Discussions of global warming usually center around topics such as fossil fuels, but also important is the role forests play in climate change, and how the Earth’s temperature in turn affects forests, experts say.

Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, the state Department of Forestry and the Oregon Forest Resources Institute recently completed a book exploring carbon accounting, the Governor’s Global Warming Initiative and other intersections between forest science and climate study.

More than 300 forest managers, scientists, students, policy makers and conservationists gathered at OSU Tuesday and Wednesday for a conference centered around this new publication, “Forests, Carbon and Climate Change: A Synthesis of Science Findings.”

“Oregon has really been a leader in climate change policy,” said Gail Achterman, director of the Institute for Natural Resources at OSU, one of many experts presenting at the conference.

In 2003, Gov. Ted Kulongoski joined forces with the governors of Washington and California to form the West Coast Governors’ Global Warming Initiative. That same year, he tapped a group of citizens and public officials to draft a Global Warming Strategy for Oregon.

That group, co-chaired by Jane Lubchenco, OSU distinguished professor of zoology and Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology, and Mark Dodson, CEO of Northwest Natural, made recommendations on ways to stop increased emission of greenhouse gases.

The governor’s advisory board set measurable goals to monitor the state’s progress in achieving these reductions:

• By 2010, the growth of greenhouse gas emissions should have stopped, and a reduction should have begun.

• By 2020, there should be a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

• By 2050, the advisory board wants to see a point of climate stabilization. This would mean greenhouse gas emissions 75 percent below the 1990 levels, Achterman said.

The board also called for cost-effective actions that would provide jobs for Oregonians and strengthen the state’s economy, and established safeguards to protect Oregon’s energy supply, according to Achterman.

Forests can play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, said Leslie Lehmann, executive director of the Oregon Forest Resources Institute.

“Forests are part of the lungs of the planet,” she said.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas, and store it.

“If it’s in the forests or it’s in the trees, then it’s not being released into the air,” Lehmann said.

Keeping forestlands forested; planting trees on lands not previously forested; reforesting lands after harvests or natural disturbances; using wood products and energy generated from wood in lieu of fossil fuel-intensive products such as steel and concrete and energy generated from fossil fuels; and changing forest management strategies to “sequester” carbon through thinning, increasing rotation lengths and other techniques can all help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, according to conference experts.

Not only do forests affect the climate, but global warming also affects forests, Lehmann said.

Oregon’s trees are adapted to current climate conditions, and continued warming could make them more susceptible to drought or fire, she said.

Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.

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