By Jason Spadaro and Travis Joseph / For The Herald
Many of us grew up with the term “Think globally, act locally.” This maxim should help guide our actions in tackling climate change.
Washington has been blessed with the perfect climate for growing trees; not only for capturing and storing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, but for sustainably harvesting timber under some of the strictest environmental standards in the world. Just as we commonly consider where our food comes from, shouldn’t we also ask where our wood comes from?
In 2019 the United States consumed roughly 47 billion board feet of softwood lumber, 30.8 percent of which came from 48 foreign countries. That’s the equivalent of building 3.5 million homes. Should we import our wood products from Russia or Chile, where environmental standards are less stringent? Should we expand our carbon footprint by importing wood products from thousands of miles away from places like Germany, Sweden or Norway?
Most would agree our wood products — to build our homes, schools, and 21st century workspaces — should come from the Evergreen State. Washington’s working forests, both state and private, are managed to protect water supplies, endangered and sensitive species, while also providing renewable, recyclable, biodegradable wood products to meet our needs. Washington is the second largest producer of lumber in the United States, establishing our state as a leader in green jobs and green products to help mitigate climate change.
Unfortunately, across Washington state we are losing forests due to destructive wildfires, insects and disease, as well as from the conversion of forests to non-forest uses.
For these reasons, our state’s international leadership in sustainable forestry is at risk. Not only does the loss of working forests impact our economy and workers, it also harms the environment as we lose the many conservation benefits of working forests.
Keeping forests as forests should be a key policy for lawmakers who are concerned with protecting the environment and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
That’s why we support policies and legislation that supports and acknowledges the benefits of working forests, such as, including reforesting areas lost to wildfire, and planting trees in urban areas.
Development of voluntary, incentive-based plans to ensure that actions are taken to support our working forests, particularly those most at risk of conversion. We also need to bolsters the state’s climate policies because wood is a renewable, climate-friendly building material. Not only do wood products store carbon and require less energy and emissions to produce, but managed forests uptake and sequester more carbon as new trees are planted and grow. Research has shown it’s truly a win-win for our environment and climate.
According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “In the long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fiber or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit.” This is exactly how Washington’s working forests are being managed.
To uphold the state’s commitment to the environment, and policies that recognize, we can think globally and act locally to support our working forests, and encourage the use of wood products that are Washington-grown, harvested and manufactured.
Travis Joseph serves as president at the American Forest Resource Council, which advocates for sustained yield timber harvests on public timberlands throughout the West to promote healthy, resilient forests.
Jason Spadaro serves as executive director for the Washington Forest Protection Association, which represents large and small private forest landowners who supply the forestry sector with carbon-sequestering, renewable trees.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
