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Understanding the Carbon Cycle, Climate Change

and Forest Management
Bill Pollock
Forest engineer
Background
For the past nearly twenty years carbon has been associated with the evolving discussion of climate change and global
warming. Without greenhouse gases the earth would have such extreme temperature fuctuations that life on the planet
would be impossible as we know it. However, essential as they are, high concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmo-
sphere create uncertainty in the earths climate. This has caused and will continue to cause
risks to economic and environmental stability and sustainability because these greenhouse
gasses inhibit heat loss from the Earths surface thus possibly causing climate change.
While carbon dioxide is the compound most often referred to as a greenhouse gas (GHG), a
number of compounds have the ability to trap heat when present in the outer atmosphere. These
include methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofuorocarbons (CFCs), hydro fuorocarbons (HFCs),
and sulfur hexafuoride. The heat trapping potential of these compounds varies widely, with
some that are 25, 300, and as much as 22,000 times more effective than carbon dioxide in
inhibiting heat loss.
The chemical infuence of greenhouse gases on climate change/global warming is a scientifc
fact; these gases do capture heat and inhibit re-radiation to space. Increased accumulation of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is also an indisputable fact. This report is a summary
of existing knowledge and an approach to the management and mitigation of the release of
greenhouse gases. It also reports on the many advantages of substituting wood for fossil fuels which is a way of keeping
our forests healthy and saving fossil fuels for our grand children.
The Carbon Cycle
First, we must understand where carbon occurs on,
in and around the earth and how it cycles. Carbon is
a basic chemical component of all living organisms
and many non-living substances. Carbon exists in
plants, soils, the air, people, buildings, and many
other things. The places where carbon is stored are
called carbon pools. The largest such pools are the
oceans, the land, its vegetation, and the atmosphere.
When a pool gains more carbon than it loses over a
period of time, it is called a carbon sink. When a
pool loses more carbon than it gains over a period
of time it is called a carbon source. Currently, the
Ecosystem services
provided by forests
include wood
products, clean water,
clean air, wildlife,
recreation, aesthetic
and spiritual benefts.
Carbon absorption
and storage is
another ecosystem
service provided by
trees and forests.
Summary
This report provides an explanation of the carbon cycle and its terminology, the role that
trees and forests play in producing oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide and the part that
wood products play in sequestering carbon.
Old, tall, wind blown, ice coated and snow laden trees have caused week-long power
outages and road closures. When trees become mature and die the dead trees, whether on
the ground or still standing, create a serious fre risk.
Through the creation of community forests and careful management landowners can
reduce the fre hazard, wind, snow and ice damage while the wood products harvested
will sequester carbon and help mitigate greenhouse gasses. The possibility of substituting
wood pellets for oil or electricity for heating is considered.
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older forests are more susceptible to forest fre and wind damage (which can affect electric distribution lines) resulting
in unscheduled loss of stored carbon compared to trees in younger, managed forests. Thus carbon accumulation does not
continue forever.
Planting of new trees to replace those that die or are removed is seldom necessary. Forests are highly capable of perpetu-
ating themselves. However, under certain conditions, the planting of trees of a more desirable species may be a good
option particularly in areas with an overabundance of overmature trees designated for cutting.
Recent news headlines about catastrophic fre, insect, and disease events have shown that a prolonged situation of forest
growth without any removal of trees is no more sustainable than one in which removals exceed growth. Increasing forest
volume without removals can accentuate competition between trees, causing some to die early thus raising the chances of
catastrophic fre and wind damage, disease and insect infestation. Thus harvesting of mature and overmature trees before
they die is extremely important to help maintain the forest as a carbon sink.
Carbon and Oxygen. Trees and Humans
Both trees and humans breathe but trees need carbon dioxide while people need oxygen. While trees grow they absorb
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen necessary for human life. When trees die the opposite occurs.
Oxygen is consumed by the dead tree while carbon dioxide is released. In a normal forest the amount of oxygen
produced by the living trees is balanced by the amount of carbon dioxide released from the dead trees and decaying
vegetation. By contrast human beings only absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide during their lifetime. Trees dont
grow faster because of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere . Similarly, humans dont grow faster with additional
oxygen. However, indirectly, increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that causes changes to the length of the growing
season or amount of annual rainfall may cause changes to the rate of tree growth.
