Carbon Credits are a new way of getting revenue from forests by leaving trees in the ground. The state of Alaska is setting up its own program, and the Haines state forest could be included. But, the local timber harvest plan will have to be updated to accommodate the new program.

 

 

Global temperatures are rising. The scientific consensus is that humans are causing this warming by releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, which traps the heat of the sun. One approach to solving this problem is to put a price on carbon. This would allow entities that remove carbon from the atmosphere to get paid for that service. 

For example, say I own a tree, which removes carbon from the air, and my neighbor drives a car, which emits carbon into the air. My neighbor could pay me to not cut that tree, so that the tree absorbs the carbon emitted by his car. Our neighborhood could then be said to be carbon neutral. 

In practice, it might never be worth setting up a program around one tree and one car, but there are plenty of companies that emit millions of tons of carbon and have pledged to become carbon neutral. Buying carbon credits is one of the easiest ways to do that. If, like the state of Alaska, you own millions of acres of forests, leaving trees in the ground becomes a business opportunity.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is currently drafting a carbon offset program. Trevor Fulton is managing that program, and he was in Haines recently to give a presentation.

Fulton: “We are still in the process of developing the regulation for those programs, and that’s a process that we hope to have completed in the next couple months.”

The state will seek to develop its own programs, and also to lease state land or coastal areas to private entities so that they can develop theirs. Some native corporations –Sealaska among them-  have already been running carbon offset programs on their own land for years. 

Carbon offset programs enable companies and landholders to trade in carbon credits. A carbon credit is equivalent to one metric ton of carbon. This is roughly the amount of carbon emitted by driving a car from Anchorage to Seattle.

Fulton says that in the case of the Haines state forest, carbon credits would be created through optimized forest management practices. He says those credits would worth around $15 a piece. But when asked how much revenue the 280 000 acres of state forest around Haines could generate, he is cautious.

Fulton: “That really depends on the credit generation, that depends on the timber that we are looking at, it depends on the species of trees that are there, on the maturity of those trees. And it depends on how much timber harvest might still be allowed in those areas. We expect fairly moderate revenues at first, but considering the state’s vast land and resources that we manage, there is a lot of opportunity out there,and we hope to see that grow over the years.”

By law, 80% of  revenue from the program would go to the state’s general fund, and 20% would go to a fund to promote renewable energy in Alaska.

A third party auditor would be in charge of figuring out how much carbon the forest is taking in. Managers can improve the carbon sequestration potential of a forest through planting, removing competing vegetation, fertilization, reducing timber harvest, setting up preserves, and fire prevention. 

Aside from leaving most trees in the ground, Fulton says the program does not restrict land use.

Fulton: “Project area will remain open to other uses, things like hunting and fishing and recreation and public access in general, as well as other resource development activities, to a certain extent that includes timber harvest as well.”

During the presentation, some people wondered how the program would affect the Haines timber harvest plan. Forester Greg Palmieri said the plan would be updated.

Palmieri: “The plan is specifically opened up for this process for the inclusion of the carbon offset program in policy language. That being said, because of the fact that this is a management plan amendment also, when the public review draft goes out to the public, the opportunities to comment on the entire plan are open to the public.”

DNR’s website says there will be a 60 day comment period at the end of the year to allow residents to give input on the draft management plan. In the meantime, the department is conducting a series of online surveys that staff will take into account when rewriting the plan.

The forest management plan was last amended over 20 years ago. Officials expect to finalize the changes by April of next year.