Climate change is happening all around us from rising sea levels, more extreme summer temperatures, and more frequent forest fires. In efforts to mitigate some of the environmental impacts, new private and government programs are springing up around the country.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has recently launched a program called  THE DNR CARBON PROJECT. 

According to information on the agency’s website - DNR is launching an innovative carbon project to protect some of our most ecologically and culturally valuable forests, while generating millions of dollars in revenue for the schools, colleges, and critical local services that state trust lands support. 

DNR is moving an estimated 10,000 acres of Western Washington’s most ecologically valuable forests into conservation status to store carbon and generate revenue for state trust land beneficiaries. The new carbon project will lease land for carbon sequestration and storage at a price that is reflective of the economic value of logging, diversifying revenue streams and providing greater financial stability and certainty to beneficiaries. 

This initiative represents the first-in-the-nation use of carbon markets by a state agency to protect critical forest areas by immediately removing stands from the planned harvest schedule, many of which were slated for imminent harvest. 

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

The project is broken into two phases and will launch in Whatcom, Thurston, King, and Grays Harbor counties. We will continue to follow progress and hope that Pierce will be involved in stage 2.