Forest Carbon Dynamics
To understand forest carbon dynamics, it is important to look at the different sizes of forests. Forest managers frequently
talk about forest stands and forest landscapes.
The forest stand may be as small as one hectare or more than twenty hectares. They are typically delineated on the basis
of a common characteristic such as tree species composition, age, habitat type or another consideration. Each forest stand
will have a different forest management recommendation.
At the level of the forest stand, forest carbon cycles periodically rise with regeneration and growth, and fall with periodic
harvests or disturbance (e.g., wind, fre, insects or disease outbreaks). Under sustainable management, similar forest treat-
ments are progressively applied over a period of time to individual stands across a forest ownership and result in more
stable carbon dynamics.
The forest landscape typically includes forests of multiple landowners and stands of many different species and ages.
The carbon dynamic of a landscape considers a weighted average of carbon capture rates of stands of all ages, includ-
ing rapid capture rates in young and maturing stands and fat to negative rates in older stands. For purposes of forest
carbon accounting, the larger the area defned as a landscape, the clearer the carbon picture. The stability of carbon
stores resulting from balanced forest management is even more evident at this scale. Under good management the amount
of carbon stored in the forest remains essentially the same. The stability of carbon stocks is attributable to growth of trees
across the landscape which offsets the small portion of trees harvested in any given year.
Carbon Implications of Forest Harvesting
Carbon is stored in the main stem, branches, bark, and roots of trees, in forest litter, and in the soil. Of the carbon found
in forest soils, a small portion of the volume resides in the upper 6 to 12 cm,, with most in the deeper soil.
Harvesting typically removes wood of the main stem, and if harvesting for energy production, many branches may be
removed as well. The other parts of the tree are left on the forest foor where they degrade releasing carbon to the soil and
the atmosphere. When wood of the main stem is converted to long-lived products, the carbon within that wood is stored
for as long as the wood lasts. Conversion of wood to energy, such as burning it for heat, immediately releases the carbon
stored in the wood.
Harvesting also has an impact on the carbon contained within soils. Reduction in shallow forest soil carbon, immediately
after harvesting, is common. Carbon concentrations within the deeper soils, however, often increase as a result of forest
harvest activity.
oceans, the land, and the atmosphere are all carbon sinks.
Pools of carbon stored in fossil fuel deposits petroleum, coal, and natural gas stored in the lithosphere below the soil
- are major carbon sources, with massive quantities of carbon released to the atmosphere as they are burned to create
energy. The conversion of limestone to lime in the process of cement production is another substantial carbon source.
Emissions from these activities have developed only in the course of the past 100 years, and substantially over only the
past 60. Collectively, carbon liberated through these activities is termed fossil carbon.
On the surface of the planet carbon is continually cycled between various carbon pools and carbon sinks. For example,
one type of cycle occurs annually when living things such as plants grow during the spring and summer absorbing carbon
as they grow. Then in the fall they die releasing the carbon back to the atmosphere. Similar cycling of carbon occurs
between the oceans and the atmosphere. In this case, carbon is captured by growth of phytoplankton, returned to the
atmosphere as these simple plants die, then recaptured again with growth of new plant life. The continual movement of
carbon between the atmosphere and living things in oceans and on the land is described as the carbon cycle, a process
that has been ongoing for millions of years. Collectively, the carbon associated with the oceans and land is termed
biogenic carbon.
Biogenic Carbon and Fossil Carbon
The biogenic carbon cycle is relatively balanced and continuous and it occurs with or without human intervention.
Human actions, including land clearing, agricultural production, and forest management can infuence the cycle. Even
without human action, plants and animals continue to grow, live and die and to absorb and emit carbon during various
life stages.
