For most of recorded history, the value of trees has been quantified monetarily in terms of what you can get for them at the mill, or their worth off-the-stump. With the emergence of both the voluntary and compliance carbon markets, trees now have a new monetary value measured by how much carbon they sequester.
In particular, the recent Cap-and-Trade legislation of carbon in California has created a market where large landowners throughout North America can generate additional income from their trees, and do so without cutting them down.
Landowners with more than 1,000 acres of mature hardwoods can take part in an Improved Forest Management Plan to generate carbon credits on either market while others may reforest marginal agriculture or pasture land and generate credits as well.
Improved Forest Management Plans can be an ideal source of income for landowners who have had a light touch on their timber, and are particularly well suited to hunting clubs and folks who would like to see their timber standing for aesthetic or other purposes.
Some FAQs when it comes to carbon sequestering…
What if my property is under easement? This is generally not a problem. Carbon projects can provide another income stream for properties that are currently under easement and are a great way to offset expenses like taxes or other land expenses.
Can I still cut my timber? This question arises in most every conversation regarding carbon sequestering projects. The answer is yes. Just because you are monetizing timber for carbon credits doesn’t mean there aren’t still options for harvesting some trees and generating multiple and varied sources of income on your property while at the same time creating early successional habitat that is so important for deer, birds, and almost all species of wildlife.
This article was written by Tee Clarkson, who works in land preservation and carbon sequestering at Atoka Conservation Exchange, LLC. The article demonstrates Field Sport Concepts approach to assisting landowners in the conservation of their land holdings, by highlighting a variety of ways to enhance the value of their rural lands.
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To begin, the whole idea of Carbon Credits discredits the article. Giving the theoretical and highly political issue of Carbon Credits any recognition leads quickly to the assumption of fact. Carbon Credits is an AlGore mythological fantasy designed to create a new tax revenue for the “who’-who” of environmental sadism to line their pockets. Giving AlGore or any governmental entity on cent would do nothing to change climate cycles. If it could, we would all buy into the notion that people/government have the power to control weather at the broadest level. Sorry, they may think they are god, but only One God can do that. No one will ever convince me that man can change, destroy, or have mass effect on the overall environment unless billions of us all turned our focus on deliberately destroying ourselves. Myth busted.
Now, IF we were to entertain the joke of Carbon Credits, I would imagine every golf course on the planet, with all their plush greenery would also enjoy a heathy Carbon Tax Credit. Which also means that all these wealthy industrialists who enjoy chasing a little ball around a field while belching greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere with the intent of destroying the world as we know it, would also each receive a Carbon Credit by way of their golf memberships.
It’s a never ending circle argument that has no proven data to end the argument. I love the environment. I love golf courses. I enjoy nature, and I enjoy baseball bats made of the highest quality hardwood. It’s time we put this issue to rest by not giving it any credit.