Abstract

Forest resource issues have been on the front page of newspapers in northwestern North America for the past two decades. Superimposed on the complexity of managing ecosystems is growing concern about increasing temperatures and other aspects of changes in the atmospheric environment. Managers of public and private forestlands face increasing pressures to include climate change issues, particularly the disposition of carbon, in long-term management plans. Management, economic and policy approaches to carbon flows in natural resources are evolving rapidly.

The workshop on Climate Change, Carbon, and Forestry in Northwestern North America – convened on Orcas Island, Washington, November 13-15, 2001 – was an opportunity for scientists, resource managers, planners, and policy makers in the Northwest to learn about and discuss prominent issues related to climate change and carbon in forest ecosystems. Workshop participants developed a common understanding of the state of science, and developed approaches for incorporating carbon allocation in forest management and planning.

This document is a draft summary of major conclusions and inferences developed by workshop participants. The final publication will be available some time in 2004.