America’s Revegetation And Carbon Sequestration Act Of 2023 - Summer

Team Members: Vrinda Goenka, Rebecca Barel, Amanda Biscoe, Benjamin Greenstein, Brooke Harrison, Daniel Cassara, Fei (Yifei) He, John Watters, Nadine Palmowski, Nicholas Britton, Tianyi Wang

This report analyzes the America’s Revegetation and Carbon Sequestration Act of 2023, a legislative proposal designed to address forest degradation and declining carbon sequestration capacity across the United States. Forests cover roughly 30% of U.S. land area and play a critical role in climate mitigation by removing and storing carbon from the atmosphere. However, recent decades have brought new pressures, including invasive species, severe wildfires, drought, pests, and climate-driven ecosystem stress, all of which have reduced forest health and weakened the capacity of forests to continue functioning as a major carbon sink. The report frames forest degradation not only as a climate problem, but also as an ecological, social, and economic challenge because degraded forests provide fewer ecosystem services and are more vulnerable to future disturbance.

The report focuses on two core pillars of the act: revegetation and carbon sequestration through improved forest management and innovation. It proposes a National Revegetation Effort that would assess and restore priority lands over a ten-year period using tools such as planting, thinning, prescribed fire, and landscape-scale prioritization. It also examines strategies to enhance long-term carbon storage through better post-disturbance recovery, invasive grass management, carbon market participation, and innovation in forest products such as biochar and mass timber. The report concludes that the act offers a comprehensive approach to strengthening forest resilience while advancing climate mitigation and adaptation goals. If implemented effectively, it could improve forest health, restore biodiversity, increase carbon sequestration, and support more sustainable management of one of the country’s most important natural resources. 

Learn more about the MPA-ESP Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management.