Event Recap: Combatting Climate Change through Forest Restoration
On November 10, HECHO hosted the next installment of our ongoing series, Climate Solutions in Action, dedicated to strengthening Hispanic voice and visibility in public lands decision-making and advocacy. The event focused on the importance and impact of forest restoration, the importance of forest health, and how forest industries and agencies are responding to climate change. HECHO was joined by panelists, Heather Provencio, Kaibab National Forest Supervisor, Jay Smith, Coconino County Forest Restoration Director, Devon Suarez, of Suarez Forestry LLC, and Sasha Storz, National Forest Foundation Arizona Program Manager.
The event comes on the heels of a waning wildfire season that in 2020 consumed 7.7 million acres, with 44,000 wildfires logged across the nation. For many, the blazes recall the urgency of the climate crisis and draws deserved attention to the fact that a lot of our forests are in poor health.
Panelists at the event spoke out on the important role that forests play in combatting climate change, from the clean water it provides us, to the species they are home to, and their ability to absorb and store atmospheric carbon, forest restoration is more important than ever before.
What Makes Forests a Tool to Combat Climate Change?
Forests absorb and store atmospheric carbon, and large diameter trees store more carbon than smaller diameter trees. That means that forest trees have the ability to significantly decrease the speed of global warming. The catch? To be able to provide what we need from them, forests must be healthy. Unfortunately, a lot of our forests are in poor condition, resulting in overly dense forests, an unnatural build-up of fuels, and drier, more flammable vegetation that bakes in the soils and leads to ash filled reservoirs, threatened water sources, and carbon being released into the atmosphere at a faster rate than can be captured in the trees. The Forest Service estimates that up to 82 million acres of national forest lands are in critical need of restoration.
According to panelists, to bring our forests back to peak health, we must implement a balanced, land management plan that prioritizes ecological health by enabling prescribed burns, thinning treatments, debris removal, and preserving intact forest landscapes. On the policy end, investment to fund forest restoration is imperative, as it currently comes through the already stretched FEMA program.
Panelist Devon Suarez (Suarez Forestry LLC) touched on the importance of rebuilding the logging industry, and why it must be made economically viable when working with low value timber in northern Arizona. Having worked in the logging industry and with the generational knowledge his family has built after working in logging for decades, he shared a unique perspective.
“We come from an agricultural family who has cared for the land for generation upon generation. Though the land my family members and ancestors tended was in Mexico, when we immigrated to the states, the care and appreciation for the land carried with us. Our mission is to treat acreage and reduce fire severity and intensity. Our product is not just the log we ship out, we have a very important responsibility that our product is also the acre of land that we treat,” Suarez said during the event. “We’re all collectively owners of the forest, so I think that we have to keep that in mind in how we treat the land, how we operate, making sure that we recall that what we do will affect that acre for generations,” Suarez said.
Panelists also touched on the ways that Coconino County advances Forest Restoration and Health, the Four Forest Restoration Initiative, the ways in which the National Forest Foundation assists communities and local governments with restoration initiatives, and the ways in which the logging industry can support forest health.
If you’d like to watch the event recording, click below:
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