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Why is the Minnesota Senate Reducing the Payments for SFIA?

The Minnesota Senate is proposing to reduce the payments for the Sustainable Forest Incentive Act by up to 30% annually. The following groups sent a letter to the Minnesota Senate Tax Committee strongly opposing the action. If you are interested in keeping our Minnesota forests as forests, please contact your Minnesota Senator and let them …

Forests may not be the Carbon Sink that we think they are

Finland forests and peatlands, once reliable carbon sinks, have started emitting more greenhouse gases than they absorb. ​ This shift threatens Finland’s ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2035. ​ The decline in carbon absorption began around 2010 and has accelerated, with the forest sink decreasing by about 90% from 2009 to 2022. ​ …

The Climate Crisis

The Climate Crisis is impacting our forest.

Aspen, Birch, Spruce and Pine are all negatively effected by the warming climate. These species make up over 60% of Minnesota’s forests.

Sleeping Bear Tree Farm is mostly Red Pine, Ash and Aspen. All severely threatened species.

The Minnesota forest industry is a 6 billion dollar business employing more than 35,000 people. Private forests account for 44% of Minnesota forests, followed by State land at 21%, County and Municipal land at 17% and National forest at 15%.

On average, one acre of Minnesota forest stores 95 metric tons of carbon. Sleeping Bear Tree Farm holds over 4,000 metric tons of carbon. As the climate warms, the ability to store carbon decreases. As the trees die from climate change, they begin to release the stored carbon adding to the problem.

Would you like to know more?

USDA Minnesota Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment and Synthesis: A Report from the Northwoods Climate Change Response Framework Project

https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/wait-why-climate-change-bad-thing