A new report released by the White House, the National Climate Assessment, explores many related issues including how a warming planet affects our forests. With contributions from U.S. Forest Service scientists, the report is one of the most comprehensive examinations of climate change and its effects on forested land. It concludes that a warming climate will complicate future management of public, private and tribal forests.
“Climate change is currently triggering multiple, sometimes contrasting, responses from our forests,” said Dave Cleaves, U.S. Forest Service Climate Change Advisor. “Longer growing seasons and gradually warming temperatures are helping trees grow faster in some areas, but in other areas, these longer and warmer growing seasons increase late summer moisture stress and reduce tree growth.”
The Forest Service integrates climate change awareness, mitigation and adaptation into the management of its 193 million acres through the Climate Change Performance Scorecard. FFRC has called upon the Forest Service to speed up it’s efforts to react to climate change, by reducing overstocking, responding more rapidly to catastrophic events, and capturing opportunities to store carbon in long-lasting wood products. Every year, the Forest Service thins very few acres of overstocked stands, and captures mortality on only a fraction of its burned or wind-damaged acres.