Astoria vows to maintain timber stock in return for carbon credits

Published 8:00 pm Thursday, June 4, 2015

Astoria has agreed to maintain timber inventory in the Bear Creek watershed for two decades in return for carbon credits worth $1.9 million over the next two years.

The contract with The Climate Trust, a Portland nonprofit, is intended to help earn revenue without aggressively harvesting the city’s timber inventory, which grows each year.

The Climate Trust will pay the city $1.9 million over two years for carbon credits based on a timber inventory of 100 million board feet. Utilities with fossil-fuel fired power plants pay the trust to invest in conservation projects that help offset pollution and meet the mandates of Oregon’s landmark emission standards law.

After the two-year agreement with The Climate Trust ends, the city could sell additional carbon credits to the trust or others provided it maintains an inventory of 100 million board feet and meets the requirements of the American Carbon Registry over two decades.

Carbon credits are among the creative incentives used to help counter global warming. Healthy forests, scientists explain, can help store carbon and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

The city expects to harvest about 800,000 board feet of timber a year from the 3,700-acre Bear Creek watershed and still maintain the timber inventory necessary to fulfill the commitment.

“We can still manage our timber resources on an annual basis if we so desire,” Michael Barnes, the city’s consulting forester, told the Astoria City Council at a special meeting Thursday night.

The money generated from the carbon credit program will go into the city’s capital improvement fund. A portion may be used to help pay for a new ladder truck for the Astoria Fire Department.

The City Council had initially approved a deal with The Climate Trust in December, but the details have changed significantly over the past several months.

The city had previously estimated it would receive $358,750 in carbon credits after expenses this year and about $130,000 annually for the next nine years.

The council unanimously approved the agreement with The Climate Trust Thursday night. The trust’s board endorsed the agreement earlier this week.

“Keeping Astoria green and making some green sounds good to me,” City Councilor Zetty Nemlowill said.