Everyone loves trees! The serene greenness of a forest is soothing. It’s beautiful. It is something to be enjoyed, photographed and hiked through.
What does an acre of forested land really do for us? Quite a lot, it turns out. Each acre provides environmental services that, if had to be paid for otherwise, would cost taxpayers a lot of money. One acre of forest can store 36.8 megatons of carbon. It can also filter 2.6 megatons of carbon dioxide (the result of burning fossil fuels) out of the atmosphere. Were that not a major contribution to a healthy environment, that same acre can also annually produce enough oxygen for 19 people to breath.
And forests are also critical to water quality, water quantity, flood mitigation, wildlife habitats and the removal of air pollution.
Each acre of forest provides $2,923 of recreational benefits for humans. Access to those recreational benefits reduces health costs by $4,028 per acre.
How many acres of forest land is in your community? In the National Heritage Corridor?