The liberation of fossil carbon on the other hand results in a one-way stream of carbon emissions without a naturally
occurring counter balance for re-absorbing the emissions. While the carbon released can be absorbed by the oceans or
land-based plants, it does not return to the pool from which it came on anything other than a geologic time scale. Thus the
release of fossil carbon disrupts a natural carbon cycle that has long been in balance. The problem posed by fossil carbon
is that millions of years ago that carbon was captured and stored in the earth, and today there is no natural mechanism for
either capturing the full amount of carbon released through its burning, or for restoring that carbon to the pool where it
originated. The net effect is an increase in carbon-containing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Life Cycles of Trees
Trees are delicate when young and typically grow vigorously when given proper nutrition and a suitable environment. As
trees age vigor is maintained for a lengthy period but then begins to wane. The top may begin to thin. Branches may die.
Life processes eventually slow to the point that the tree has diffculty healing wounds and warding off disease. Finally,
the tree dies.
Individual trees face strong competition for survival in the forest during their life cycle. As trees grow in size, they grow
into the space occupied by others, crown closure occurs, and competition between trees for sunlight, water and nutrients
from the soil intensifes. The amount of carbon captured by individual trees as they become mature and overmature
depends on their size and amount of foliage. Large trees with abundant live foliage capture more carbon. However,
increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere do not infuence the rate of tree
growth nor increase tree volume.
In forest stands (defned under Forest
Carbon Dynamics on page 3) the rates of
growth and carbon capture slow as a result
of aging, and may even decline at advanced
ages due to increasing natural mortal-
ity. The result is that while older forests
can store more carbon, the rate at which
they remove additional carbon from the
atmosphere is substantially lower, eventu-
ally plateaus (Figure 1), and can become
negative if mortality increases to the point
that it exceeds net growth. The forest then
changes from being a carbon sink to a
carbon source. In addition, older trees in
Figure 1: Slowing of Tree Growth with Age
Source: Brack,C.(1997) Australian National University
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References to periodic harvesting in forests evoke strong emotions in people who tend to equate forest harvesting with
clearcutting or deforestation. The harvesting recommended here involves partial cutting to remove useable dead trees
and those mature and overmature trees in the process of dying. The purpose is to remove trees that are producing or will
produce carbon dioxide in the not too distant future. This approach will maintain the residual forest as a carbon sink as
much as possible. Such management will also reduce the risk of forest fres.
It is important to note that most of the land cleared for farming in the late 19
th
and early 20
th
centuries in the Laurentians has
returned to forest and much of it is now mature and overmature. See pages 22 and 23 of A SENSE OF COMMUNITY
by Diane Pollock and Margaret Moffat for pictures of the vast areas of cleared land. There is more forest land, more
trees and thus more wood volume in North America than there was 50 years ago despite encroachment by urbanisation,
agriculture, hydro-electric dam fooding, etc.
Trails to move the useable wood from the forest to a road are required. Some of these trails can be maintained for hiking
and cross-country skiing.
Obviously there is some energy required to harvest trees and deliver them to a mill. Chain saws, log
skidders, log loaders and trucks will use fossil fuels. The amount used will depend on the number
of trees to be cut per hectare, skidding distance to a road and the distance to the mill. The amount
of fossil carbon emitted from individual tree selection cutting is quite insignifcant when considered
on a forest landscape basis under good forest management. A saving in fossil carbon can be had by
using horses for moving logs from the forest to a road and this could result in reduced environmental
damage to the residual forest.
An effective way to maintain or increase forest carbon stocks on private land is to ensure the existence
of a strong market for forest products. Currently markets exist for good quality saw logs and hard-
wood frewood, but there is no market for small diameter softwood. The use of havesting residues,
such as branches, tops, small diameter and unmerchantable trees could be turned into wood pellets for heating.
An estimate of the energy required to dry, pelletize and transport pellets is less than 11% of the energy content of the
pellets if using pre-dried industrial wood waste. If the pellets are made directly from undried harvested trees, it is esti-
mated that it takes up to 18% of the energy to dry the wood and an additional 8% for manufacturing and transportation.
