Climate change — Mid-South business
Sep 29, 2009 10:12 AM, By David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial Staff
During their August recess, members of the Senate toured their home states, facing heated questions about pending health care reforms. At the same time, back in Washington, D.C., many of their staff members were busy crafting climate legislation. And just like health care reform, it appears there are plenty of Americans willing to wade into the climate fray.
Even without cap and trade legislation, however, the concept of sequestering carbon in forests and crops has already made it to the Mid-South. GreenTrees, based in Virginia, has expanded sign-ups in the region over the last several years and expects even more acres in the coming months.
GreenTrees is keeping both a keen eye on what Congress is proposing in the way of climate legislation and an ear towards what their Mid-South customer base is saying about it.
In late August, representatives of the company, Page Gravely, senior director for landowner enrollment and program marketing, and Chandler Van Voorhis, partner and corporate development officer, spoke with Delta Farm Press about the progress and potential of sequestration in the Mid-South, problems — both real and perceived — with the legislation, and the possibility of cap and trade having to wait until 2010. Among their comments:
Quick sketch of what your business is?
Van Voorhis: “Basically, GreenTrees is a forest carbon origination program that marries private capital with private landowners. The intention is to deliver conservation forests that all parties are happy with.
“From our standpoint, Duke Energy is our lead investor. They obviously have a high concern about how they’ll manage their carbon footprint, like any utility. For them, investing in the origination of forest carbon offsets, or credits — or however you want to refer to them — is something they’ve taken a very proactive stance in doing.
“Our approach, from the land side, is to put together a planting practice that (produces) a beautiful hardwood forest at the end of the day and, along the way, create multiple points of revenue for the landowner. The (resulting) forest is something the conservationists will be proud of, the landowner will be proud of and that Duke will be proud of.
“We continue year in and out to put capital to work and work with private landowners that look to take lands that frequently flood, or are of marginal value in terms of crop yield. Instead, of having one income (on such marginal land), it’ll have multiple layers of income from the planted forest.”
Can you bring us up to speed on the acreage signed up? What are you expecting in the next year or two?
Gravely: “2008 was our inaugural year and we enrolled approximately 2,500 acres. This year’s enrollment will be wrapped up in the next 30 to 45 days and we expect to get at least the same amount, potentially double it.
“Compared to last year, this year’s sign-ups are highlighted by much larger tracts of land. In 2008, we averaged about 135 acres per tract. This year, the average is about 350 acres. So landowners are putting sizable chunks in the program. Most notable, the largest to date is a 1,200-acre tract around Tallulah, La., in Madison Parish. In Arkansas, we’ve got a tract of about 500 acres in Fort Collins in the western part of the state. Another 450-acre tract is enrolled near Stuttgart.
“Regarding next year’s expansion, a lot depends on what compliance legislation is. Clearly the GreenTrees model — such as the 70-year term that defines carbon permanence — will be directly impacted by how ‘permanence’ is defined in pending (cap and trade) legislation. That said, we anticipate expanding both our personnel in the Mid-South and achieving a significant growth rate in enrollment.”
What about the climate debate in the last session of Congress? Pros and cons from your perspective?
Gravely: “As you read what the climate bill is trying to achieve in terms of scale, the landowner is the key participant. This fusion of energy and agricultural markets, from our perspective, at the end of the day it’s a voluntary land-use decision by landowners. How do they choose to use their land? And we’re strong proponents of choices for the landowner.
“Historically, they’ll go where the best economic value — the highest and best use of their acres based on soils and other objectives — (along with) legacy objectives and family estate objectives.
