PORTLAND, Ore. – A new Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) report highlights the major role Oregon’s forests play in keeping carbon out of the atmosphere, underscoring the importance of using strategies that enhance these forests’ carbon-sequestering superpowers to combat climate change.
The vast forests that cover nearly half the state capture and store significant amounts of atmospheric carbon, both in growing trees and wood products sourced from those forests, according to the Carbon in Oregon’s Managed Forests science review report. The report synthesizes the latest scientific findings on carbon sequestration in Oregon’s forests, including managed forests, also called working forests, which are primarily managed for timber production. Authored by experts in carbon and forestry as well as the life cycle assessment of wood products, the 120-page report and an accompanying 12-page summary are intended to help the public better understand how forests and wood products sequester and store carbon.
“As we work to solve the climate crisis, this report will inform Oregonians about ways we can harness our forests’ natural carbon-storing abilities in the fight against climate change,” says OFRI Director of Forestry Mike Cloughesy, who served as one of the report’s technical editors.
Digital copies of the Carbon in Oregon’s Managed Forests science review and its summary report are available to download at OregonForests.org/Carbon. Print copies of both documents can be ordered at OregonForests.org/publications.
About the Oregon Forest Resources Institute:
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) was created by the Oregon Legislature in 1991 to advance public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products, and to encourage sound forestry through landowner education. A 13-member board of directors governs OFRI. It is funded by a portion of the forest products harvest tax.