The Carbon Equation and Production and Use of Forest Products
Wood Building Materials
Approximately one-half the dry weight of wood is carbon, and when wood is used for fram-
ing a house, panelling walls or making furniture the carbon will be stored for as long as the
home or furniture lasts. An average new single family home contains about 15,800 board
feet of lumber and 10,900 square feet of wood panels, incorporating about 21,300 pounds of
carbon. The carbon dioxide equivalent is over 39 tons. Within 7 million such homes in Canada,
including townhouses, multiple occupant residences, and a growing number of commercial/
industrial and other structures, approximately 273,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent
is stored. The carbon stored and released in the production of various construction materials
is found in Table 1.
The energy required to produce wood products is lower than any other construction material.
Solar energy produces the trees and the wood. Lumber requires little energy to saw boards from
the naturally grown wood. Laminated wood and plywood require more energy to produce, but
signifcantly less than non-wood materials. Most of the energy used comes from bioenergy
produced from tree bark, sawdust and other wood by-products. In Canada, only 28% of the
energy used for producing wood products comes from fossil fuels.
Table 1: Carbon released and stored by different construction materials
Material Carbon released (kg/t) Carbon released (kg/m
3
) Carbon stored (kg/m
3
)
Rough sawn timber 30 15 250
Steel 700 5,320 0
Concrete 50 120 0
Aluminum 8,700 22,000 0
Management
approaches
for our forests
do have
merit if they
focus on the
environment,
economy
and social
solutions.
Carbon dioxide
equivalent is a
quantity that
describes for a
given mixture
and amount of
greenhouse gas,
the amount of
CO
2
that would
have the same
global warming
potential (GWP)
when measured
over a specifc time
scale (generally
100 years).
There is another carbon beneft associated with wood use when it replaces other materials especially when it is put into
long-term use. This beneft is referred to as the substitution effect, since substitution with wood in building construction
and other applications reduces fossil fuel energy consumption
and associated emissions of fossil carbon. The carbon emissions
offset from using wood rather than alternate materials can be two
or more times the content of the product.
Its no longer just cabins that can be built from logs. An exam-
ple of the signifcance of the substitution effect is provided by
the Library Square project in Kamloops, BC. This develop-
ment incorporated 2,927 m
3
of wood into a 5-story commercial/
residential structure built over a concrete frst level. The proj-
ect includes 140 condominium units, 1,300 m
2
of street level
commercial space, and a community library. Wood used in the
Library Square project stores over 1,692 tonnes of carbon, equivalent to 6,205 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Carbon storage
would not have occurred with the use of any other material. The total carbon beneft from wood used in the project is
equivalent to removing 1,369 average passenger vehicles from the road for a year.
Its not only in Canada. In London, a wood tower stretches nine foors. In Sweden, the architecture frm C.F. Mller hopes
to really raise the stakes with its plans for a 34-foor timber-framed apartment tower.
Wood-Derived Energy
There is also a substitution effect when wood is used to generate energy in place of fossil fuels. The forest industry has
long used bioenergy (mill residues) to produce heat and power. There is also a long history of wood use for home heat-
ing (indeed it was the principal fuel for several hundred years), but it is
only recently that interest has developed in wood as a fuel for large-scale
production of electricity, heat, and liquid fuels. Energy from biomass
has become a hot topic of discussion in scientifc, business, and govern-
ment policy circles, with wood one of many fuels gaining considerable
attention. Woody biomass can be in the form of forest products mill
residues (sawdust, bark, and trim), logging residuals, sound dead trees
or small diameter trees obtained from forest thinning. The production of
wood pellets from this woody material and development of automated
feeding systems for home heating leads to exciting new possibilities.
Just as there is a benefcial substitution effect when wood is used in place
of steel or concrete in construction, there are also substitution benefts
when wood fuels displace the use of fossil fuels. Wood fuels are typically
sourced locally, are renewable, and their combustion releases biogenic
rather than fossil carbon. When the use of fossil fuels is avoided, the
geologic storage of carbon is preserved and new additions of carbon to the
carbon cycle are prevented. While combustion of wood fuels also releases
carbon dioxide, the carbon released is biogenic carbon which will be
captured by the new trees that will naturally (or artifcially) replace the
ones removed for fuel.
