We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. Hal Salwasser, former PFT board member. Hal was a leader in forest stewardship who helped change the direction of our national forests and build a new generation of forest stewards.
A new federal program to squelch invasive species, improve scientific assessment of land carbon sinks and design high-rise buildings made of wood is among a wide-ranging series of executive actions announced by the White House Council on Environmental Quality yesterday to preserve America’s natural resources in an era of climate change.
We commend the Obama administration for recognizing the positive role that forests and other lands play in addressing climate change, and we commend the report as a significant compendium of current climate-related federal programs that affect natural resources, if not yet a true way forward to harness these resources to mitigate climate change.
In this issue: Fixing our dry forests; great forest stewardship is key for wet meadows; stepping up to the climate challenge; and more!
Forest loss and degradation is the second largest source of CO2 emissions, and the source of 30+% of net “excess”, human-emitted CO2 in the atmosphere today. However, N. Unger suggests that forests were not essential in creating a safe atmosphere for human evolution (which, of course, they were).
