Forestry and Forest Products

Maine has an opportunity to effectively decarbonize statewide by investing in natural climate solutions and utilizing climate-smart renewable resources provided by the forest, while supporting additional ecosystem services such as recreation, watershed health, biodiversity, and cultural values.

  • Goal 1 Research: Objective
    Prioritize forestry research in two areas: 1) improving monitoring and projections of forest conditions, threats, supply, and demand; 2) improving decision-support tools to assist land managers and policymakers in understanding current trends and projections, and assessing ecosystem services value.
  • Goal 2: Enterprise Objective
    Develop innovative biobased products and chemicals that increase demand for a diversity of Maine tree species, particularly applications dependent on low-grade fiber.
  • Goal 3: Workforce Objective
    Help the forest industry sustain its workforce through ongoing education and training, and by promoting “green collar” job opportunities.
  • Goal 4: Climate Change Objective
    Identify policies and practices that mitigate the impacts of climate change on Maine’s forests and reduce the carbon impact of Maine’s forest products industry, and utilize them to help Maine reach its 2045 carbon-neutrality goal.

Maine’s forest-based economy and the rural communities it supports are rapidly changing as a result of a variety of complex and interactive factors. In the last few years, there has been the loss of an important paper mill in Jay, an estimated 30%-40% decline in available wood markets, reduced harvesting, and a shift in the use of paper, resulting in a 19% decrease in revenue for the remaining paper mills, which has had direct implications for surrounding rural communities. In addition, a majority of Maine’s forest itself has reached a critical biological tipping point related to decreased management due to this current lack of robust fiber markets (Woodall and Weiskittel 2021). The forest is also threatened by a potential spruce budworm outbreak occurring in Canada (MacLean et al. 2019) and the ongoing challenges created by climate change, which include invasive species, disruptions to necessary infrastructure or operations, forest health declines, and general worker safety due to the rapid increase as well as prevalence of tick-borne human diseases and heat stress throughout the state (Soucy et al. 2020).

Finally, an important change has been to the actual workforce that sustains the forest-based economy, particularly given recent economic conditions (Kingsley 2022). By 2030, more than 26% of the current forest industry workforce in Maine will have reached retirement age and this value continues to increase over the coming decade at a much higher rate than similar sectors (Wallace et al. 2021). To address all these challenges, research indicates that initiatives to reevaluate existing policies, expand incentives for science-informed decision-making, integrate adaptation and mitigation efforts, and increase communication and outreach are needed (Soucy et al. 2021), while seeking strategic workforce development opportunities such as promotion of green collar careers (Wallace et al. 2021).

Given the state’s objective of achieving net- zero emissions by 2045, Maine is experiencing accelerating momentum toward effective statewide decarbonization with sustainable management and utilization of climate-smart renewable resources.

In Maine, these opportunities are dominated by the forest. Currently, the forest and associated products it generates offset 60%-75% of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions (Bai et al. 2020) with a potential to offset significantly more through natural climate solutions, such as improved management and innovative bioproducts (Daigneault et al. 2021). In particular, high mitigation potential is achievable by implementing a mix of intensive forest plantations, naturally regenerated stands, and 10%-20% of forest area permanently reserved from harvesting. Continuing to Identify potential strategies, policies, and incentives for Implementing a mix of natural climate solutions across the state could help make Maine carbon neutral or net-zero by 2045 or earlier, and possibly go beyond these goals. However, a better understanding of current and future forest resource trends, potential utilization, and additional opportunities is needed to make strategic investments .

