Logging in New Hampshire Help Fight Climate Change?” Erin Douglas’s article even cites various equivocations from logging advocates on this topic.
Perhaps the most striking criticism of logging comes from Jonathan Thompson, the research director of Harvard Forest, who, as paraphrased by Douglas, said: “when it comes to For old trees, the calculation is not complicated: for example, if it took 100 years for the tree to grow, then it generally takes another hundred years to replace the stored stores. carbon.”
Those of us committed to ending mindless logging on public lands have been making that point for decades.
Do we really need to keep reminding people that we are in the middle of a climate crisis? We don’t have to wait a hundred years for destroyed forests to regrow and store the carbon released. Logging must end now, and starting with public lands is a good start.
Don Ogden
Florence
The writer is co-founder and cohost of “The Enviro Show” on Valley Free Radio (WXOJ-LP).
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