A fully automated pellet stove requires flling a hopper with pellets and turning the
stove on. The stove does the rest: It automatically lights, automatically feeds the
pellets into the fame with an auger and automatically adjusts the rate to keep the room
or home at a pre-set temperature with an electric thermostat. Pellet baskets allow a
person to heat their home using pellets in existing stoves and freplaces. The energy
content of wood pellets is approximately 4.7 5.2 MWh/tonne

(~7450 BTU/lb).
High-effciency wood pellet stoves offer combustion effciencies of over 85%.
For many facilities, funding is a primary roadblock. Biomass energy systems may
provide signifcant annual heating cost savings, but potential investors may desire
a shorter payback than is realistic without low interest fnancing. Biomass energy
systems may also be more capital intensive than alternatives. In many instances
where it is desirable to remove dead wood after disturbances and to thin forests or
dispose of wood residues, a viable bioenergy industry could fnance such activities.
Liberty Square Project
In Germany the use of forest biomass
(wood) for domestic heating has a strong
social licence and is supported by all major
parties including the Greens. Due to the
rapid increase (forest biomass use tripled
in the last 15 years) there are increasing
concerns that the use of forest biomass for
energy may lead to an overexploitation of
forest ecosystems and that too much wood
is directly burned instead of producing
wood products. The German Green party
therefore recently requested regional plans
for sustainable supply of biomass and a
priority of wood products within the layout
of renewable energy programs. The key
concern is that biomass harvest may drive
forest management, Therefore it is crucial
to establish effective and transparent forest
policy measures ensuring that only residues
and low quality material is used within the
already planned harvest in order to maintain
social licence for forest biomass use.
Pellet stoves:
BTU output 4 to 5 times
higher than frewood.
50 times less particulate
emissions than older wood
stoves and 2 to 5 times lower
than EPA-certifed woodstoves.
40 to 60 grams of smoke per hour
emitted by older, uncertifed stoves.
2 to 5 grams of smoke per
hour emitted by newer,
EPA-certifed stoves.
Less than 1 gram of smoke per
hour emitted by pellet stoves.
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There is broad recognition for bioenergy but the system still needs to make fnancial sense as an investment.
The Signifcance of Renewability in the Carbon Equation
As noted, the use of wood in place of more energy intensive, or fossil carbon intensive, materials yields tangible carbon
benefts through the substitution effect. In addition, wood is renewable, whereas the materials for which it is commonly
substituted are not, a reality that has major implications for both the carbon balance and long-term sustainability.
Petroleum is a non-renewable material. It is a vital source of liquid transportation fuel, heating oil, liquefed refn-
ery gas, kerosene, asphalt and road oil, lubricants, waxes, and feedstocks for a variety of industrial products including
plastics. In the United States from 1950 through 2010, 163 billion barrels of petroleum were extracted. Because it is non-
renewable, the domestic reserves of petroleum available (known and unknown) to this and future generations are 163
billion barrels less than in 1950. Consumption of that petroleum released over 75 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere. In 2013 the petroleum use for transportation in the United States released over 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere.
Wood is a renewable material. In the same 60 years over 24 billion m
3
of timber were harvested from U.S. forests, a
volume approximately equivalent to that covering a football feld and piled almost 5,000 km. high! This wood was used
in building some 90 million homes and in producing countless other products. And what was the impact on domestic
forests? Because they are renewable, the trees cut 60 years ago have been replaced by new ones. It takes 60 to 70 years
for a tree to reach maturity. The volume of timber per hectare also increased and the forest remained stable throughout
the 60 years.
Accompanying the massive use of wood was an increase in the volume of carbon stored within forests, long-term storage
of billions of tons of carbon within residential structures and other buildings, and avoidance of even greater quantities of
carbon through use of wood rather than other fossil-energy intensive products.
The differences between renewable and non-renewable materials are fundamental and dramatic. These differences are
sometimes overlooked or discounted in discussions of environmental policy.
The Carbon Debt Concept
In the carbon debate there is discussion of forest harvesting in the
context of a carbon debt, the idea being that since trees contain
carbon, their removal from a forest takes away carbon that would
otherwise remain, and that must be returned to the forest (i.e., the
debt must be repaid) to restore its carbon balance. However,
as noted earlier (Forest Carbon Dynamics, page 3), no debt is
evident at the landscape scale.
