BY C.C. MCCOTTER
Forest owners in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have a new way to earn income from their land while improving their forest’s health and value. The Family Forest Carbon Program provides landowners with guaranteed annual payments, professional guidance from a forester, and a forest management plan.
The Family Forest Carbon Program was developed by two nonprofits, the American Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy. It is not a government program but is compatible with many government programs. Private forest owners receive income to implement sustainable forest management practices proven to increase forest health and value. The program delivers financial and ecological benefits to rural landowners, their families and their communities, as well as improved wildlife habitat, biodiversity, soil quality and cleaner air and water. Folks who enroll also gain membership into a large community of like-minded landowners who they can connect and learn from.
Landowners enrolled in the program receive guaranteed annual payments that can be used for anything they want, including paying property taxes or insurance, while continuing to retain full ownership, privacy and control of their land. If you enroll, you can continue to use your property for personal or professional recreation and hunting, and other commercial ventures. For those who want to maximize income from the program, a premium option is available that provides 20% more in guaranteed payments.
Enrolled landowner Susan Benedict from Pennsylvania says, “It’s expensive to keep our land healthy and maintain wildlife habitat. We have year-round maintenance and property taxes to pay. We enrolled in the Family Forest Carbon Program because it will provide us a revenue stream to make this work happen.”
The program’s sustainable forest management practices result in a healthier, more resilient and more valuable forest. Many landowners choose to enroll to develop a new income stream. Although not required in some cases, some landowners can conduct sustainable, pre-approved timber harvests during enrollment.
The Family Forest Carbon Program and the benefits it provides to landowners are funded by private donations, grants and the carbon market. The program extends access to the benefits of the carbon markets to family forest owners—an opportunity that has traditionally been inaccessible to many private forest owners—acting as a bridge to the voluntary carbon market while protecting forest owners from the risk and complexity of the market.
Companies who are looking to neutralize their emissions can purchase verified carbon credits generated from the additional carbon captured by a landowner’s implementation of the climate-smart forestry practices that the Family Forest Carbon Program prescribes. Revenues secured from the sales of verified carbon credits are directly used to fund the core functions of the program, which primarily cover the payments to enrolled landowners to implement those practices.
Companies purchase carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market, which is influenced by multiple factors like project type, location, rigor of monitoring, verification and reporting, etc. All of these factors affect the price of carbon credits which fluctuate often and over time, like any other traded commodity.
The Family Forest Carbon Program is available in 19 U.S. states, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. More than 600 landowners with 86,000 acres of forest land have enrolled, and over 90% of enrolled landowners are highly satisfied with the program.
Learn more about the Family Forest Carbon Program at familyforestcarbon.org.
