Bob Seymour discusses how forest numeracy – the ability to understand and apply quantitative concepts when making silvicultural prescriptions, can help woodland owners understand their forest’s ability to grow carbon and determine if it would be marketable in the future.

Bob Seymour discusses the various options he considered when deciding whether to pursue selling forest carbon credits from his various woodlots or to continue harvesting the properties for timber.

Recent studies show that net growth in U.S. forests offsets 13 percent of total U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions annually. “Carbon offsets” as they are called, are a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Offsets are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (MTCO2e). The forests of many Maine Woodland Owners members surely contribute to these offsets, but due to the difficulty of monetizing them, receiving compensation for offsets takes work.

Carbon storage amounts change as trees grow larger and as a forest stand regrows following a clear-cut harvest to a rotation age of 125 years. Additionally, forest management affects the amount of carbon dioxide that is removed from the atmosphere by forests.

Forest landowners across Maine have expressed interest in earning credit for carbon offsets, but it’s difficult to know whether one’s land is eligible, how many offsets it can earn, and what those offsets are worth.

Maine has set ambitious climate change goals for the next 25 years. Forests may be able to play a role in meeting these goals.

You probably have been reading a lot about the value of wood structural materials as ways to store carbon, thus slowing the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. This would be one benefit of building larger structures with advanced wood composites instead of steel and concrete. So, it is often asked, how much carbon does get stored in a new house? How much CO2 emissions can be saved by using wood to replace other building materials? This can get confusing very fast.

The State of Maine has set ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions in the next 25 years. But what role do forests play in the grand scheme of things?