Alex Craven, Our Wild America Organizer
Every 30 seconds, the US loses a patch of nature the size of a football field. This is the kind of factoid we’ve heard repeated so frequently that we are almost desensitized to the meaning. Now, in an era of climate change, people are thinking about the loss of ecosystems – and the values they provide - in a different way.
In 2017, renowned biologist E.O. Wilson introduced the concept ‘half earth’. According to Wilson, we must keep 50% of earth intact if ecosystems are to continue functioning as they currently do. These natural spaces recycle our carbon dioxide and purify our air. They filter our drinking water, store and sequester carbon, and they help mitigate climate change. Ultimately, public lands are integral to preserving biodiversity and supporting our planet as we know it.
Sierra Club is taking Wilson’s calls for half-earth seriously – by starting with the goal of preserving 30% of public land in the US by 2030. Currently, just 12% of public lands in the United States have some type of protection. Meeting this benchmark will call for creative thinking and collaboration to secure protective measures that are both tenable and focus on managing land for climatic benefits.
In Washington State, protecting public lands means preserving our National Forests. National Forests in the Northwest contains most of the largest and oldest trees in the region and are immensely important for their ability to sequester and store carbon. Recently, scientists at Oregon State University found that northwest forests, in particular, are ‘crucial’ for maintaining biodiversity and mitigating climate change. Their findings go on to show that by simply leaving these forests uncut, the same amount of carbon can be kept out of the air as halting eight years’ worth of fossil fuel burning in the lower 48.
The bottom line? Preserving forests protects ecosystem functions, maintains biodiversity, bolsters human health, and helps correct the trajectory of our changing climate.
We know the real values of our public lands are not measured in dollars. To achieve Wilson’s goal of half earth, our public lands – and northwest forests, in particular – need to be part of our climate solutions.