The Pierce Conservation District (CD) in Washington is participating in a unique program that will establish urban forestry carbon credits for a county that is home to nearly a million people.

In a pilot program funded through a grant from the Boeing Company to non-profit carbon registry and certification organization City Forest Credits, the conservation district planted 3,700 trees in November on two small tracts in Puyallup and Orting. It is believed to be the first conservation district in the nation to generate carbon credits while also reforesting riparian habitat.

“Carbon sequestration and carbon credits aren’t a new thing, but what is new is a local market specific to urban forest carbon credits to monetize them,” Pierce CD Executive Director Ryan Mello said.

The conservation district planted a combined nine acres with one tract along Clarks Creek, a tributary of the Puyallup River that supports chinook, coho, chum, steelhead and cutthroat trout, and the other tract up the Puyallup River on a section that provides some of the best spawning grounds for chinook salmon.

One of the most pressing natural resource concerns for the conservation district has been habitat function for a growing list of endangered salmon species, Mello said. Decades-long riparian restoration efforts improve those habitats, and the carbon credit program is a natural extension of that.

“What we love about this is that it’s a new revenue source for us to fund the long-term maintenance for these sites, and we’re doing this on habitat sites that we would do anyways,” Mello said. “It’s not taking us off our mission or priorities, and it’s not in faraway places where you hear about carbon credits. It’s very local."

“The urban-suburban interface and the fish and wildlife is what’s special,” Mello said. “These salmon-bearing streams have been our priority, so it’s a nice overlap.”

Carbon credits are certified by City Forest Credits, a national nonprofit carbon registry that issues third-party verified credits and monitors long-term compliance. Businesses or individuals looking to purchase credits should contact the district directly.

You can learn more about this new program on Pierce CD's website. Additionally, tune into Pierce CD's breakout session presentation of this revolutionary program during NACD's 75th Annual Meeting. The presentation will occur on Feb. 9 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern. To learn more about the breakout session presentation and register, click here.

The Aitkin County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is taking to the sky to improve forest management in Minnesota.

Due to interest from Forestry Technician Kyle Fredrickson and other SWCD staff, the conservation district recently purchased a drone and began using it to view shoreline properties, buffers and areas where landowners have reported problems in an effort to gain a broader view of concerns and build solutions.

Kyle Fredrickson, forestry technician, Aitkin County SWCD

Shoreline, buffers and wetlands can be difficult areas to access, he said. The drone can fly by, take pictures and video to gather data and provide information on ordinance compliance, as well as identify wetland issues and infestations of noxious weeds and other pests.

One landowner concerned about bark beetles killing the pines on his steep shoreline property had Fredrickson come in and walk the land. Fredrickson was able to find some trees that were infested, but using the drone, he was able to get a better idea of how large an area was affected and the likely path the beetles would take. Those visuals will allow the conservation district to better create and implement a management plan to control the infestation without losing too much canopy and adding erosion risks.

The Cameron Peak Fire that burned 208,913 acres, mostly in the Roosevelt National Forest, became the largest wildfire in Colorado history this year.

Matt Marshall, forester for the Big Thompson Conservation District, said unfortunately it took a fire season like that to focus attention on forest management, and not just on national forests. Big Thompson CD, Fort Collins CD and other conservation districts along the northern Front Range have turned to helping private landowners with forest management through the Healthy Forest Initiative program.

"Since the Cameron Peak Fire, our phones have been ringing nonstop,'' Marshall told the Coloradoan. "We have even had interest from those landowners we have spoken to in the past who weren't crazy about what we were offering but now because of the fires realize forest management is necessary on their properties.''

The funding part comes from conservation districts that can help private landowners with cost-sharing to carry out expensive forest management that enhances the forest health, reduces fire risk, improves wildlife habitat and protects watersheds.

The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program is hosting five new education events this year related to invasive species threats to habitat integrity and the economies of Adirondack communities.

The discovery in 2020 of two emerging forest pests inside of the Adirondack Blue Line, hemlock woolly adelgid and emerald ash borer, spurred swift action to understand the scope of current infestations and public and private partners to deploy rapid response treatment across hundreds of acres. The series explores a wide range of topics to prepare for the season ahead.

Several partners are supporting the series, including the St. Lawrence Soil and Water Conservation District.

Feb. 1-10, 2021 – NACD Annual Meeting l Virtual Meeting

Feb. 24, 2021 – Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition (SUFC) Annual Meeting l Virtual Meeting

June 21-24, 2021 – NACD Forestry RPG Summer Meeting l Manchester, N.H.

July 24-27, 2021 – NACD Summer Conservation Forum and Tour l Chicago, Ill.

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