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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
Study shows a few large trees in
E. Oregon store most carbon
By GEORGE PLAVEN
CAPITAL PRESS
When the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice recommended lifting a
25-year-old ban on logging
large trees in six national for-
ests across central and eastern
Oregon, the idea was to cre-
ate healthier landscapes better
adapted for drought, disease
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New research suggests
the proposal could, however,
undermine the forests’ role
in mitigating climate change
by absorbing carbon from the
atmosphere.
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inches in diameter or bigger,
make up 3% of the forests,
yet they store 42% of above-
ground carbon in their trunks,
stems and branches, accord-
ing to a study published Nov.
5 in the journal Frontiers in
Forests and Global Change.
David Mildrexler, an ecol-
ogist with the Eastern Ore-
gon Legacy Lands in Joseph,
Ore., led the study to inform
future forest management
decisions.
“Providing this informa-
tion, I hope, will allow every-
one to understand that these
large trees play a very import-
ant role in our forest ecosys-
tems,” Mildrexler said. “We
should think very carefully
before we start with wide-
spread removals of them.”
Earlier this year, the For-
est Service proposed amend-
ing its rule that forbid cutting
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Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman,
Malheur, Ochoco, Deschutes
and
Fremont-Winema
national forests — part of a
broader set of environmen-
tal regulations known as the
Eastside Screens.
Instead of a blanket ban,
the amendment would turn
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guideline, allowing for some
logging of large trees in areas
where land managers say it
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Northwest Research Station
issued a report in February
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change/Contributed Photo
A stand of ponderosa pines and Douglas fir. Large trees
— those 21 inches in diameter or bigger — make up 3% of
national forests in central and eastern Oregon, yet they store
42% of above-ground carbon in their trunks, stems and
branches, according to a study published Nov. 5 in the journal
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.
which concluded that remov-
ing some large trees, espe-
cially undesirable shade-tol-
erant species, could help
protect old-growth ponder-
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reducing competition for
moisture and eliminating lad-
der fuels that drive larger,
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But Mildrexler said
the role large trees play as
a carbon sink cannot be
understated.
“As these trees continue
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years, they will continue to
rapidly accumulate more car-
bon,” he said. “Letting these
big trees grow bigger is abso-
lutely important to solving
climate change. It would also
be good for protecting water
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wildlife, and cultural values
that we value for our forests.”
Mildrexler and his team
analyzed 3,335 forest inven-
tory plots across the six
national forests as part of
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were interested in looking at
the size and composition of
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and western larch.
Using that data, Mildrex-
ler said they could use spe-
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allowed them to determine
how much above-ground car-
bon was stored in the larger
trees.
“You can see there is a
very disproportionate amount
of carbon that is stored in
these large trees,” he said.
“That is consistent with other
studies globally, that in some
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much as half of the above-
ground carbon is stored in the
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Stephen Baker, a spokes-
man for the Forest Service’s
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public comment period for
the Eastside Screens revision,
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Carbon storage is one of
the topics that will be ana-
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mental assessment, Baker
said.
“We’re looking at how
to best balance multiple val-
ues and priorities, including
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protecting wildlife habitat,”
Baker wrote in an email.
Andy
Geissler,
fed-
eral timber program direc-
tor for the American For-
est Resource Council, said
the carbon study further val-
idates the proposed Eastside
Screens amendment, allow-
ing for the harvest of some
large trees to protect others
amid shifting conditions.
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