The Healey administration moved Wednesday to draft the state’s forests into the effort to address climate change, announcing a new initiative to invest in conservation, develop updated guidelines for state lands, and provide incentives for landowners to maximize the climate benefits of their forests.
By optimizing the ability of forests to take carbon emissions out of the atmosphere, Gov. Maura Healey said the new Forests as Climate Solutions initiative “will play an essential role in the stewardship and conservation of our natural resources” and help the state make good on its carbon emission reduction targets. In addition to a minimum 50 percent reduction in emissions by 2030, the climate roadmap law requires Massachusetts to reduce emissions by at least 75 percent by 2040 and at least 85 percent by 2050.
Tag-along policies like carbon sequestration are expected to help the state get the rest of the way to net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.
“Forests have to be at the forefront of our climate strategy,” Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer said. “Trees can sequester carbon for centuries – we have a responsibility to use the best science to ensure that their potential for carbon sequestration and storage is reflected in our approach.”
The initiative was announced as the Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday extended its statewide air quality alert through the day as smoke from burning Canadian forests lingers in the Bay State air. “Smoke is expected to enter western sections of the state and impact air quality through much of the state today. Air quality is expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups,” MassDEP said Wednesday morning.
Massachusetts has about 3.1 million acres of forest, covering more than 60 percent of the state’s land area, according to the MassWoods project at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The state owns 10 percent of that forestland while about 79 percent is privately owned, UMass said. Mass Audubon said the state’s forests sequester seven percent of carbon emissions annually.
The administration said that the new Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs initiative will “accelerate progress” towards the goals set out in the state’s Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050, which set land conservation goals of protecting 30 percent of the state by 2030 and 40 percent by 2050. It will be supported with funding that the administration said it will outline in the coming weeks.
EEA plans to convene a committee of scientific experts and will solicit public input to guide the development of new climate-centered guidelines that are to be implemented by the end of the year. While an initial six-month review takes place, no new state timber harvesting contracts will be signed, EEA said. The initiative is expected to lead to new incentives for private woodland owners and municipalities that optimize carbon storage, and will also provide financial assistance to forestry businesses to reduce carbon loss and environmental impacts.