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PalletCentral • March-April 2021 41 Among ten different reforestation options, the Reforestation Hub suggests that three of them provide the most potential: formerly forested lands now used for pasture (49% of potential); floodplains (17%); and urban open space (14%). But the top results change by county, so the Reforestation Hub allows users to find the places with the most potential in their area. Land ownership is also an important consideration. "Over one-third of the total potential for reforestation within existing forestland is on federal lands," said Jad Daley, President, and CEO of American Forests. "That means we have a massive lever for climate action right in our hands, because we have the power to reforest these lands if the federal government simply allocates sufficient staff and funding." According to The Nature Conservancy, several existing reforestation programs could be scaled up to put the new Reforestation Hub's information to work. On public lands, this includes the Reforestation Trust Fund, which can be enhanced via the soon- to-be-introduced REPLANT Act to fully fund the reforestation of America's national forests. On private lands, they include the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), as well as state conservation agency cost-share programs. Stakeholders are encouraged to visit the Reforestation Hub to inform their tree planting programs. Questions about Hub and its underlying study can be sent to ReforestationHub@tnc.org. This article was based on the following press release: https://www.nature.org/ en-us/newsroom/study- shows-reforestation- potential-us/. Up to 133 million acres of formerly forested lands in the United States that could be reforested to boost carbon storage. That would translate into absorbing an additional 333 million metric tons of carbon per year — equivalent to the carbon emissions from 72 million vehicles.

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