Fall NEARC 2024

Co-Authors: Publicover, Dave and Poppenwimer, Catherine

In recent years, the potential value of forests as a “natural climate solution” has garnered significant attention. Forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store carbon as organic matter in wood and soil. They also provide an important renewal resource that can replace the more carbon-intensive steel and concrete in buildings.

Currently, the growth of forests in the United States offsets about 10% of the country’s annual CO2 emissions. However, minimizing the continued loss of forests and managing them sustainably is critical to ensuring that their role in limiting climate change is maintained and enhanced.

This story will describe the value and current status of New England forests as a natural climate solution, and how “carbon-friendly” forest management can enhance carbon storage in forests while providing a sustainable flow of timber products. It will also show how the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is applying this type of management in our Maine Woods Initiative forests, and how the increased carbon storage in our forest is supporting AMC’s efforts to reduce our organizational greenhouse gas emissions.