Federal Forest Policy

U.S. forests today soak up an impressive 13 percent of our annual carbon emissions and the USDA Forest Service estimates that U.S. forest carbon sequestration could be almost doubled.  And yet without concerted action U.S. forest carbon storage is projected to decline over the next 20 years given escalating land use pressures.  Making a substantive investment in forest conservation and sustainable forest management for carbon storage must be a high climate priority that will reap many co-benefits including clean water, biodiversity and wildlife protection, climate adaptation, recreation, and forest jobs.

Background

ENE’s work on forest carbon issues at the federal level builds on our efforts to ensure that protection and enhancement of forest carbon is a priority in climate change policy...
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Federal Forest Policy

ENE is working to ensure that federal climate legislation has a rigorously crafted forest offsets program and a supplemental incentives program to help millions of landowners across the country manage their forests for increased carbon storage.  Backgrounder: The Importance of Forest Carbon to U.S. Carbon Policy

Rigorous Federal Forest Offsets 
Offsets are opportunities for industries regulated under “cap and trade” emissions reduction programs to meet required emissions reductions in part through approved alternatives, such as conserving forestlands. Offsets provide flexibility and cost-effective choices for reducing emissions. And forest offsets offer landowners a welcome new revenue stream and an opportunity to join the low carbon economy by managing their forests for increased carbon storage. However, offset standards must be rigorous in order to ensure that they represent real emissions reductions.

 

ENE has worked closely with conservation and forestry colleagues and Congressional leaders to advocate for rigorous forest offsets standards in the House climate legislation, and we will continue to push for more stringent rules in the Senate.  ENE Joint Letter to House Leaders on Federal Forest Policy April 15, 2009.  ENE Joint Letter to Senate Leaders on Federal Forest Policy, August 7, 2009.

ENE also took a leadership role in crafting forest offset recommendations for RGGI, which should serve as a valuable precedent for rigorous federal offset standards.

Supplemental Forest Carbon Funding
Millions of small landowners who could protect their forestlands through permanent easements or benefit from incentives to improve management practices would not be able to join an offset program due to cost, scale, or program rigor.  ENE has advocated for significant funding in federal climate legislation to fund carefully structured, 20-year carbon contracts and permanent conservation easements to help protect more forestland in perpetuity from escalating development pressures. Such a program would allow millions of landowners across the country to receive welcome new revenues; permanently protect forestland and co-benefits including biodiversity, watershed protection and recreation; and help combat global warming. To that end, ENE has supported legislation introduced by Representative Chellie Pingree in the House and now Senator Jeanne Shaheen in the Senate to create a Forest Carbon Incentive Program for forest landowners.  

ENE has also advocated in several venues for the need for more forest carbon measuring and monitoring and “no net loss” of forest carbon policies at the state level.  ENE joint letter to House leaders on Forest Carbon, April 9, 2009. Increased funding for forest carbon measuring and monitoring is necessary in order to develop meaningful state baselines for forest carbon stocks and to help states maintain and exceed that baseline for the long-term.  ENE has advocated for monitoring funding as part of the federal climate bill and will continue to work with conservation and agency colleagues to advance this key component of the U.S. forest carbon strategy.