WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. – Almost 1,400 acres of Whatcom County forest that might have fallen under the logger’s axe will instead stay standing as part of a plan to fight climate change.
The parcels east of Lake Whatcom are part of 10,000 acres of forest being preserved by Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz.
The Seattle Times reports the trees will become a “carbon reserve” that can be leased by emitters of greenhouse gases to off-set those emissions.
Proceeds from the leases will go toward the state school construction fund and other organizations that benefit from state trust lands.
Trees sequester carbon and also pull it from the atmosphere for growth, and Franz says these are more valuable living than as lumber.