The state of California has mandated that large industrial companies, such as PG&E, purchase carbon credits to offset their annual emissions of greenhouse gases. Federal laws requiring the purchase of carbon offsets are likely imminent. Since trees are very effective at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere governments are trying to create incentives for timberland owners to promote forest growth.

A private organization, know as the California Climate Action Reserve, www.climateactionreserve.org, has been set-up to review management plans, prepared by professional foresters, in order to regulate the creation of credits. The credits are known as Climate Reserve Tons, CRTs. A CRT equals one metric ton of carbon dioxide stored for 100 years in trees or vegetation. CRTs can be earned annually by timberland owners with approved registry carbon forest plans. CRTs can be saved up or traded, like any other commodity. Presently, a CRT is worth from $5-7. Since the California Registry plans are, presently, the most stringent in the country, CRTs are the most valuable of the traded carbon offsets. California Registry carbon plans can be completed for timbered properties in other states or, even, other countries.

Although the carbon plans require a deeded commitment for 100 years, they could allow more timber harvest than conventional conservation easements. The carbon plans can be probably completed in 1-3 months and don't require a government agency review.

Although the carbon plans require a lot of supporting timber cruise data, I offer a unique sampling design that is 25% the cost of conventional carbon plan sample efforts. Also, much of the work required to create a carbon plan is required information for California NTMPs. It's usually advantageous for a timber owner to have both an approved carbon plan and NTMP on their property. Indeed, cruise data that was collected for an existing NTMP, not older than 12 years, can also be used for a carbon plan. For carbon plans approved through 2010 the Registry is allowing timberland owners to earn CRTs on their timber back to 2001.

I'm not a promoter of carbon plans, nor am I set up to oversee the preparation of a plan. However, I offer three levels of estimates to help timberland owners determine if one of these carbon plans would be feasible for their situation, depending on the acreage of their timber stand, the amount they'd like to harvest, their need for immediate income, etc… These estimates could also help timber owners become accepted by the PG&E climate smart program.

The cost of my estimate services vary from $200 to $2,000, depending on the level of accuracy needed to determine feasibility.

I'm also set-up to provide the growth & harvest analysis and GIS mapping support services required for carbon plan preparation.

My charge for supporting services for carbon plan estimates or analysis is $70 per hour, plus reasonable travel expenses.