In fossil carbon extraction there is no natural mechanism for
repaying a carbon debt. If non-wood materials were used in
the construction of the Library Square example, one consequence
would be substantial increases in fossil fuel consumption and, as
noted previously, removal of fossil carbon from long term storage
and release to the atmosphere. Again, there is no chance of the
carbon debt being repaid.Carbon emitted from fossil fuel combus-
tion, whether ultimately taken up by land, ocean, or forests, is not
returned to fossil fuel reserves on anything less than a geologic
time scale.
When wood is burned to produce heat or electricity, the carbon
within it is released to the atmosphere. However, if the wood is
being used in place of fossil energy, then the fossil carbon that
would otherwise have been released to the atmosphere is not.
Depending on the effciencies of the system and other factors, the
quantity of carbon released through wood combustion as opposed
to burning fossil fuels can actually be greater. Yet as long as the
wood used in producing energy originates from a sustainably
managed forest, where as much or more carbon is captured as is
removed from the forest through harvest, a quantity of carbon equivalent to that released will soon be recaptured from
the atmosphere by the same forest. As noted previously, that cannot be said for emissions of fossil carbon.
Forests and Carbon Policy
One of the diffcult aspects of carbon discussions is in identifying the appropriate role and scale of various carbon pools
and carbon sinks. For example, since forests absorb carbon from the atmosphere, why not expand forest areas and plant
growth to absorb the extra fossil carbon in addition to the normal atmospheric carbon they store? In fact, if trees are
capable of absorbing and storing carbon, shouldnt we think of their carbon sequestration service as their most important
function and stop harvesting trees for other uses? This simple proposition to let forests grow as a carbon solution
defnes much of the current carbon debate relative to forests. Yet such a proposition is high risk, and acceptance could
worsen rather than improve the atmospheric carbon problem.
It is important to realize that forests are dynamic, and that forests undergo change with or without management. It is also
important to recognize that growth in excess of removals over the long term is no more sustainable than one in which
removals exceed growth. With these realities in mind, it becomes clear why seeking to let it grow and accumulate as
much carbon as possible into a forested landscape is a bad idea.
The proper forestry solution for all small forest landowners of one hectare or more involves:
1. Silviculture aimed at promoting the regeneration and long term growth of aesthetic species of high
economic value that grow large and tall such as white pine, white spruce, yellow birch and sugar maple
among others.
2. Maintain a healthy forest by harvesting mature and overmature trees just before or shortly after they
die thus sequestering their carbon in wood products and preventing the otherwise dead trees from
releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Such harvesting should also aim at reducing the
fre hazard by reducing stand densities and removing trees susceptible to wind, snow and ice damage
that could affect electric distribution lines causing power outages. Good quality sawlogs can be sold at
a proft to the forest owner. Harvesting healthy trees just before or just after they die means cutting them
when they are beyond economic, intrinsic and biological maturity - but before they become unhealthy.
3. Thinning in younger forest stands to remove:
a. Trees very likely to die through competition from surrounding trees.
b. Trees that are preventing good quality trees of more valuable species from developing.
The above also implies:
4. The creation of a forest owners community management group (see below).
5. The development of a conservation plan for the members of the community management group involving
water, forestry, aesthetic, wildlife and other considerations providing a balance between economic, societal, and
ecological needs.
6. A study of the feasibility of a pellet plant or other industry using small diameter wood in the Ste-Agathe area..
Getting Together (Community Forest Management)
Community forestry describes models of forest management where forest owners get together
and participate in the decision making process. The community forest should serve all members
equitably who have economic, social, and cultural relationships with their forests under a variety
of management, and comanagement arrangements
The general aim of community forestry is to maintain healthy forests while serving local liveli-
hood needs. It also contributes to the economy of scale in forest management and operations. The
objectives of community forestry can vary: forest protection, household use, carbon sequestra-
tion and commercial production. Multiple objectives often coexist because of the diverse needs
of community members. These needs range from environmental (such as water and wildlife), to
fnancial (forest products like timber and food), to spiritual and cultural. Community forestry can
involve a range of forest types, from pristine natural forests to secondary or severely degraded
forests and includes tree plantations and sugar bushes.
