NEWS RELEASE
USDA Forest Service
Pacific Southwest Region
1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, CA 94592
Contact: Matt Mathes 707-562-9004
FOREST SERVICE JOINS CALIFORNIA CLIMATE ACTION REGISTRY
VALLEJO, Calif., June 5, 2007 – In an effort to help the state’s program for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
in California, the U.S. Forest Service (FS) has become the first federal agency to register with the California
Climate Action Registry. By joining the registry, the FS has committed itself to tracking and reporting
greenhouse gas emissions created by its operations in California with the intent of ultimately reducing those
emissions that contribute to climate change.
With approximately 3,500 highway legal vehicles and 7,600 facilities in the state, the FS’s Pacific Southwest
Region and Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) have the potential to significantly contribute to the State
of California’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is an issue that is very important to me personally and professionally,” said Bernie Weingardt, Pacific
Southwest Regional Forester, “I feel that in addition to managing the public lands we are entrusted with, we
also have a mandate to manage our operations in an environmentally responsible manner.”
The region consists of 18 national forests in California, which cover one fifth of the state.
By committing to the California Climate Action Registry, the FS joins hundreds of state agencies, private
organizations, and non-profit groups in their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agencies and
organizations currently involved with the registry range from large corporations like PG & E and Chevron, to
non-governmental organizations like the Trust for Public Land and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Additionally, local governments like the City of San Francisco and educational institutions like University of
California, Berkeley have also made the commitment to register their greenhouse gas emissions. “As a
responsible natural resource management agency, we are proud to join with so many others to take these steps
toward reducing our impact upon the natural environment,” said Weingardt.
-more-
The FS sees climate change as an important global issue with physical and ecological changes already
documented worldwide. Because these and future changes will impact the sustainability of our forest
ecosystems, the FS takes this issue seriously and is exploring ways to contribute to the solutions being
developed in California and worldwide. As such, participation in the California Climate Action Registry is just
one of the many efforts that the FS is exploring to ensure the sustainability of our forests for generations to
come.
Some of the agency’s additional efforts include developing strategies to help ecosystems adapt to the effects of
climate change. Perhaps most importantly, research is underway to examine the role of healthy forests in
reducing greenhouse gasses through the absorption of carbon dioxide.
“The Pacific Southwest Research Station is committed to working with land managers in the Pacific Southwest
Region to provide the best available science in this cooperative effort. We also are excited to have this
opportunity to lead by example in reducing our own contribution to greenhouse gas emissions,” said Jim Sedell,
Pacific Southwest Research Station Director.
The FS’s participation with the California Climate Action Registry will be a phased approach and only
emissions resulting from the operations of the Forest Service within the state of California will be registered.
Initial greenhouse gas emission tracking will focus on the non-biological operations of the agency in California
and will not include emissions from wildfires, or from management activities such as prescribed fires or fuels
treatments. During this first phase, emissions tracking will focus solely upon vehicle fleet and facility
emissions. In the future, a second phase may include the full range of FS activities in California including the
tracking of both biological emissions and potential greenhouse gas benefits resulting from management
activities.
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