according to Anthony Raines , president of Rainco Forest Resources , the state ’ s forests are growing faster than they are being harvested , at a rate of 2.2-1 , making West Virginia a natural choice for current and future forest products companies .
Eric Carlson , executive director of the West Virginia Forestry Association , says the most recent analysis by the U . S . Forest Service suggests that West Virginia only harvests 23 % of its annual forest growth .
“ West Virginia is 78 % forested and has many larger forest holdings , making access to the resource an advantage ,” he says . “ West Virginia is dominated by mature hardwood forests , meaning the trees are larger than other hardwood forests in the U . S ., offering opportunities to harvest more high-quality hardwoods . The diversity of species also offers opportunities for many differing uses of the harvested hardwoods . Even when you include natural mortality of the forest , there is a net gain of 32 % every year , meaning West Virginia can substantially increase the size of the industry and continue to sustainably grow the forest . This is very attractive to the forest products industry .”
IN OPPOSITION OF
By Anthony Raines , Rainco Forest Resources President
How will carbon affect timber and wood companies ?
Unfortunately , there has been a shift in carbon protocols and standards that are now pushing forest carbon projects toward a more preservationist arrangement that reduces timber harvesting . This is evident by the recent purchase of 703,000 acres of West Virginia timberland by Anew Climate , where the new owner has stated that harvests will be reduced by 70-80 %.
Some are calling this new approach proforestation . The Sierra Club defines proforestation as , “ extending protections so as to allow areas of previously logged forest to mature , removing vast amounts of atmospheric carbon and recovering their ecological and carbon storage potential .”
What are the cons of carbon credits in West Virginia ?
If actual science was being followed , carbon could be of great benefit to our state . Unfortunately , the carbon industrial complex has the science backward when it comes to increasing carbon sequestration using forests with their hands-off approach to forest management . Products made from wood continue to store carbon throughout their useful life , while more trees are grown in their place , sequestering additional carbon from the air . When a forest is allowed to grow unmanaged , it eventually becomes a carbon source rather than a carbon sink .
Furthermore , the overwhelming consensus is clear that a hands-off preservationist approach to forest management will result in less healthy and fire-prone forests , not only in West Virginia , but across the U . S .
If the carbon companies truly wanted to increase carbon sequestration , they would be advocating for the increased use of renewable forest products instead of carbonintensive , non-renewable materials such as concrete , steel and plastic . Increased demand for forest products would create immense economic opportunities for West Virginians and provide a much-needed economic stimulus to our local communities .
How do carbon credits impact the economy in West Virginia ?
If forest carbon continues down its current path of harvest reductions and preservationist-style management , I ’ m afraid the effects will be costly for local communities that can least afford it . A large portion of our state ’ s privately owned timberland belongs to out-of-state corporations and investment funds . In the past , these lands have benefited West Virginians with jobs and opportunities in the natural resource industries , but with carbon , there is no job creation , no economic stimulus for our local communities . When an out-of-state corporation sells carbon offsets derived from their lands located in West Virginia to someone like Disney or Amazon , not a single dollar of that transaction enters our state ’ s economy .
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