We’re working on a new story: Five things every woodland owner should know. The new content will be featured in the June email update and be a new featured page on MyMinnesotaWoods.org.
We need your help building the list!
For this story, you’re the expert. Imagine yourself talking over a cup of coffee with a friend who just bought wooded acreage for the first time. What would you tell her or him and why?
Leave a comment below with your thoughts. We’ll use your responses to build our June story.
April 4, 2008
The October MMW email udpate included a feature story on carbon credits for forestry. Carbon credits are currently traded on the Chicago Climate Exchange, and standards and criteria are in development. At least for now, growing timber in plantings established after 1990 is eligible for carbon credit trading.
No Minnesota woodland owners (that we know of) are yet receiving carbon credit payments. The system is still in development, and it’s uncertain whether forestry activities will ultimately be eligible.
With that in mind, was this story premature? Maybe. We went with it now because we wanted to make sure that family forest owners and professional foresters in Minnesota are aware of this issue. The potential carbon credit payments are significant - about $12 per acre on average in Minnesota - and this is an important time for interested individuals and organizations to weigh in as standards and criteria are being developed.
We hope the story will encourage action to help ensure that growing wood will be recognized in carbon credit markets for its value in reducing atmospheric carbon and helping to mitigate the impacts of carbon emissions.
You can read the new content at our carbon credits page.
-eli
October 19, 2007
