Carbon sequestration: A working example in Oregon

Abstract

Forestry carbon offsets offer an innovative mechanism to stimulate the forestation of thousands of acres of underproducing forestland. In 1999, Oregon's Forest Resource Trust received $1.5 million from the Klamath Cogeneration Project, a natural gas-fired electricity and steam generation plant, for the forestation of 2,400 acres of underproducing nonindustrial private forests (NIPF). This forestation effort will accrue 1.16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emission offsets over a 100-year period. To encourage landowners to turn their land into productive forests that sequester carbon, the trust pays the full costs of the forestation. Landowners can use their new forests for any purpose, including timber production, but give up any claim to the carbon offsets. The offsets are passed back to the Klamath project as part of its emission offset portfolio.