Washington Changes Logging Plans To Generate Carbon Offset
Newsy
Washington's new initiative will replace logging income with revenue generated by carbon offset, benefiting the planet and those that need the money.
The Pacific northwest hills are carved with clearcuts, and forests are valued for the lumber they produce. But as Washington passes a grim milestone, with forests covering less than half the state for the first time in history, a changing climate is forcing land managers here to re-evaluate that calculus.
"We’re the evergreen state," said Hilary Franz, Washington state commissioner of public lands. "It's our identity, and we're unbelievably blessed with millions of acres of forest land that are some of the highest carbon sequestering natural resource that we have in the country."
Franz recently announced a plan to pull 10,000 acres of state-owned forests from logging contracts, banking on the fact that in a warming world these trees are more valuable living than as lumber.
