Private U.S. landowners may qualify for carbon payments under proposed legislation

U.S. Starts Small in Developing Domestic Forestry offers " potential to help with several of our environmental problems. With a simple methodology and payment system, it could also be the way to build up the national and global forestry industry, beginning with individual landowners in the US."

Forest near Ketchikan, Alaska

S. 1576, otherwise known as the "Forest Carbon Incentive Program Act of 2009" (the "Act") , would pay private forest landowners in the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions via forestry carbon credits. The Act would use preapproved methodologies for sustainable forestry management, avoided conversion, afforestation, reforestation and revegetation. The idea is to engage people who own small, forested plots of land that would otherwise be excluded from the carbon offset market. Participation in the market is often complicated and expensive, requiring participants to validate and verify offsets that are generated from engaging in climate mitigating practices on their property.

How the Act Works
Forest owners who choose to participate in the Act would sign a contract with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to undertake an approved forest methodology in exchange for a given rate of compensation per acre for a minimum of 15 years. Additional incentives would be available for practices that ensure the protection of environmental benefits, such as protecting wildlife, enhancing water quality and local filtration, removing invasive species, and the restoration of habitats. This process builds on previously successfully implemented programs by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, such as the Conservation Reserve Program. The Department of Agriculture would then be responsible for monitoring the emission reductions and any potential reversals, which would result in a termination of contract and repayment.

The Impact
In terms of meeting that goal, there are 303,000,000 hectares of forestland in the U.S., the 4th largest in the world, of which 30% is owned by private individuals and organizations. Parties to the Act claim that 25% of these 91,000,000 hectares held by private individuals would not qualify for other proposed forestry projects, leaving approximately 22,725,000 hectares of land available for use under the proposed legislation. To put this into perspective, the Garcia River Forest Climate Action Project, a 9,623 hectare conservation project in Mendocino County, California, is projected to sequester 4.2 million tons of CO2e over its 100-year life. In general, a seasonal forest in North America stores 132 ton of Carbon per hectare, meaning there are potentially 3 billion tons of carbon to be preserved under the proposed legislation.

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