Can innovative wood products and humans’ innate need to interact with nature help cities across the country achieve their commitments under the Paris climate accord?

More than 400 U.S. mayors and cities have signed the Paris Accords, but do they have a plan for how to accomplish the attendant goals?

Forests in their own cities and wood products from these enclaves and their rural brethren could help in a significant way.

The 2007 International Panel on Climate Change report recognized the importance of forest management: “In the long-term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit.”

From the trees out your office and kitchen window to the rural forest totaling around 850 million acres, or one-third of the country, the answer is a loud yes they can help.

Already, some cities are taking advantage of their backyard and boulevard forests. [Read more…]