Forests are the lungs of our planet. Not only do they absorb carbon dioxide and create oxygen, they also regulate temperature, absorb rainwater to help prevent flooding and provide critical habitat for the majority of the world's land-based plant and animal species. But the trees that make up forests are increasingly endangered. Enter reforestation: replanting new forests to replace the old ones.For the past century, the United States Forest Service has helped to replant new forests and manage existing ones. As scientists face the ongoing threat of climate change, they're developing new strategies, including one that tries to predict the future.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
What are the roles of forests in our ecosystem?
You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, Shortwavers, Emily Kwong here. And today I am joined by producer Hannah Chin. Hello. For a story about forests. Okay, Hannah, you reported this story from somewhere that sounds pretty wet. Are you in a forest right now?
I am not in a forest, but I did report this story from somewhere that is wet, which is my home state of Oregon.
Nice.
We drove out on a rainy day to the U.S. Forest Service's Dorena Genetic Resource Center. It's located in Cottage Grove, which is this small town that's a couple hours' drive from Portland. And the day I visited, the crew was pretty busy...
We're putting 10 per bag here. So let's see, I got six, seven, eight, nine, 10. That's how many fit in this bag.
Packing up hundreds of baby Douglas fir trees into plastic bags and then big cardboard boxes.
And then I'm putting it in the pile here. Right now we're counting 67 per box.
So this is Michelle Osgood. She's the assistant horticulturist here at Dorena Genetic Resource Center. And she and her crew are taking all of these seedlings out of the greenhouse.
So we're taking each tree out of its cell that it's been growing in for about, I don't know, eight months or so. And... Putting them in these bags, into these boxes that are going to be frozen for a couple of months before they get out planted.
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