Forest Carbon Reduction Incentives Introduced In US Congress

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

10 August 2009

United States Senator Jeanne Shaheen has introduced a bill which aims to provide incentives for small forest landowners to adopt forest management practices that will increase the land's capacity to store more carbon.

The legislation, known as the Forest Carbon Incentives Program Act of 2009, calls for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to manage the program and create guidelines that would help landowners maximize the value of their land through carbon storage and conservation.

"As we build a clean energy economy, we must create incentives for small landowners to adopt practices that will lead to greater carbon storage," said Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat. "The Forest Carbon Incentives Program can be implemented quickly so that landowners in New Hampshire and nationwide can get a return on their land and the forests that they maintain during this economic downturn."

The bill has been welcomed by the forestry industry, including the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association (NHTOA) and the American Forest Foundation (AFF).

"We especially like the voluntary market-based approach to this and the fact that it creates incentives for active, sustainable forest management,” said Jasen Stock, executive director of the NHTOA.

"Senator Shaheen's legislation will ensure that we fully tap the climate change mitigation benefits of US forests," commented Tom Martin, president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation, a non-profit family forest conservation organization. "This bipartisan legislation will give small family forest owners, who own over one-quarter of the nation's private forests, a chance to help solve our climate change problems and at the same time help keep these families on the land and keep their forests working."

The bill calls for a Forest Carbon Incentives Program to be established under the USDA to provide supplemental incentives for carbon reductions through US private forests. These incentives would provide an opportunity for forest landowners to adopt management practices that deliver proven emissions reductions, and be compensated for storing carbon. In addition to helping landowners maximize the value of their forests, the bill creates opportunities for landowners to gain further financial incentives by entering into permanent conservation easements.

US forests currently sequester 10% of annual US carbon emissions, but the US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that this capacity can be doubled if proper incentives and systems are in place.

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