Opportunity

  • Maine’s forest and the associated products it generates offset 60%-75% of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions .
  • Annually, Maine’s forest products sector annually contributes $8 billion-$10 billion to the state’s economy, which account for 5%-7% of the state’s GDP (one of the highest proportions in the U.S.).
  • Maine’s forest resource is vulnerable due to the current density and lack of robust fiber markets, while being threatened by a potential spruce budworm outbreak occurring in Canada and the ongoing challenges created by climate change.
  • The state’s forests have the potential to sequester significantly more carbon through improved management and innovative products, playing an even larger role in Maine’s goal for carbon neutrality by 2045 while enhancing workforce development.
  • Maine has a diversity of potential fiber markets with a range of species present, which could support the development of novel biobased products and chemicals.
  • Maine’s diverse working forest has the potential to be managed for effective climate mitigation and increased carbon sequestration.

Primary Objective

To effectively decarbonize statewide by investing in natural climate solutions and utilizing climate- smart renewable resources provided by the forest, while better quantifying and supporting additional ecosystem services such as recreation, watershed health, biodiversity, and cultural values

Notable Maine Institutions and Organizations

  • FOR/Maine
  • Forest product sector
  • Maine Climate Council
  • Maine Forest Service
  • Nonprofit organizations
  • Northern Borders Regional Commission
  • Private landowners
  • Spruce Budworm Task Force
  • University of Maine Center for Research on Sustainable Forests
  • University of Maine Cooperative Forestry Research Unit
  • University of Maine School of Forest Resources

Past Research Activities

  • Strategic assessment and planning for future forest economy by FOR/Maine
  • Natural climate solutions assessment by UMaine (Daigneault et al. 2021) and The Nature Conservancy (Fargione et al. 2018; Cook-Patton et al. 2021)
  • State carbon budget completed by UMaine
  • Wood supply assessments and projections by FOR/Maine, UMaine, and Maine Forest Service
  • Spruce budworm mitigation plan by Maine Spruce Budworm Task Force (Wagner et al. 2016)
  • Carbon profile of forest products sector (Gunn and Buscholz 2018)
  • Climate mitigation potential assessment (Williams et al. 2021)
  • Forest industry workforce needs assessment (Bernsen et al. 2020) and development strategy (Wallace et al. 2021)
  • Other academic research contributions

Current Research Activities

  • Statewide land cover and forest carbon mapping by NOAA/University of Maine
  • Revised state carbon budget by Maine DEP/ University of Maine
  • Evaluation of management strategies for improving carbon sequestration by University of Maine and Forest Carbon for Commercial Landowners
  • Forest Carbon Task Force policy recommendations
  • Monitoring of spruce budworm populations
  • Assessing rural community resilience indicators

Future Research Objectives and Needs

  • More near-time monitoring and projection of forest conditions to better forecast future management activities, potential carbon sequestration, and wood supply opportunities. (Currently, the best source of information on Maine’s forest is the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory & Analysis, but the data often takes one to two years after collection to become publicly available.)
  • Improved decision-support tools to assist both land managers and policymakers to understand current resource trends, potential trajectories based on alternative futures, and uncertainty.
  • Increased availability of data and analyses related to forest threats that would include refined maps of occurrence, levels of defoliation or mortality, and future projection of conditions.
  • Better capacity for assessing ecosystem services value based on current availability, market demands, and future potential supply.
  • Regular assessment of rural community resilience through a variety of spatially explicit metrics and indicators.
  • Refined utilization of remote sensing technology for forest assessment, monitoring, and projections.

Economic Impact

  • Better understanding of the current and future forest resource for planning.
  • Potential to improve forest management to meet multiple objectives at the landscape-scale.
  • Sustainable flow of timber and other forest ecosystem services .
  • Improved workforce development and rural community resilience .
  • More resilient forest to minimize potential impacts of climate change and associated threats like spruce budworm.

References

Bai, X., A. Daigneault, I. Fernandez, J. Frank, D. Hayes,

B. Johnson, X. Wei, and A. Weiskittel, 2020. State of Maine’s carbon budget, 2006-2016 (version 1.0). University of Maine, Center for Research on Sustainable Forests. Available from https://crsf. umaine.edu/forest-climate-change-initiative/ carbon-budget/ [accessed 16 June 2020].

