Federal study tallies carbon stored in plants, soil

The Oregonian recently reported on efforts to task federal forests with fighting climate change, and now the U.S. Geological Survey has issued a report attempting to tally just how much carbon the nation's plants and soil store. U.S. Interior Secretary made reference to the report in a speech at the global climate change talks in Copenhagen, in which he promoted the idea of using public lands to slow or mitigate man-made climate change. “By restoring ecosystems and protecting certain areas from development, the U.S. can store more carbon in ways that enhance our stewardship of land and natural resources while reducing our contribution to global warming," Salazar said. The report estimates that U.S. forests store about 17 billion metric tons of carbon, and that forest lands managed by the Department of Interior, which includes millions of acres in western Oregon, could store as much as 400 million tons of additional carbon if managed differently. Oregonian