NATIONAL WOODLANDS Winter 2009 1

Winter 2009

THE VOICE OF FAMILY FOREST LANDOWNERSGrowing half of America’s wood, forests, water and wildlife

greentag.org

• Managing Your Woodlot Through Hard Times• Carbon Offsets for Timberland are a Reality• Is An LLC Appropriate for Owning Timber?

WWW.WOODLANDOWNERS.ORG

NATIONAL WOODLANDS Winter 2009 8

Getting Your Start In the Growing Carbon Market

New Technology Helps Landowners and Foresters byBarbara Shields

Fossilfuelemissionsfrommanufacturing,transportation,andenergyproductionleadtoahostofproblemsincludingglobalwarming.Forestresearchershavedevelopedameansofmonitoringandcounterbalancingourneedforgoodsandserviceswithnature’sability tocleanse theatmosphereofharmfulemissionstotheair.GeographicInformationSystems(GIS)areveryusefultoolstomeasureandbetterrecognizethesetrade-offs.Italsoprovidesabasisfordesigninglandmanagement plans.These systems have the capability tocombine many layers of data, model those data in manyways,andgeneratereportsandmapsthatmakeiteasiertocomprehendacomplexproblem. One of the greenhouse gases that contribute to globalwarmingiscarbondioxide(CO�).Naturalprocessesthathaveevolvedovereonsoffsettheimpactofgreenhousegaseswithreservoirssuchasforestandoceans.Intheseplacespho-tosynthesisremovescarbonfromtheatmosphere.Growingtreesconvert,orsequester,CO�fromtheatmosphereandturnitintowood.Forestersareusinggeographicinformationsystems(GIS)toanalyzeforests’carbonsequestrationrates.Thistechnologycanalsobeimplementedtorevealopportu-nities incarbon trading togaineconomicadvantages fromsustainableforestmanagement. Forests in theUnitedStatesalonesequesterabout�00millionmetric tonsofcarboneachyear. In itsmost recentGreenhouseGasInventoryReport,theEnvironmentalProtec-tionAgencynotesthatU.S.forestssequestered10.5percent

ofthecarbondioxidereleasedbythecombustionoffossilfuelsintheUnitedStates.GIShelpsmeasure,monitor,andverifycarbonstorageoccurringwithinforests. Traditionally,forestershaveusedGISforbasictimberin-ventoryservices.Today‘sInternet,whencoupledthesenewgeographiccapabilities,providesahelpfultoolforlandown-erstomapandmonitortheforestmanagementpracticesontheirownlands.ConsultingforestersuseGISsoftwarewithforestryinformationsuchascurrentforest inventoriesandforecastsoftreegrowth.Usinggeographyforforestanalysisalso gives foresters site-specific information about how carbon stocks associated with specific forests are changing. This, in turn,providestheinformationneededtodevelopsoundandsustainableforestmanagementplans. Exceptforoneencouragingexception,eventhesewonder-fulnewGIStoolscannothelplandownerswhentheyencountersuddencosts,suchasajumpinpropertytaxesortheillnessofafamilymember.Ifthemoneyisnotavailable,theyareforcedtosellsomeoftheirland.Theresultingparcelizationcanleadtotheundesirableimpactsofforestfragmentation.Thelandownerloses,theforestloses,andeventuallysocietyloses. Anemergingmarketisthesaleofcarboncredits.Measur-ing,evaluatingandmarketingthesecreditsaremucheasierwhenlandownersortheirforestershavealreadyimplementedtheGISmappinganddatamonitoringjustdescribed. IntheU.S.thesecarboncreditscanprovidewoodlandown-

Growth measurements taken in the field and entered into a stand inventory database can be processed with GIS to create predic-tive models and produce a growth map.

NATIONAL WOODLANDS Winter 2009 9

erscash,mostoftenthroughsalesontheChicagoClimateExchange(CCX).TheExchangehasdevelopedamarketthatfacilitatesthereductionofgreenhousegases.Hereishow it works: First, manufacturing companies determinethat they want to reduce their carbon emissions footprintby a certain percentage within a specified time period. One meansofdoingthisisthroughcarbonoffsetcredittrading.Tomeetemissionreductiongoals,CCXmemberbusinessescan purchase forest carbon sequestration credits to helpoffsettheiremissionproductionlevels.Therevenuepaidtothecarbonoffsetcreditprovidergoestowardcompensatingforthecostsofsustainableforestmanagement.Exchangeallowancesareissuedtomembersinaccordancewiththeiremissionbaselineandotherregulations. The use of GIS gives the seller of carbon credits (thelandowner) a means of calculating carbon sequestrationand the basis for credible certification. Third party validation isessentialforaccreditationofforestcarbonsequestration,and calculating these credits must be held to scientific stan-dards.GISnotonlyhousesandmanagesimmenseforestrydatabases,italsorunsforestrymodelsanddisplaysstandvolumeandcarbonsequestrationdataviatablesandmaps.This information can also be delivered over the Internetalongwithtoolsthathelpclientseasilyinteractwithspatialandtabulardata.Landownersareabletoprovidedetailedinformation confirming that their carbon sequestration projects arecredibleandtheforestiswellmanaged. Computerprogramshavebeendevelopedprovidingfor-estmanagersandcarbonbuyerstheinformationtheyneed.The process starts in the field, where foresters gather timber inventorydata.UsingGlobalPositioningSystemtechnologywhiletheyareinventoryingtheforest,foresterstiegeographiclocation coordinates to forest stand attribute data. The field datacollectedincludestreespecies,diametermeasurements

