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CHAPTER 4 FOREST SUSTAINABILITY AND BIOMASS HARVESTING IN MASSACHUSETTS 4.1 INTRODUCTION The objective of this task of the Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy study is to evaluate the potential impacts posed by increased biomass harvesting in the forests of Massachu- setts and offer recommendations for mitigating any negative outcomes that are identified. Although biomass harvesting offers opportunities to enhance silvicultural treatments and produce greater quantities and quality of traditional forest products such as sawlogs these economic impacts are not the focus of this chapter. This chapter reviews indicators of forest sustainability for Massachusetts forests and gauges the impact of increased biomass harvesting on forest ecosystem sustainability. It also suggests options for policies, guidelines, or regulations that might be needed to protect ecological values while producing a forest based energy supply and realizing the economic benefits from increased silvicultural productivity. The concept of forest sustainability requires consideration of what is being sustained, over what time period, and at what landscape scale. Section 2 addresses these issues at the stand- level, focusing on the localized ecological impacts of biomass harvesting. These stand-level considerations are most readily observed and quantifiable. The stand-level analysis discusses the potential impacts to ecological systems and processes and then reviews the biomass harvesting guidelines used by other states and political entities to minimize any impacts at the stand level. Then the adequacy of Massachusetts’ current forest management regulations and guidelines are evaluated. Section 3 considers a broader set of sustainability factors at the landscape rather than the stand level. This discussion includes socio-economic indicators that go beyond stand-level ecological effects and have the potential to alter the provision of forest ecosystem services at a regional scale. The chapter concludes with a discussion of policy options that the state may want to consider for addressing these potential stand- and landscape-scale impacts. To help answer questions about the potential impact of increased biomass harvests on forest sustainability at both stand and land- scape scales, this report draws heavily on information from three separate but related reports that were developed or updated for this study by the Forest Guild. These documents are included as appendices to this report. Ecology of Dead Wood in the Northeast consists of a literature review of important topics relevant to biomass harvesting in forest types common to Massachusetts. Excerpts from this report and implications for Massachusetts policies are included in Section 2. An Assessment of Biomass Harvesting Guidelines (2009) was revised for this study, and the unpublished revised version is included. Finally, Forest Biomass Retention and Harvesting Guidelines for the Northeast is a complete set of recommendations to protect Massachusetts forest types that was developed in a parallel process by Forest Guild members and staff.1 These guidelines provide a useful starting point for the development of state-specific guidelines for Massachusetts. These reports provide more detailed background information and a richer exploration of the underlying science and issues. Overviews of each of these reports and their implications for policies addressing increased biomass harvests in Massachusetts are included in Section 2 with the stand-level discussion. 4.2 STAND-LEVELIMPACTSTOFOREST HEALTH RESULTING FROM INCREASED BIOMASS DEMAND As we learned from the analysis in Chapter 3, woody biomass generated solely from logging debris (tops and branches) will contribute minimally to commercial-scale biomass facilities. This implies that the only way to meet higher demand would be to increase the annual forest harvest, i.e., cut more trees per acre or harvest additional acreage. Increasing harvest levels does not automatically mean an unsustainable forest ecosystem. As noted in Chapter 3, timber inventories have been increasing in Massachusetts for many decades and harvests can potentially be increased without reducing future wood supplies. The chal- lenge with increased harvests is to provide assurances that forest ecosystem health would be preserved. There are three main areas where forest ecosystem sustainability might be affected. These issues are relevant to any harvesting operation, but become of greater concern if additional wood is removed for biomass: • Impact on hydrology and water quality • Impact on soils and site productivity • Impact on habitat and biodiversity 4.2.1. INTRODUCTION Hydrology and water quality are already covered with existing Best Management Practices (BMPs) in Massachusetts (reference to BMPs). Increasing the harvest levels to meet biomass demands should therefore not compromise water resources because of the protections already in place. It is not clear that protections are in place for soils and productivity, or biodiversity, and therefore we focus on these issues in this Task. Many of the possible impacts related to biomass harvesting relate to the removal and retention of woody material. This is true for soil protection as well as wildlife and biodiversity. Although dead wood and declining trees have traditionally had little commercial value, they do have substantial ecological value. For this reason, we focus our analysis on the ecology and benchmarks for reten- tion of this material. 1 The three Forest Guild reports mentioned here are included in the Appendices. BIOMASS SUSTAINABILITY AND CARBON POLICY STUDY MANOMET CENTER FOR CONSERVATION SCIENCES 63 NATURAL CAPITAL INITIATIVEPDF Image | NATURAL CAPITAL INITIATIVE AT MANOMET
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