HomeMy WebLinkAbout112522 The DNR’s carbon offset scheme is bad for the planet________________________________
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David T Chuljian / Chuljian Properties LLC
531 Bryan St/P. O. Box 1484
Port Townsend, WA 98368
(360) 531-1762
DNR Carbon Scheme is not good for forests
I am writing to voice my opposition to the DNR repurposing 3900 acres of
forest land in Jefferson County for use in the carbon offset market. As
a small forest land owner in the county, I have spent a lot of time
taking courses and studying the carbon credit scheme. There is not a
clear consensus among foresters as to the best way to use forests as
carbon offsets, but there is evidence that the best way to remove carbon
is by harvesting and regrowing, with the wood going to long lived uses
such as housing. Taking acreage here out of production—and that’s
essentially what carbon credits pay for—simply means forests will be cut
elsewhere. Unfortunately, “elsewhere” has much less strict
environmental rules than we do, so the net effect is earth is worse off.
Using carbon credits to keep tropical and other endangered forests from
clearcutting/land conversion is a worthwhile goal. Unfortunately, mostly
these forests are located in countries with poor governance and
rent-capture schemes so that frequently those who should get the money
don’t, or get very little of it. It’s no surprise that corporations
turn to easy targets like DNR land in our state—they know the state’s
not going to steal the money and cut the forests anyway. But the easy
solution isn’t the right one. If we’re seriously trying to cut carbon
emissions, we need to put in the effort to make carbon offsets work
correctly.
Jefferson County is a great place to grow trees. It’s not a terrific
place to grow food crops. But you can currently buy a parcel of
second-growth timber, clear cut it and pay off the land, then sell an
easement to a land trust putting it into farm land in perpetuity, and
use that money to build a house and start a farm. As a forest owner, I
had to PAY the land trust to place a “commercial forest forever”
conservation easement on my land. This county loves trees, but they
want to have their cake and eat it too, as witnessed by the Chimacum
Ridge Community Forest: JLT has said there will never be any clear cut
harvesting, which means another 700 acres was taken out of productive
forest, and turned into a hobby forest, taking a few trees for
woodworking. Gibbs Lake was recently taken out of the harvest rotation
by a DNR land swap—people wanted park, not working forest. State
dollars refunded the loss of revenue, but it’s still real costs, just
somebody else’s money.
Please keep Jefferson County real, with DNR lands producing the lumber
we need for housing, not providing carbon indulgences from Pope Inslee
of the church of global warming. I await the appearance of a Martin
Luther who will reform the carbon offset market to make it work the way
it was intended.