New State Carbon Plan Will Remove More Forests from Logging

Many of these environmental, and new 'carbon credit' programs are difficult to understand, but basically the premise is they remove more and more lands from public access and logging.

DNR announces the first block of land being removed from logging

The Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday the beginning of a new carbon credit program that will remove (eventually) nearly 10K acres of land from logging potential, as well as likely limiting public access.

According to DNR:

"Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz launched the initiative today, signing a Commissioner’s Order and moving 3,750 acres into protection status. The forests will be entered into leases, similar to existing DNR leases for businesses like renewable energy or agriculture, which stipulate their use for storing carbon and generating revenue for state trust land beneficiaries through carbon markets."

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State and DNR officials claim removing these lands and protecting them will somehow result in fewer emissions from drivers, if their analogy is correct. More from the DNR:

"Over 900,000 carbon offsets credits will be generated from the project in just the first ten years, which is equivalent to offsetting over 2 billion miles driven by gas-powered cars, according to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies."

   "This carbon credit plan adds to the existing 840,000 acres of DNR-managed trust lands statewide already managed for conservation – including more than 50 percent of land west of the Cascades – and 130,000 additional forested acres protected in natural areas."

To find out more about this program, and what you need to know about YOUR public lands, click on the button below. This link goes to the company DNR is working with on this endeavor.