7. Poverty

In this graphic by the Center for Global Development, taken from their study "Forests and Poverty: Barking up the wrong tree?" the CGD shows how intact forests provide services (left) while deforestation puts lives at risk (right.) Click on the link to read the study.

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Fighting Rural Poverty by protecting Forest Carbon

The good news is that by protecting and restoring forests and the carbon stocks they hold, socioeconomic conditions are likely to improve as communities attract new residents and businesses, as people come to retire and enjoy a high quality of life, and as the strains on government finances are eased with a larger tax base and as fish, wildlife, clean water and recreational opportunities become more abundant. Moreover, carbon markets provide opportunities for small forestland owners to earn revenues protecting rather than cutting down trees. Economic diversity means more economic stability, and more interesting communities that are capable of attracting investments in jobs, product innovation, culture, community and ecological health. So how can this process begin?

One important first step is to halt and then reverse the trend of forestland ownership by Wall Street and foreign investors. These shortsighted corporations care little or nothing for the economic wellbeing of the communities in which they operate and exploit American land and labor to the maximum extent possible to generate short term profits for investors. Land is purchased, razed, and then sold off at a breakneck pace, a pace wholly incompatible with the multi-generational commitments to the economy needed to help solve the current crises. Corporate farming laws adopted in Midwestern states provide a model for how to phase out ownership of America’s most productive forestlands by these shortsighted investors and return more of the forestland base to families, tribes, community organizations, conservation organizations and public agencies – all who are much better positioned to implement climate smart practices such as long harvest rotations, forest carbon reserves, and alternatives to clearcutting.

A second major strategy to hasten the revival of resource-cursed timber towns is the elimination of subsidies that now constrain public finances. These subsidies take the form of property tax breaks, tax exemptions for logging equipment and logging roads, tax credits for new plantations, exemption from legal liabilities and billions of dollars of taxpayer money used each year to promote excessive consumption of wood products, increase the amount of mills challenging small mill owners, and other wood products facilities that harm our communities. If all that wealth were steered, instead, into education, connectivity, public services, health care, protected areas, energy efficient housing and modern infrastructure this would go a long way towards replenishing the stocks of human, social, built and natural capital that have been decimated by an essentially unregulated extractive industry.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, federal, state, and local governments need to bring a swift end to the decades-long wasteful investment in timber production. This kind of economic development serves no one except international conglomerates that control American land, gut public finance, disrupt elections, and call all the shots. Real economic development is driven by the American communities, local, sustainable, creative, and inspired by a diverse and highly skilled populace. It’s not a heavy lift to start planning, and investing, in the transition.

The Forest Carbon Coalition is a network of scientific, conservation, and environmental justice allies working together to protect US forests from harmful logging practices that are driving climate change and restore one of the world’s most vital carbon sinks to its natural capacity. Please visit our website to learn more: https://forestcarboncoalition.org/