3 Ways Federal Investment in Trees and Forests Can Support Economic Growth

To meet its 2030 climate target of reducing net emissions by 50-52% from 2005 levels, the United States must increase its land carbon sink's annual removal by 13% over 2019 levels, reaching at least 913 Mt CO2e. The World Resources Institute identifies three primary pathways to achieve this: reforestation and restocking, agroforestry, and wildfire risk mitigation. Together, these pathways would require a total federal investment of $126.6 billion over 20 years, supporting approximately 199,000 jobs annually and generating $226.8 billion in value added to local economies. The document advocates for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and the Build Back Better Act to maintain robust funding for these initiatives to catalyze a just, low-carbon economy.

• The United States needs to increase its land carbon sink's annual sequestration by 13% over 2019 levels to remove at least 913 Mt CO2e annually by 2030, which is necessary to meet the national target of reducing net emissions by 50-52% from 2005 levels by 2030.
• A total federal investment of $126.6 billion over 20 years in three tree-based pathways would support approximately 3.9 million job-years (199,000 jobs annually) and generate $226.8 billion in value added to local economies, including $164.4 billion in employee compensation and $12.2 billion in taxes.
• Reforestation and restocking on non-federal lands (185.4 million eligible acres) could remove 156 MtCO2e per year by 2030 and up to 312 MtCO2e per year by 2040, supporting 68,100 annual jobs. Federal lands (18 million eligible acres) could sequester an additional 17 MtCO2e per year by 2030 and up to 35 MtCO2e per year by 2040, supporting 11,700 annual jobs.
• Agroforestry, incorporating trees into approximately 110.9 million acres of eligible U.S. cropland and pastureland, could sequester 156 MMT CO2e per year. An annual federal investment of $1.8 billion in this pathway could support 49,500 jobs annually.
• Wildfire risk mitigation through fuel load treatments on over 86.7 million eligible acres could reduce carbon emissions in the western United States by 18–25% via prescribed burning alone. A yearly federal investment of $1.5 billion could support 69,600 jobs, including forestry professionals and biomass processing roles.

APA

Leslie-Bole, H. (2021). 3 Ways Federal Investment in Trees and Forests Can Support Economic Growth. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/economic-growth-federal-investment-trees-forests

Chicago

Leslie-Bole, Haley. 3 Ways Federal Investment in Trees and Forests Can Support Economic Growth. World Resources Institute, 2021. https://www.wri.org/insights/economic-growth-federal-investment-trees-forests.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Leslie-Bole |first1=Haley |title=3 Ways Federal Investment in Trees and Forests Can Support Economic Growth |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=13 October 2021 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/economic-growth-federal-investment-trees-forests |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lesliebole2021ways, author = {Leslie-Bole, Haley}, title = {{3 Ways Federal Investment in Trees and Forests Can Support Economic Growth}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/economic-growth-federal-investment-trees-forests}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }