From: Dominick DellaSala Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2018 3:05 PM To: Forest Carbonstudy * ODF Subject: suggested charter changes Hi folks - please consider the following statements from the charter and my suggestions below: 1) "....alternative methods of forest management that can increase carbon sequestration and reduce the loss of carbon sequestration to wildfire" 2) "The assessment of Oregon’s forests should provide estimates of the impact of wildfire" Regarding #1, several recent studies, including Law et al. 2018 and the OGWC draft report to legislatures point to wildfire emissions as not a big contributor to the state's annual emissions (most years 1-3%, active fire years 11%). I would encourage the team to review the available literature before concluding that we have a wildfire problem that needs to be addressed by treatments that potentially contribute more emissions than the fires themselves. #2 - impact of wildfire assessment - this should include ecosystem benefits (and not just impacts). Can you add this to the charter? The assessment should also include a systematic evidence review of how land use and extreme fire weather interact to affect wildfire behavior. There are several recent studies that are applicable to the region and the state. And finally - I think all the work of the carbon group should be reviewed by a science team specializing in forest carbon, wildfire ecology, and land use/climate change effects on wildfire behavior - in other words an external peer review. Empirical based studies are preferred wherever they are available and the group should design questions to address around the two topics above. cheers Dominick A. DellaSala, Ph.D | President, Chief Scientist Editor and Primary Author "Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World: Ecology & Conservation" https://islandpress.org/author/dominick-a-dellasala Co-editor and Author "The Ecological Importance of Mixed-Severity Fires:Nature's Phoenix" www.scitechconnect.elsevier.com/author/dominick-dellasala/ Co-editor "Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene" https://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia- of-the-anthropocene/dellasala/978-0-12-809665-9 Geos Institute | 84 Fourth Street | Ashland, Oregon 97520 Phone: 541.482.4459 x302 | 541-621-7223 (cell) | Fax: 541.482.7282 E-mail: dominick@geosinstitute.org | Website: www.geosinstitute.org The Geos Institute is leading the way to climate change solutions that matter.