Forest Resources
Forests are home to many invaluable ecosystem goods and services as well as a source of wood products for economies around the world, and they can play a major role in climate adaptation and climate change mitigation. Experts at RFF are evaluating the effectiveness of forest management policies by accounting for the economic, social, and environmental goals of region-specific programs alongside program costs.
Forest Bioenergy 101
Read our explainer on forest bioenergy generation and how it affects carbon emissions.
Read the Explainer
Tree Planting as Climate Policy?
This issue brief examines efforts to expand the US forest carbon sink and describes how such efforts could benefit from a careful consideration of the nation’s history of tree planting and forest investment and the current structure of timber supply and demand.
Read the Issue Brief
Wildfires
Learn how communities, land managers, and policymakers can mitigate wildfire disasters.
Read moreFeatured Content
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Workshop/Seminar — Nov 23, 2020
Private Event: The US Wood Pellet Industry
A discussion on US forestry and land management practices
Journal Article — Nov 23, 2020
Estimating Forest Sustainability Bond Prices for Natural Resource and Ecosystem Services Markets
A journal article that introduces a sustainable forestry bond that is composed of wood products and ecosystem services, geared toward increasing the cash flow to a traditional forest bond.
Journal Article — Oct 29, 2020
Expansion of US Wood Pellet Industry Points to Positive Trends but the Need for Continued Monitoring
A first-of-its-kind study published in the journal Scientific Reports finds that wood produced in the southeastern United States for the EU’s renewable energy needs has a net positive effect on US forests—but that future industry expansion could warrant more research.
Journal Article — Nov 23, 2020
Estimating Forest Sustainability Bond Prices for Natural Resource and Ecosystem Services Markets
A journal article that introduces a sustainable forestry bond that is composed of wood products and ecosystem services, geared toward increasing the cash flow to a traditional forest bond.
Journal Article — Oct 29, 2020
Expansion of US Wood Pellet Industry Points to Positive Trends but the Need for Continued Monitoring
A first-of-its-kind study published in the journal Scientific Reports finds that wood produced in the southeastern United States for the EU’s renewable energy needs has a net positive effect on US forests—but that future industry expansion could warrant more research.
Journal Article — Oct 15, 2020
Using a hybrid demand-allocation algorithm to enable distributional analysis of land use change patterns
This article introduces and demonstrates an empirical seeding demand-allocation algorithm to model land use change and forest fragmentation in the continental United States.
Workshop/Seminar — Nov 23, 2020
Private Event: The US Wood Pellet Industry
A discussion on US forestry and land management practices
Conferences & Panels — Sep 1, 2020
Stanford Global Carbon Management Workshop
An invitation-only workshop exploring opportunities for global carbon management research
RFF Live — Jun 9, 2020
Managing Forests for Climate Mitigation—from Theory to Practice
An in-depth conversation on the practicalities of implementing natural climate solutions through forest management
Press Release — Oct 29, 2020
Bound for the EU, American-Made Biomass Checks the Right Boxes
A first-of-its-kind study published in the journal Scientific Reports on Thursday finds that wood produced in the southeastern United States for the EU’s renewable energy needs has a net positive effect on US forests—but that future industry expansion could warrant more research.
Press Release — Jun 19, 2020
Forests Can Be Powerful Climate Solutions—but Not without Risks
A new paper in Science finds policymakers must understand the threats forests face, or risk turning a powerful carbon sink into a carbon source.
Media Highlight — May 12, 2020
The One Trillion Trees Project and Increasing US Forest Cover
RFF Issue Brief by Dave Wear is cited extensively in BBN Times article on the One Trillion Trees Project.
Resources Articles — Oct 22, 2020
Puns That Only Resources for the Future Could Love
Review the Top 10 list of puns that made it through editorial review at Resources for the Future and into various newsletters and social media posts over the past few months … and groan along with us.
Common Resources — Oct 14, 2020
Thoughtful Forest Management and Better Building Practices Can Help Mitigate the Impact of Wildfires
As this year’s unusually extreme fire season continues to spread across the American West, RFF’s Ann Bartuska, David Wear, and Matthew Wibbenmeyer discuss best practices for forest management.
Common Resources — Jul 6, 2020
A Close Look at the New Report from the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
RFF researchers dig into the new congressional action plan for solving the climate crisis and share their impressions of the report.