and additional ecological information. Geo-referenced field data is downloaded into a geodatabase, and tree data isjoinedtoothertimberstanddatatables.Sampledatapointsrepresentingparticularstandsoftreesarerunthroughatim-berinventoryprogramtoproducetimbervolumesandstemcountsbyspeciesanddiameter-classforaparticularareadesignatedbyageographicpolygononthemap. Thetimberdatacollectedisputintoasoftwareprogramthatprovidesgrowthestimatesforavarietyoftimeintervals.Thenextstepistotranslatetimberdataintocarbonunits,whichareinfacttheproductthatissenttomarketforsalethrough“marketaggregators.”Thiscanbedoneatalocal,state,orregional level. Several of NWOA’s affiliated state landowner associationshavedevelopedcarboncreditprograms.Theyaredescribedinthisissueonp.WR�. Using a GIS-enabled Web site, foresters and investorscangeographicallyviewcarbonreports.Thesesitesprovideclientswithaforest-centricmapexperience.BuiltonESRI’sArcGIStechnology,mappingwebsitesallowuserstoruncus-tomizedandstandardizedgrowthmodelsonstands,tracts,andmanagementunitsaswellasgeneratereportsinvariousfile formats. Site visitors on the Internet can view growth rates andcarbonsequestrationconversiondataneededtomakesoundinvestmentdecisionsforbothbusinessandtheenvironment.A mapping function graphically displays the specific forest’s ownership,anduserscandrilldowntothetractandforeststandlevel.GISallowsuserstolinktovariousreports,includingstandandstocktablesbyspeciesanddiameterclassaswellastheassociatedcarbonstockequivalents,foranyparticularpartoftheforest’sownership. The potentially significant consequences of climate change are causing many companies to be more mindful of their

(Continued on page 17)

NATIONAL WOODLANDS Winter 2009 �7

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relianceonotherstorepresentforestryhasnotbeeneffec-tiveinwatershedactivities.TheMidwestFloodReportisanexample. PerhapsthebiggestfallacyassociatedwithwetlandreportsisthatloggingclearedthebottomlandhardwoodsandcausedthelossoftheIvory-billedWoodpecker.GosselinkandLee’s1987reportindicatesthatlandconversionanddrainagecausemostofthelosswhichbeganinthe1800s.NASFrespondedtothisaccusationbysayingthewoodlandownersshouldgetcreditforthebottomlandhardwoodstheysaved. TheNWIdoesnotprovideasoundbasisformakingdeci-sionsonthesilvicultureexemption.ThematurehabitatgoalsoftheNWIandtheinclusionofareaswithoutsurfacewaterarenotconsistentwiththeCWA. Wetlandregulationsareanotherpitfall.TheCleanWaterActexemptsforestroadsifBMPsareused.The198�Dredgeand Fill regulations specifically required the use of BMPs in theStatesapprovedprogram.Specialinterestgroupsput15provisionsontheexemptionforroads in theregulations tooffsetCongressionalintent.Whenthe1988regulationswerewritten,therequirementtouseStateBMPswasdroppedandonly the15provisionswere listed.TheState role inwaterqualitygotlost. Forestry can contribute much to the understanding andretentionofforestedwetlands.Makingwoodlandownerspartof the process can be beneficial to all concerned.

Gordon StuartForest HydrologistWestbrook, Maine

NWOA

THE READERS RESPOND(Continued from page 2)

impactontheenvironment.Byparticipatingincarbontrad-ing,businessesnotonlyreducetheircarbonimpactsbutalsoareapplaudedfortheircorporatesocialresponsibility.Thesegreenmarketingstrategiesprovideacompetitiveadvantagebecause they enhance brand perception by the emergingenvironmentallyconsciousconsumer. Forestindustrycarbon-tradingparticipantsincludetimberinvestmentmanagementorganizations(TIMOs),industrialfor-estcompanies,nongovernmentalorganizationssuchaslandtrusts,poolsofsmallprivatelandowners,andtriballandhold-ers.Afterarigorousanalysisoftheirforestresourceismadeand a project proposal is accepted by CCX and verified by an independent verification entity, forest landowners may be able toregistertheircarbonsequestrationcreditsandsellthematthecurrentmarketrate.Forestcarbonoffsetprojectownersarethencommittedforaperiodof15yearstomanagethatforest sustainably to continue benefiting from carbon market participation.

GROWING CARBON MARKET(Continued from page 9)

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