Legislation Introduced to Promote Reforestation and Carbon Storage

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV), Ranking Member John Barasso (R-WY), Senator Angus King (I-ME), and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) have introduced the America's Revegetation and Carbon Sequestration Act of 2021 to "improve revegetation and carbon sequestration activities in the United States."

The legislation would provide funding to increase reforestation and revegetation on federal and private lands that voluntarily participate by selling carbon credits that are generated in the National Forest System. In addition to reforestation and revegetation, the legislation focuses on carbon storage through forest management and increased utilization of mass timber in federal buildings, along with research on biochar utilization, wood products on longevity, and carbon credit insurance. Click here for a summary of the bill. 

A hearing on this legislation, along with other bills that address forest fires and forest management, is expected later this month.