Keys to success

Carbon markets aid forest owners

The fullness of summer reminds us of all that Arkansas’ forests provide—vast acres of wildlife habitat, a natural filtration system that cleans the waters in our rivers and towns, a robust wood supply and forest products industry, and—at the pinnacle of our planet’s current needs—carbon sequestration and storage. While forests are plentiful in nature, much of what they provide is only as productive as their owners and land managers are able to make them.

If we are to keep our forests healthy and thriving into the future, it is critical that forest owners have the tools and financial resources needed to succeed, which is why our federal policymakers must carve a path forward for carbon markets to work for small forest owners.

Across Arkansas, just under half of our forests are owned by private individuals and families—families like mine that have owned our timberland for 23 years. Caring for the environment is a big part of why we own our forested land.

But for most of us, caring for our land is easier said than done. This is because maintaining and improving forests is expensive. One of the ways to offset the expense of managing forest land is through new and innovative markets for non-timber forest products, many of which can be produced alongside and in partnership with existing timber management goals.

Recently I had a chance to meet with our senator, John Boozman, to discuss the challenges that the 217,000 forest owners in Arkansas face and how our federal leaders can partner with rural landowners to achieve important climate goals. A champion of forests and agriculture, Senator Boozman has played a key role in moving smart forestry policies forward—such as the Growing Climate Solutions Act. His leadership is integral to continuing to develop fiscally smart policies that support both forest owners and our planet.

Robust and diverse markets have long helped forest owners overcome cost challenges. Selling timber and other forest related products signal the value in keeping forests as forests. They also provide income to pay taxes and engage in improved forest management. Yet timber markets are not what they were two decades ago. Last year’s global pandemic made it worse, with lumber prices skyrocketing, yet forest owners receiving none of this windfall.

While there seems to be improvement, with timber prices beginning to right-size, and even a new mass timber plant opening in Conway, more opportunities to monetize the benefits of our forests are needed. This is where carbon can play a role.

Private forest carbon markets have been expanding across the U.S. and are even available in the wood-basket of the South. They provide rural forest owners with new revenue streams—income that can be used to pay for more land management and conservation. And the science is more developed than in the agriculture or soil carbon community, with advancements in forest carbon measurements that show these projects are indeed making an impact.

At this time, however, existing carbon projects are currently inaccessible to most small forest owners. In fact, research shows fewer than 1 percent are on acreages between 20 and 1,000 acres—the size range of the majority of family-owned properties. This is due to the high cost to enroll.

Senator Boozman, in his role on the Agriculture Committee, is the leader to open up these markets.

Rather than regulating or funding carbon programs directly, Congress can catalyze more private investment in carbon programs designed for small forest owners—specifically through the Rural Forests Markets Act. This bill would provide loan and bond guarantees to private investors to lower risk, jump-starting more projects geared toward small forest owners, without incurring costs to the government.

Already there is a private-sector program that could be brought to our state if such a loan program was initiated—the Family Forest Carbon Program. Created by the American Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy, the program helps landowners implement locally approved forestry practices that increase carbon sequestration and storage. In return, landowners receive payments that are a fair value of the cost of work.

While timber markets are and will always be important to us forest owners, carbon projects can complement and provide landowners the support and resources needed to see our trees to the next generation and onward. Leaders in Washington, like Senator Boozman, can make this happen.