If anyone reading this has been fortunate enough to experience the wonder of a mature bottomland hardwood swamp, then place yourself in a category with few other people. Bottomland hardwoods in the Southern United States have been reduced to a small portion of what they once were for reasons anywhere from disease prevention to pine plantation development.
Recent science shows that many forms of biomass — especially from forests — produce higher carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels. In particular, a growing body of peer-reviewed, scientific studies shows that burning wood from whole trees in power plants to produce electricity can increase carbon emissions relative to fossil fuels for many decades — anywhere from 35 to 100 years.
North Carolina’s Hofmann Forest, the largest tract of protected land in the state, was recently offered a reprieve from a pending sale. NC State University Forestry Professor, Fred Cubbage, gives us his opinion here about the failed sale and what it means for Hofmann forest going forward.
