Forest Carbon in Vermont

Vermont, the Green Mountain State, is somewhat synonymous with forests. Vermonters take pride in the forested landscape that they live amongst for its natural beauty, role in the economy, ecological benefits, and recreational opportunities. As our planet faces the challenge of adapting to a warming climate, Vermont forests have an important role to play. The sequestration and storage of carbon is quickly becoming a focus of management, policy, and public opinion. Understanding how to support our forests in this task, and how it is accounted for can be multifaceted and at times confusing. 

NorthWoods Forest Stewardship staff have heard increasing interest and questions about carbon offsets, carbon markets and ‘selling carbon’ from forest landowners in the NEK in the past few years. The expansion of carbon markets and understanding of the role carbon storage plays in addressing climate change have all driven the development and adoption of forest management with the primary aim of carbon sequestration. Some landowners who own woodlands are interested to hear there are even options to be compensated for management that prioritizes carbon storage in lieu of the traditional monetization of timber products, which can be difficult to practice on small parcels. Other landowners have expressed their desire to manage their land to help mitigate climate change, even if they aren’t selling carbon offsets. NorthWoods aims to help landowners make sound ecological decisions with a focus on sustainable forest management, and we are working to expand the resources we offer for landowners who are interested in forest carbon.

 

The Carbon Cycle 

Let’s take a step back to review the role of carbon in the environment. Carbon is the backbone of all life on earth. All of the carbon that has ever existed on earth still exists. It is in the atmosphere, oceans, rocks and sediments, and all living organisms. Carbon atoms are constantly cycling through the atmosphere and the earth; however, human activity since the industrial revolution has dramatically increased the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Carbon, primarily in the form of carbon dioxide, is being released from activities like burning fossil fuels (long dead organisms), changing land use (often related to development and agriculture) and other activities. “As a result, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rapidly rising — it is now greater than at any time in the last 3.6 million years… This excess carbon dioxide changes our climate — increasing global temperatures, causing ocean acidification, and disrupting the planet’s ecosystems.” (NOAA) While dramatic changes need to be made to reduce emissions, there are also steps we can take to remove atmospheric carbon and store it in living organisms, like trees. 

 

So, how do forests store carbon? 

When trees photosynthesize, they convert carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere along with sunlight and water into sugars they need to grow, plus water and oxygen. This process of removing gaseous CO2 from the atmosphere and converting it into solid biomass is called sequestration. Calculating the rate of sequestration for an individual tree, or for an entire forest, tells us how quickly carbon is being removed from the atmosphere.

After carbon has been sequestered from the atmosphere, it is stored in forests in organic material. These carbon-containing compounds are found nearly everywhere in forests, in both living and dead organisms. Carbon is stored in living trees and plants (including roots!), dead wood, leaf litter, and soil. The amount of carbon in each of these pools varies based on the forest type, management history and other factors. Some of these pools accumulate carbon rapidly, for example, fast-growing young trees. Other pools accumulate carbon slowly, such as soil organic matter.

Carbon is also emitted from forests, when stored carbon is converted back into gaseous forms and released to the atmosphere. This happens slowly as trees decompose, or quickly (and in large quantities) following disturbance like fire. 

Sometimes the forest carbon cycle continues outside of a forest, when trees are harvested and turned into other products for human needs. Trees are used for building materials, paper products, heating fuel, and more. Some of these forest products continue to store carbon, such as durable building materials that can last for many decades or even centuries. These products can have an even greater positive benefit when they are used as a substitute for other resource-intensive materials like steel and concrete. Other forest products release stored carbon back into the atmosphere quickly, such as burning firewood (although there may still be a carbon benefit to burning wood when it replaces fossil fuels!).

When a forest ecosystem is sequestering carbon (removing it from the atmosphere) faster than it’s emitted, the forest is called a carbon sink. When carbon is being released into the atmosphere faster than trees sequester carbon, the forest is a carbon source.  When managing forests to offset carbon emissions, the goal is to create carbon sinks. Forest carbon programs identify management practices and actions landowners can take, or avoid, that will increase the carbon sequestration on their land while reducing forest carbon emissions.

Managing your land for carbon sequestration and storage

When deciding how to manage a forest, research shows that certain practices can enhance carbon sequestration and storage. And there’s even more good news: many of these strategies can support forest health, wildlife habitat, climate resilience and timber productivity. Even when a landowners’ main priority is carbon sequestration and storage, we strongly recommend balancing this with other management goals, to make sure a forest provides a full range of benefits for wildlife, biodiversity and productivity. The following strategies can enhance carbon in managed forests, while providing many co-benefits:

Research suggests that the following management strategies will support carbon storage and sequestration on the Cass property:

  • Keeping forests as forests, and avoiding conversion to other land uses. This fundamental strategy ensures that forests are able to sequester and store carbon into the future. Conservation easements and other mechanisms can protect forests.
  • Diversifying sizes and species of trees in a forest, with a focus on site-appropriate species. This strategy ensures that forests will stay productive and resilient in the future. Retaining shade-tolerant species and trees with dense wood (sugar maple and beech are prime examples in northern hardwood forests) is likely to store more carbon in a forested area.
  • Maintaining a component of old forest, and using extended rotations to allow trees to reach older ages and large diameters. Old forests maximize carbon storage, although they generally have slower sequestration rates. Old forest features can be enhanced by extending rotation ages, and retaining legacy trees and other old-forest features in productive timber stands, or by avoiding timber harvests entirely (if that’s compatible with other management goals).
  • Maintaining a component of young/regenerating forest, and ensuring successful regeneration following timber harvests. Young forests have high rates of carbon sequestration, even though carbon storage is low. Young forest conditions can be created periodically in uneven-aged timber stands, or with patch cuts to enhance wildlife habitat in even-aged stands. Tree planting can be used to supplement natural regeneration.
  • Protecting soils from disturbance or erosion that would cause loss of soil organic carbon. Trails and logging operations deserve special attention; following Acceptable Management Practices (AMPs) protects soils on logging jobs, and recreational trails should be carefully designed and maintained to prevent erosion.
  • Retaining dead and downed wood. Carbon is stored in this dead wood, and these features also support forest overall health. Dead wood and other “forest compost” builds soil carbon storage, too.
  • Promoting growth and harvesting of wood for durable products, mainly sawtimber used for long-lived construction of buildings, furniture, and other products. These long-lasting wood products can store carbon for 100 years or longer, while allowing forests to continue sequestering and storing additional carbon. Growing and harvesting biofuels can also help to offset fossil fuel use, which may provide a net carbon benefit.

 

Options for landowners in Vermont to sell carbon offsets

The concept of the carbon market is that companies, industry, governments, and individuals that emit carbon into the atmosphere can purchase credits to offset these emissions. Offsets are provided from groups that are working to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, measuring and verifying carbon sinks. International carbon markets have been used since the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, but local options for landowners in Vermont to participate in carbon markets have been very limited until recent years.  The following table shows some options that landowners could consider:

 

More resources about forest carbon!