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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