Bernsen, N.R., M.S. Crandall, and J.E. Leahy, 2020. An educational needs assessment of workforce supply and readiness in Maine’s forest products industry. Forest Products Journal, 70(1), pp.22-27. https://doi. org/10.13073/FPJ-D-19-00046

Cook-Patton, S.C., C.R. Drever, B.W. Griscom,

K. Hamrick, H. Hardman, T. Kroeger, P. Pacheco,

S. Raghav, M. Stevenson, C. Webb, and S. Yeo, 2021. Protect, manage and then restore lands for climate mitigation. Nature Climate Change, 11(12), pp.1027-

1034. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01198-0

Daigneault, A., E. Simons-Legaard, S. Birthisel,

J. Carroll, I.J. Fernandez, and A. Weiskittel, 2021. Maine forestry and agriculture natural climate solutions mitigation potential. Final Report. University of

Maine, Center for Research on Sustainable Forests. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.35774.00325/2.

Fargione, J.E., S. Bassett, T. Boucher, S.D. Bridgham,

R.T. Conant, S.C. Cook-Patton, P.W. Ellis, A. Falcucci,

J.W. Fourqurean, T. Gopalakrishna and H. Gu, 2018. Natural climate solutions for the United States. Science Advances, 4(11), p.eaat1869. DOI: 10.1126/ sciadv .aat1869

Gunn, J.S. and T. Buchholz, 2018. Forest sector greenhouse gas emissions sensitivity to changes in forest management in Maine (U.S.A). Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, 91(4), pp.526-538. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpy013

Kingsley, E. 2022. It is time to worry about the logging sector. Northern Logger (July). pp.22-23.

MacLean, D.A., P. Amirault, L. Amos-Binks, D. Carleton,

C. Hennigar, R. Johns, and J. Régnière, 2019. Positive results of an early intervention strategy to suppress a spruce budworm outbreak after five years of trials. For. Trees Livelihoods 10(5): 448. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. https://doi.org/10.3390/ f10050448

Soucy, A., S. De Urioste-Stone, P. Rahimzadeh- Bajgiran, A. Weiskittel, and B. McGreavy, 2020. Forestry professionals’ perceptions of climate change impacts on the forest industry in Maine,

U.S.A. J. Sustainable For.: 1–26. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2020.1803919

Soucy, A.R., S. De Urioste-Stone, I.J. Fernandez, A. Weiskittel, P. Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran, and T. Doak, 2021. Forest policies and adaptation to climate change in Maine: Stakeholder perceptions and recommendations. Maine Policy Review 30(1): 66–77. [accessed 4 January 2022]. https://doi. org/10.53558/XNWP9949

Wagner, R.G., J. Bryant, B. Burgason, D. Denico,

M. Doty, B. Roth, P. Strauch, and D. Struble, 2016.

Coming spruce budworm outbreak: Initial risk assessment and preparation & response

recommendations for Maine’s forestry community. University of Maine, Cooperative Forestry Research Unit. https://www.sprucebudwormmaine.org/docs/ SBW_full_report_web.pdf

Wallace, R., D. Strumsky, L. Yeitz, S. O’Neill, and

M. Bailey, 2021. The forest opportunity roadmap for Maine workforce development strategy. Forest Opportunity Roadmap for Maine (FOR/Maine)

Technical Report. https://formaine.org/wp-content/ uploads/2021/07/FORMaine-Workforce-Report- Final_Revised_06.2021.pdf

Williams, C.A., N. Hasler, and L. Xi, 2021. Avoided deforestation: A climate mitigation opportunity in New England and New York. Tehnical Report. United States Climate Alliance Natural and Working Lands Research Program, pp. 1–42. https://tnc.app.box. com/s/apncszy7yrsknlk0hix9n2bt7n6n3f9k

Woodall, C.W., and A.R. Weiskittel, 2021. Relative density of United States forests has shifted to higher levels over last two decades with important implications for future dynamics. Sci. Rep. 11(1): 18848. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98244-w