Carbon in United States Forests and Wood Products

This database contains estimates of changes in carbon stocks for the forests and wood products of the 50 U.S. states between 1987 and 1997. According to these estimates, carbon stocks on forestland and harvested wood products increased between 1987 and 1997 at an annual rate of 190 million metric tons. Most of this increase was in biomass, followed closely by wood products and landfills. Changes in land use since 1987 caused a small decrease in carbon stocks, but this loss was offset by large gains on existing forestland. The eastern portion of the United States had the greatest gain in carbon stocks with smaller gains were estimated for the western United States. Most of the individual states showed increases in ecosystem and wood products carbon. Observed changes were attributed to distinct regional and local factors, e.g. timber production, land-use change, and natural disturbance. This information can be the basis for determining the potential gain or loss of forest carbon resulting from management and policy decisions.