There are
many tenets
for successful
collaborative
efforts, but the
frst few must be
mutual trust, open
communication,
shared goals
and respect
for different
viewpoints.
Approximate prices per million BTUs of
available heat for alternative fuels,
frewood, and wood pellets.
Fuel

Cost per unit
Cost per
million BTUs
of available
heat
Electricity $0.0600/KWH
1
$17.56
Heating oil $1.265/litre
2
$41.29
Propane $0.95/litre
2
$50.89
Firewood at $300/standard cord
(4 feet x 4 feet x 8 feet) (3 short cords)
Sugar maple and beech $18.00
Yellow birch $18.30
White birch $21.00
Red maple $22.80
Hemlock $27.00
Aspen $29.10
White pine and balsam fr $30.00
Poplar and basswood $31.80
Wood pellets at $200/ton $15.20
Wood pellets at $250/ton $19.00
1
Approximate cost of residential electricity
Hydro-Quebec 2014
2
Approximate cost in Quebec
Page 8 Page 9
In industrial forests, managers have traditionally focused their entire attention on timber exploitation. Community forestry
allows users to more equitably balance multiple and varied interests.
The willingness of private forest owners to actively manage their forests in the face of climate change will likely be
affected by market and policy incentives and not climate change itself. Policy incentives, such as carbon pricing or cap
and trade markets, could infuence landowner choices. Current regulations designed to protect certain plant, animal or
other ecosystems may constrain adaptive forest management that would respond to climate change.
Forest landowners interested in practicing good forest management should create a community forest management group
or association. Each member of the group decides on the part or parts of their land (minimum of 1 hectare) they want to
manage, their management objectives and special considerations. All these pieces of land form the community forest.
The community forest group is managed by 3 to 5 directors elected by the landowners who also choose a forest engineer
or technician to manage the community forest. A forest inventory for each stand on each parcel of land in the community
forest is prepared by a forest engineer who also prepares a forest conservation plan of activities to be carried out during
the next 10 years with an estimate of costs and returns. Occasionally subsidies are available for the preparation of such
plans and certain silvicultural activities in certain forest stands. The sale of logs and frewood (or pellet wood) would also
bring in some revenue. The proftability would depend on any special considerations or restraints of individual landown-
ers. Perhaps intrinsic forest values are more important. Perhaps
An optimized harvesting strategy could increase future carbon sequestration by 20 - 30% through wood production, and
maintain many desirable stand structural and aesthetic attributes that are correlated to biodiversity while increasing the
strength of the forest as a carbon sink.
References
Bowyer, J., Bratkovich, S., Frank, M., Howe, J., Stai, S., Fernholz, K. 2012. Carbon 101: Understanding the Carbon
Cycle and the Forest Carbon Debate. (http://www.dovetailinc.org)
Brack, C.1997. Forest Mensuration Class Notes. Australian National University (http://fennerschool-associated.anu.edu.
au/mensuration/BrackandWood1998/T_GROWTH.HTM)
Colnes, A. 2011. Sustainable Forest Biomass Energy: Carbon, Effciency, Current Policy, Future Directions. Energy
Foundation Strategy Session, St. Paul, MN, February 22-23. (http://fles.eesi.org/colnes_022211.pdf)
Ferguson, I. La Fontaine, B., Vinden,P., Bren, L., Hately,R. and Hermesec, B. 1996, Environmental Properties of Timber,
Research Paper commissioned by the Forest and Wood Products Research & Development Corporation
Idaho Forest Products Commission (2011). How Much Wood Goes Into Building a House? (http://www.idahoforests.org/
woodhous.htm)
Ince, P. 2010. Global Sustainable Timber Supply and Demand. In: Pessoa, F. (ed.). Sustainable Development in the
Forest Products Industry, Chapter 2, pp. 29-41. Portal, Portugal. (http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf2010/fpl_2010_
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