In the absence of federal action, states are leading the way. And in California, long seen as the standard-bearer for national climate policy, a natural solution with multiple benefits is gaining traction: better conservation management of our working lands, and particularly our forests.
New legislation in the state Assembly proposes to leverage California’s extraordinarily productive and diverse working landscapes as the most natural climate adaptation and mitigation solution. This bill codifies targets for action on natural and working lands to mitigate and adapt to climate change, making it the first in the world to do so. And for good reason: California is home to vast stretches of the world’s most powerful carbon sinks, its forests.
The most critical thing forest landowners can do is grow older, more carbon-rich and climate-resilient forests. This restores their natural capacity to store vastly more carbon than they do today, and in ways that reduce risks of natural disasters such as catastrophic wildfire, floods and droughts. Restoring native forests through tree planting, like along streams and rivers or in the oak woodlands, is also part of the solution. These plantings stabilize the soil and create habitats.
However, tree planting is not the primary solution, as it takes decades to make a difference. Letting older trees continue to grow stores significantly more carbon in just a few years. They also have deeper and stronger root systems that help them survive hot, dry periods, and they are less susceptible to pests, diseases and massive fires. Extending the average age of harvest even by five or 10 years, by taking a smaller percentage of trees in any given harvest, results in significant early gains, which can then be maintained through successive harvests.
Changing the spatial patterns of harvest to allow more light and moisture for the residual trees and diversifying the mix of species when planting to include natural diversity are also helpful. That natural diversity reduces the potential for total loss from fire, disease and extreme weather, such as drought.
The same principles apply to other landscapes. For example, the California bill would help reduce agricultural and rangeland conversion, encourage the restoration of native vegetation on agricultural field margins, and foster urban greening with locally native plants — protecting the power of lands as essential climate resilience allies.
These solutions are right in front of us, and their benefits extend far beyond climate resilience. Restored, well managed natural and working lands improve fire and flood safety and food security while helping to secure clean water and sustain rural jobs and economies. These older, more natural forests also have a 75 percent reduction in high-intensity fire risk, reduce flood risk by up to 40 percent and can address 10 percent of methane emissions — all while still producing timber and, in fact, increasing its supply.
The pioneering targets focus on practical, proven action to promote lands’ natural ability to store carbon. These small, simple shifts in just private forest management have the potential to absorb another 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide within the decade. If such actions were universally adopted, forests globally could sequester 138 gigatons of CO2 — equivalent to taking millions of cars off the road.
By leading the shift toward these policies that promote older, more natural forests — confirmed by research to be among the most effective climate solutions — California is showing other states what’s possible. With California voters recently approving a $10 billion bond to fund climate action with an emphasis on restoring and conserving forests and other lands, greening our cities, and promoting more productive and resilient farmlands, momentum for meaningful progress continues to grow.
The Assembly bill also emphasizes long-term conservation agreements to incentivize these changes in our natural infrastructure. Conservation easements allow private landowners, who own most U.S. forestland, to continue timber production while restoring older forests and keeping forests as forests. This public-private partnership approach also generates multiple returns: safer communities, stronger rural economies and more resilient watersheds.
I've witnessed this win-win approach firsthand. In almost 10,000 acres of forest our organization manages, we have more than tripled our standing-timber inventory and carbon stocks while harvesting over 3 million board-feet of timber annually, supporting jobs for loggers, mill workers, truckers and others. This model can be replicated across the country, revitalizing rural economies and improving resilience against natural disasters.
Other states have this same immediate option, recognizing that investing in working-lands conservation and restoration also boosts rural prosperity. When states embrace forests for their great potential to help us adapt more safely to our changing world, they will unlock the most effective and immediate solution in their own backyards.
Across the country, bipartisan efforts have benefited those whose livelihoods rely on ranching, forestry and farming. Working with nature is highly cost-effective and has more immediate and wide-ranging benefits for climate, communities, public safety and economies than any other sector. And its power can be harnessed without federal direction.
Laurie Wayburn is the co-founder and president of the Pacific Forest Trust and chair of the California Natural and Working Lands Expert Advisory Committee, which recommended the targets contained in the California Assembly legislation.
Governing’s opinion columns reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of Governing’s editors or management.
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