Challenges to the Reforestation Pipeline in the United States

Abstract

Large-scale global reforestation goals have been proposed to help mitigate climate change and provide other ecosystem services. To explore reforestation potential in the United States, we used GIS analyses, surveys of nursery managers and foresters, and literature synthesis to assess the opportunities and challenges associated with meeting proposed reforestation goals. We considered a scenario where 26 million hectares (64 million acres) of natural and agricultural lands are reforested by 2040 with 30 billion trees at an estimated cost of $33 ($24–$53) billion USD. Cost per hectare will vary by region, site conditions, and other factors. This scenario would require increasing the number of tree seedlings produced each year by 1.7 billion, a 2.3-fold increase over current nursery production levels. Additional investment (not included in the reforestation cost estimate) will be needed to expand capacity for seed collection, seedling production, workforce development, and improvements in pre- and post-planting practices. Achieving this scenario will require public support for investing in these activities and incentives for landowners.

UAV-Supported Forest Regeneration: Current Trends, Challenges and Implications

“…Although UAVsSS should not be treated as a means to replace the seedling nurseries, they hold the potential to efficiently fill the gaps in the current field-based reforestation goals. Technology development, government support (incentives and subsidies), market diversification, regulations for seed quality, implementation of community-based participation and seed exchange programs, and workforce improvement are strategies to advance the seed supply chain [20,135,208]. Integrating discussions on UAVsSS into the aforementioned processes can help reduce the pressure on field workers, and also create new job opportunities and awareness in the technological sector.…”

“…However, for larger landscapes, traditional tree planting procedures are not cost effective, and suffer from constraints associated with time, energy, and manpower [17][18][19]. There are practical limitations in the nursery industry, such as lag time to produce tree seedlings after a disturbance, energy, labor infrastructure, and seed availability [20]. Moreover, the limitations to fieldwork are now aggravated due to new challenges associated with COVID-19-type pandemics, such as budget cuts, travel restrictions, and safety concerns [10,[21][22][23].…”

The potential contribution of terrestrial nature‐based solutions to a national ‘net zero’ climate target

“…Semi-natural woodland established for the long term is likely to be better than production forestry for both climate and biodiversity (Burton et al, 2018;Warner et al, 2021) (FC, 2020). Increasing these rates to meet the proposed scenarios will require an increase in the number of skilled workers, and infrastructure investment such as tree nurseries for raising seedlings (Fargione et al, 2021). Recent pledges by the UK government amount to only £12 billion for a 'green industrial revolution', despite the CCC estimating £22 billion is required annually to reach net zero by 2050 (CCC, 2019;HM Government, 2020).…”

The Economic Benefits of the New Climate Economy in Rural America

“…Reforestation and restocking costs assumed active replanting on forest land, silvopasture assumed planting on pasture, and alley cropping and windbreaks assumed planting on cropland. Cost estimates assumed that plantings would favor hardwoods in the Northeast, Lake States, and Corn Belt and softwoods in other regions, consistent with Fargione et al (2021). We adjusted all costs for inflation to reflect 2021 dollars.…”