PotlatchDeltic's Carbon Storage

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / June 13, 2025 / We have divided our forest carbon stocks into three pools that allow us to track our carbon inventory and to follow and account for stored carbon when timber is harvested. The three pools are: 1) merchantable portions of trees, 2) above ground non-merchantable portions of merchantable trees and pre-merchantable trees, and 3) below ground portions of all trees (excludes soil carbon).

Our forests, on all lands owned at the end of 2024, stored a total of 143 million metric tons of CO₂e in all three pools. Merchantable above ground portions accounted for 91 million metric tons of CO₂e; 28 million metric tons of CO₂e were in pre-merchantable and above ground portions; and 24 million metric tons were in below ground portions of trees.¹

The carbon stored in forest soils accounts for approximately 56% of forest carbon stocks and is a major component of the contribution of forests as a natural climate solution.² Soil carbon pools can be dynamic over long periods of time, but they do not flux in predictable, reportable ways like above ground carbon does in response to annual tree growth and harvest. The U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Program is continuing to develop methods to accurately measure soil organic carbon (SOC) and include estimates in their reporting.³ Utilizing the most recent regional estimates of SOC measured to a depth of 100 cm, our Idaho soils are storing ~100 million metric tons of CO₂e, our South soils are storing ~166 million metric tons of CO₂e, and our ownership is storing ~67 million metric tons of CO₂e in the understory and dead wood. For our ownership, the combined total tree carbon, soil carbon, and understory and dead wood is ~476 million metric tons of CO₂e and is a result of our lands being maintained in working forest conditions.

Carbon from harvested wood remains in wood and paper products until the end of their use and eventual decay. The rate of decrease in storage is dependent on the specific product end use. Approximately 68% of total tree carbon in a sawlog-sized tree is transported to a sawmill and 55% of that amount is captured in solid wood products, such as lumber and plywood, as a long-lived carbon vault. The total tree carbon that is used for pulp and paper products has a shorter life span. Pulp and paper products have a rate of decay or release that is high initially as products are used, recycled, or disposed of, then the rate slows substantially after initial use because of the portion that is stored in landfills.