Lungs of the Earth: The Top 10 carbon storing national forests in America
One of America's Top 10 National Forest, the Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon. Courtesy KSWild.
Ever hear the old adage that trees are the “lungs of the earth?” It creates an awesome visual and brings a human element to the towering giants that fill our forests. But did you know that forests in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Alaska are among the Earth’s strongest “lungs?”
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Just how strong are they? The Wilderness Society recently analyzed United States Forest Service data and found that the top ten national forests in the United States that store the most carbon per forested acre are all located in Washington, Oregon and Southeast Alaska.
That means many of the beautiful old growth forests that Americans love to marvel at are also among the Earth’s greatest carbon-storing ecosystems — and our best tools for combating climate change.
In fact, per acre these densely packed Pacific forests hold as much or more carbon than the average tropical rainforest that deforestation debates usually center on, yet many of them continue to go unprotected from logging and development.
Perhaps you’ve visited one or more of them. They are:
- In Oregon:
Willamette National Forest; Umpqua National Forest; Siuslaw National Forest; Mt. Hood National Forest; Siskiyou National Forest; and Rogue River National Forest - In Washington:
Gifford Pinchot National Forest; Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest; Olympic National Forest - In Alaska:
Tongass National Forest
Why These Forests Matter
Our forests have long been recognized as providing great outdoor recreation opportunities as well as important habitat to a number of species, including the imperiled spotted owl and marbled murrelet. But forests also do something that we can’t see with our own eyes: they breathe in air filled with carbon, such as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, and store it within the trees cells, roots and even soil. I like to think of these forests as gigantic piggy banks, storing up the carbon to help us combat the threat of climate change.
The ten national forests in the U.S. with the highest carbon density hold an average of approximately 500 metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) on each forested acre.
Altogether, these forests store approximately 9.8 billion metric tons CO2e on about 19 million acres, which is equivalent to all the fossil fuels that are burned in the U.S. over a year — about 5.8 billion metric tons.
Some of this carbon is stored in living trees and other vegetation, both above and below ground, some in standing or down dead wood, and some in soil.
The United States’ top ten national forests are among the great carbon-storing forests in the world. For international comparisons, the average global tropical forest stores about 360 to 460 metric tons of CO2e per acre, boreal forests 430 to 600 metric tons (mostly in the soil) and temperate forests 220 to 420 metric tons.
And yet more than a million acres of these top ten national forests — one of the greatest carbon banks on Earth — are not formally protected and are vulnerable to destructive logging.
The federal forests in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Alaska — especially the old growth and mature forests — store tremendous amounts of carbon that are vitally important to America’s ability to combat climate change.
The Wilderness Society strongly encourages the Obama administration to take action to protect the 1.5 million acres of valuable mature and old growth forests for their ability to store carbon, along with the many other important services that healthy forests provide — from clean water to wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.
photos:
One of America's Top 10 National Forest, the Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon. Courtesy KSWild.
Clearcut in Tongass National Forest. Photo by Karen Hardigg.
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About Mike Anderson, J.D.
Mike has been with The Wilderness Society since 1985. His main focus is national forest management and policy, ranging from roadless area conservation to watershed restoration. He also helps coordinate all of The Wilderness Society's... More about Mike Anderson, J.D.
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What about our State forests??
It would be interesting to see where the Tillamook, Clatsop, and Elliott State Forests shake out in all of this. They are without question part of the same productive, coastal forest biome, and are generally managed for more intensive timber production. This implies that they have a lot more potential carbon storage capacity than they are currently managed for. Don't forget the State forests!!
The salmon are the soul of our region
It's kind of amazing that the Wilderness Society writeup mentioned the spotted owl and the marbled murrelet as the examples of species endangered by cutting down the ancient forests of the northwest, but not the hundreds of salmon runs that have gone extinct, and the hundreds of salmon runs that are on the way out due to clearcutting and forest roadbuilding.
I am passionate about protecting the marbled murrelet and the spotted owl....I have a sticker on my car with a picture of a spotted owl in an ancient forest, and have been threatened in the past because of that sticker. But, nothing represents our region like the salmon, from its territory in the mountains far into the ocean and back. The economic impact of clearcutting on the commercial fishing industry cannot be understated. And the economic benefit generated by sport fishing for salmon is many times the dollar value of that of commercial fishing.
Entire cultures of many local Coast Salish tribes revolve around the cedar and the salmon. The health of our local J, K and L Orca whale pods is threatened by the decline of the runs of chinook, coho, sockeye, pink, and chum salmon. Here in the Northwest, the salmon is part of our identity, our soul. We need to not only protect the remaining ancient forests from logging, we need to restore the streams and watersheds that clearcutting and forest roadbuilding have destroyed.
Why has "old growth" not been
Why has "old growth" not been put on the endangered species list. The truth is there is very little true old growth. In Washington, most big trees are actually second growth. I think that there needs to be a move towards the preservation of what remaining old growth we have....
Why has "old growth" not been
Why has "old growth" not been put on the endangered species list. The truth is there is very little true old growth. In Washington, most big trees are actually second growth. I think that there needs to be a move towards the preservation of what remaining old growth we have....
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