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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2021)
B4 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2021 Steve Lundeberg/Oregon State University Mount Jeff erson is the dominant feature of the Mount Jeff erson Wilderness, where more than 100,000 acres of forestland is protected from logging, grazing and mining. Scientists call for more forest protection to fi ght climate change Researchers outline plan for strategic forest reserves By CASSANDRA PROFITA Oregon Public Broadcasting Researchers with Oregon State Univer- sity say the U.S. needs to establish new s trategic f orest r eserves to protect wildlife and reduce the carbon emissions that con- tribute to climate change. A new study maps the Western for- ests that would store the most carbon and help the most species if they were given the same level of protection from logging, grazing and mining as designated wilder- ness areas receive. Researchers analyzed which forests are protected in 11 states and which ones should be prioritized for protection in the future, outlining a plan for creating s trate- gic f orest r eserves across the region. Their fi ndings were published in the journal Nature. The scientists are calling on state, fed- eral and tribal governments as well as pri- vate landowners to use their research and protect certain forests to reduce the impacts of climate change and protect biodiversity. “Policymakers, including those in the Biden administration, frequently talk about the need to protect forests in developing countries,” Oregon State University Pro- fessor Emeritus Beverly Law said. “For- ests in the Pacifi c Northwest have enor- mous carbon storage potential but U.S. public lands are often overlooked.” Law and other researchers identifi ed how much additional land would need to be protected to meet international climate goals of protecting 30% of land and water by 2030. The Biden administration has set simi- lar domestic goals to protect 30% of U.S. land and waters by 2030 but has yet to develop a specifi c plan to do so. Law said she has been sharing her science with the administration. “We’re saying, ‘Look here. Look here.’ Are these good candidates for protection?” Law said. She said the key forests for storing car- bon and protecting species diversity in Oregon and Washington state are along the coast. “We have probably the best forests in the lower 48 states for storing carbon and continuing to accumulate carbon because these trees live 800 years or more in the Northwest,” she said. In previous research, Law found that not logging certain forests would store more of the carbon that contributes to climate change while also reducing carbon emis- sions from logging. “When you have a disturbance such as fi re, and when wood is removed and har- vested and put into wood products, you have to follow the carbon,” she said. “And it turns out that … harvest-related emis- sions are fi ve to seven times that of the fi re emissions in Oregon.” Nick Smith, the public aff airs director with the American Forest Resource Coun- cil, said creating protected reserves will not reduce the risk of severe wildfi res that will emit carbon from the forest. He said severe wildfi res have hurt species, such as the northern spotted owl, by burning for- est habitat. “Climate change requires actively man- aging forests for mitigation and adaptation, as well as to maintain healthy, growing trees needed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” Smith said in a response to the proposed reserves. His organization is a trade association that advocates for timber harvests on public timberlands in the West. For her latest study, Law and her col- leagues analyzed data on biodiversity, car- bon storage and vulnerability to drought and wildfi re in forests across the Western U.S. to determine which forests should be high priorities for protection. They also looked at how much carbon the forests could potentially store by 2030 and 2050. They found the best forests for storing carbon and protecting imperiled species are mostly on federal land, where govern- ment agencies or elected offi cials could use executive action, regulation or rule-mak- ing to install permanent protections. That could mean banning logging, mining and grazing indefi nitely. “The key to this is that it needs to be permanent,” Law said. “That means you’re going to keep the carbon there. You’re not going to cut the forest. The high carbon density forests are mature and older forest.” Law said older forests can store more carbon in trees, plants and soil, and they are also valuable places for large, threat- ened carnivores, such as the gray wolf and Canada lynx. Protecting certain for- ests strategically could help address both climate change and biodiversity concerns, she said. “What it provides is protection from human infl uences,” she said. “We tend to mess things up. So, this allows those for- ests to continue to grow. It’s the reservoir. We obviously have to reduce our fossil fuel emissions, but we also need to protect the reservoirs of carbon in the ocean and on the land.” Researchers also found a signifi cant amount of the high-priority lands are on private land, where they say governments could off er incentives and support volun- tary protections or the land could be pur- chased for conservation. Law said they also looked at the data on a state level and found Oregon only has the highest level of protection for 7% of its forestland. “That’s nothing,” Law said. “We’re not doing so well compared to other states. When we look at how much states have put aside for protection, Oregon comes in last, surprisingly.” The Oregon Department of Forestry declined to comment. A spokesperson for Gov. Kate Brown said her offi ce is still reviewing the research and would likely need to talk with federal, local and tribal governments as well as stakeholders about the forest reserve proposals. Oregon military apologizes Union workers end strike for ‘inadvertent’ sonic boom at Fred Meyer, QFC stores apologized for causing concern among coast residents. SALEM — Military offi cials in Oregon “During this training, we inadver- say a sonic boom that caused widespread tently went supersonic, and caused a sonic concern on the Oregon boom while pointed slightly Coast that an earthquake had toward the coastline while MILITARY IS happened was caused by an greater than 15 miles away aircraft that “inadvertently land,” the 142nd Wing AUTHORIZED from went supersonic.” posted. “We understand that The 142nd Wing of the this caused concern from our TO FLY Oregon Air National Guard residents and for that SUPERSONIC coastal said the sonic boom on Tues- we sincerely apologize.” day was caused by aircraft. Conklin said the aircraft 15 MILES Master Sgt. Steven Conk- were a single-pilot F-15C BEYOND THE and a two-person F-15D lin, a spokesman for the 142nd Wing, said the mil- Eagle. COASTLINE. itary is authorized to fl y While speeds fl uctuate supersonic 15 miles beyond during training, “it is not the coastline, but pilots should not have the uncommon to go supersonic during basic nose of the jet pointed toward the coast. fi ghter maneuvers, sometimes referred to The 142nd Wing in a Facebook post as dogfi ghting,” he said. Associated Press By APRIL EHRLICH Oregon Public Broadcasting The union representing thousands of Ore- gon grocery workers reached a tentative labor agreement with management Friday night, ending a strike that was scheduled to run through Christmas Eve. The United Food and Commercial Work- ers Local 555, representing many employ- ees at Fred Meyer and Q F C stores, said the new agreement provides signifi cant wage increases and workplace protections, new retirement and health care benefi ts. The union has been in negotiations for months with the Kroger-owned supermar- ket chains. Last weekend, union announced its members had authorized a strike, which began Friday morning at stores in Portland, Bend, Newberg and Klamath Falls. After the strike authorization, at least one Fred Meyer store posted a sign saying it was seeking temporary workers willing to cross picket lines. Prior to reaching a tentative agreement, union representatives said that Fred Meyer has been underpaying certain workers in violation of contract terms. A union spokes- person has also said the grocery chain hasn’t been providing necessary information to the union to refute or verify its concern, or to address it through the grievance process. The union said this inadequate pay and lack of documentation constitute unfair labor practices — and it’s on the basis of these unfair labor allegations that the union had been preparing to strike. A spokesperson for Fred Meyer has said the company is following, and plans to con- tinue to follow, applicable labor laws. 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