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Recently, we had the pleasure of traveling around to small towns throughout the Ozarks meeting with forest landowners who can gain additional income by enrolling in the still-emerging carbon market. We had organized a series of public meetings and one-on-one discussions in an attempt to inform landowners about this new opportunity and to describe what the carbon market can mean to them.
We always find a basic lesson in the science of forestry is helpful when introducing landowners to this opportunity. Scientifically, trees breathe in carbon dioxide and they store carbon as they grow. If landowners practice good long-term forestry, the capacity of the forest to store more carbon increases. As the forest stores more carbon, the forest can also produce logs for the timber market, food for wildlife and continue to provide a variety of valuable services.
We provide the scientific tools and access to resources that pay landowners to make this long-term commitment to good forestry and translate that commitment into a saleable resource.
While this series of events sounds basic enough in concept, the truth is that hundreds of landowners in the meetings reveal a much more complex reality about the future of the Ozark forest. Forest landowners in the region have a lot on their minds. And they have a lot of difficult decisions to make.
Making matters worse, a large group of politicians, policy wonks and pollute-and-run corporations have done serious damage to this effort by scaring the public about the pending “Cap-and-Tax” legislation. To hear these guys tell it, putting a limit on greenhouse gas emissions and a price on pollution will destroy the economy and lead to the decline of our American way of life. Quite often during the question-and-answer sessions in our meetings, we get references to a great conspiracy involving Al Gore, California liberals and Wall Street shenanigans.
But after some good spirited jabs, we feel it’s important to set the record straight about what a carbon market can do for forest landowners throughout the Ozarks. They can earn annual income, gain access to forest management assistance, retain their property rights and build a more valuable forest asset over time by growing bigger trees. This value proposition makes them stop and think very seriously about their forest management goals and objectives. For no out-of-pocket cost, it is possible for participants to leave a long-term legacy of economic stability and ecological health.
The important fact is that forestry is and will always be a long-term proposition. The devastation of the previous two (and sometimes more) historic cuts on the vast majority of Ozark forest still is being felt today. Today’s Ozark forests have tremendous potential to grow bigger, more valuable trees.
Meanwhile, forces are aligning to degrade the forest once again sometime soon on the grounds that it’s the best way to clean up the two previous disasters (you’ll note many of the same proponents of this idea are the ones spewing fear and Armageddon about the possibility of a federal cap on greenhouse-gas emissions) to serve a budding biomass market. Proposals like these are short sighted and serve only to further deplete resources from an already challenged region. Still, the region’s forest and its communities are incredibly resilient and strong. The seeds are in place for a new economy built upon long-term, sustainable forestry.
Contrary to the message spread by some self-interested politicians and large companies, good carbon policy that includes a robust forest carbon credit program can play a key role in changing the way Ozark forest land is managed and finally provide some financial compensation for conservation of the land.
If we can strip away all of the lies and misleading comments about climate change conspiracies, we have a clear choice to make. Either we rob the Ozarks and its next generation of its forest resources once again to benefit a few through a selfish, short-sighted action, or we strengthen a diverse economy built around high quality forest management and stewardship of the land. Good public policy should reward landowners for making the right choice, not the wrong one.
Jake Davis and Bryce Oates are co-founders of Dogwood Carbon LLC, which helps landowners obtain access to the carbon-credit market.
Related posts:
- Press Release: Five Finite Carbon Improved Forest Management Projects in South Carolina Developed with Milliken Forestry Receive Climate Action Reserve Listings
- Five Finite Carbon Improved Forest Management Projects in South Carolina Developed with Milliken Forestry Receive Climate Action Reserve Listings
- Government Opens Applications For Compensatory Carbon Credits For Forest Owners
- Opinion: Forest experts point the way to better carbon accounting
- Will carbon cap ruin business? Not for foresters