The program is an extension of CE2 initiative to help private landowners implement sustainable forestry management practices and create new revenue streams by increasing carbon stocks in their forests.
The project follows a similar program called the Red Fern Project launched earlier this year by CE2, targeting 300,000 acres of privately-owned forest in the Ozark mountain regions of Missouri and Arkansas.
CE2 Carbon Capital will fund Blue Willow while Dogwood will be responsible for the management of all activities on the ground including landowner recruiting, forestry management plan development and contracting.
The landowners need not make any upfront investment to participate in the program. Offsets generated from Blue Willow will be sold over time to companies that purchase carbon offsets to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions and landowners will share in the value captured through the monetization of these credits.
Greg Arnold, president of CE2, said: “Blue Willow is a good example of how federal climate legislation will spur meaningful amounts of private capital investment in rural communities to create carbon offsets generated from forestry and land-use changes.”
