Urge Washington's Department of Natural Resources to make combating climate change a top priority!
Washington's Department of Natural Resources manages over 2 million acres of public forestland in the state and yet has no explicit policy on how to incorporate climate and carbon science into forest management decisions.
The agency recently released its climate resilience plan, which is a step in the right direction and should provide additional internal foundation for the Board of Natural Resources to accomplish this task.
The Board of Natural Resources, which sets public forest management policies for the agency, has the unique ability to directly influence the amount of carbon that is stored in and released from our state's forests.
We need the Board of Natural Resources to make it a priority to protect forest resources against the detrimental impacts of the climate crisis and to identify and harness the enormous potential of Washington's public forests to mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon.
Together, we can make sure Washington's natural resource policies are pushing us towards a brighter future for our climate and environment. Sign on to support the creation of a carbon and climate change policy for our state-managed forests!
TO: Board of Natural Resources
As the manager of over 2 million acres of Washington forestlands, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the steward of some of the most carbon-dense ecosystems on the planet, and yet has no explicit guiding policy on how to incorporate climate and carbon science into management decisions.
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The Board of Natural Resources oversees management of these forestlands, which have a globally significant carbon sequestration potential. The Board and agency should work to develop and adopt a forest carbon and climate policy for DNR-managed lands with the urgency and strong leadership that the threat of the climate crisis demands.
The goals of a climate and carbon policy should be to protect forest resources against the detrimental impacts of the climate crisis, to identify and harness and the enormous potential of Washington's public forests to mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon, and to explore gaining value from these natural climate solutions.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
