Our working State Forests help flight climate change in two main ways. First, as trees grow, they draw CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it as wood fiber. That carbon is stored in the tree until it dies or burns, in which case the CO2 is released back into the atmosphere. When trees are harvested and made into durable wood products like lumber, much of that carbon is effectively kept from re-entering the atmosphere. With advances in engineered wood products, including cross-laminated timber (CLT), more locally grown wood can be used in high-rise buildings, replacing iron, steel and concrete, products that make up some of the largest sources of industrial CO2 emissions in the U.S. Substituting renewable wood products for these traditional building materials would mean less CO2 entering the atmosphere in the first place.
Who We Are
The State Forest Community Action Network unites communities, public entities, forest workers, and other stakeholders in support of active state forest management and strong connections between local people and local forest resources.