NCASI
For almost two decades, the forest products industry has teamed up with the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) to conduct primary research on the effects of forest management on wildlife. NCASI is an independent, non-profit research institute that focuses on environmental topics of interest to the forest products industry. NCASI was established in 1943 by the pulp and paper industry to provide technical assistance for the industry’s goal of lowering the ecological impact of its spent pulping liquors.
In the years since, NCASI has developed technical expertise spanning the spectrum of environmental challenges facing the forest products industry, and is today recognized as the leading source of reliable data on environmental issues affecting this industry. NCASI’s mission is to serve the forest products industry as a center of excellence for providing technical information and scientific research needed to achieve the industry’s environmental goals and principles. More specifically, the mission of the Western Wildlife Program is to provide sound technical information that objectively characterizes relationships between forest management activities and wildlife communities, and supports innovative, cost-effective management strategies that benefit wildlife. The staff conducts research in cooperation with other scientific entities; build data incrementally for selected species and communities on status, habitat associations, and impacts of practices; and encourage development and validation of models and protocols useful for management and long-term monitoring.
The forestry section on NCASI’s website:
NCASI Forestry Program Overview
NCASI Western Wildlife:
NCASI Western Wildlife Program
Wood Beats Steel
With one exception, all of these index measures indicate significantly lower environmental risk for the wood design in Atlanta and Minneapolis compared to non-wood construction (see table below). The one exception is in Minneapolis where the steel design produces 9 % less solid waste than the wood design.
Forest Management and Carbon Storage
In the Inland Northwest, where the forest land base is dominated by federal ownership and the forests are managed for a multitude of benefits, life cycle analysis suggests that the optimal solution for maximizing carbon gain under both current and future climate conditions is to manage forests to maximize long-lived wood products and to minimize the risk of severe wildfires. The carbon storage in buildings and the substitution benefits override the potential gains of attempting to leave high carbon stocks stored in the forest. Because of increasing wildfire severity and increased acreage burned, Inland Northwest forests will convert from a carbon sink to a carbon source without active forest management.
Video
Watch Video Here
CORRIM Fact Sheet
Forest Management Impacts on Carbon Pools in the Inland West
Old Growth
The amount of old growth on federal lands increases every year. Wildfire is by far the major threat contributing 87% (102,500 acres) of what was lost in the first ten years of the Northwest Forest Plan. During that same timeframe, taking into account all losses, the amount of old growth increased by 1.5 million acres, or about 2% per year. The amount lost to timber harvest over the decade was only 0.2% (16,900 acres).
Pacific Northwest Research Station
Northwest Forest Plan–The first 10 years (1994-2003): status and trend of late-successional and old-growth forest.
Mill Closure Information
The impacts of the Northwest Forest Plan, Eastside Screens, Sierra Nevada Framework and other landscape management plans that have been implemented during the past 20 years on federal timber lands have severely impacted the number of sawmills that remain in the west and those employed by the forest products industry.
Paul F. Ehinger and Associates has put together a report on the closures of mills and jobs lost in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana from 1990-2010.
Download Mill Closure Information PDF
