[Geof]

I think it is sloppy thinking and phrasing. An intact forest has stored a lot of Carbon but when the forest is mature, which is the case with the Boreal Forest there is no increase in the amount stored.

Consider yourself: As I point out you and everyone in the world, have stored Carbon while you where growing. Once you reach a constant weight you are no longer storing just passing it through; in as food out as CO2.

You actually have it (sort of) straight in your suggestion to turn old growth timber into something permanent and then replant. In fact in many respects your suggestion is more valid than the claim that intact mature forests continually store Carbon. But it has some pretty horrible drawbacks such as habitat destruction, not all the wood will be used permanently, it would flood the markets with lumber driving prices down and the baby trees that were planted would not store very much Carbon for the first several decades. Apart from the fact that the Boreal Forest may never regenerate if it is cut down because climate and weather in the North is no longer the same as it was hundreds or thousands of years ago when these forests became established. The big problem with forests is that what you see now is not necessarily what was there at the start. Some trees can grow in open ground such as Larches and Alders but many conifers need shade to grow. Therefore starting from nothing you have to go through a succession of tree types to get to the final continuing forest make-up.