WASHINGTON, D.C., October 30, 2013 – The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), along with project partners Ducks Unlimited (DU),  The Climate Trust (TCT) and The Nature Conservancy, today  announced positive results from their joint collaboration — an innovative Avoided Grassland Conversion carbon project. The project is one of nine groundbreaking climate change initiatives selected and funded by the NRCS’s 2011 Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) program, and is focused on greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation for one of the least protected and most imperiled ecosystems in the world.

The grassland and wetlands of North America not only provide vital habitat for a host of wildlife, including migratory birds, but also a rich and resilient forage for livestock, and a significant carbon sink if left uncultivated. Unfortunately, pressures to convert native prairie are intensifying with high commodity prices. In addition, new farming technologies make crop production possible on lands once considered unsuitable.

The first outcome of this project is a collaborative effort between DU and NRCS that is preserving the soil carbon sequestered in the North Dakota counties of Burleigh, Emmons, Kidder, Sheridan, McLean, Stutsman, Logan and McIntosh by avoiding the conversion of these valuable prairies to cropland. This area is part of the Missouri Coteau region, a vast region of grasslands and wetlands that stretches across North Dakota and South Dakota and benefits livestock and wildlife.

Carbon that is otherwise sequestered, or trapped long term in the soil, is released to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide when soils are tilled or disturbed. Under the leadership of Ducks Unlimited, the project successfully enrolled 114 eligible landowners and 50,000 acres in this cutting-edge program, and worked with partners to create an environmentally robust accounting methodology to quantify the carbon that remains in the soil as carbon offset credits.

Newly approved by the American Carbon Registry (ACR) and co-authored by project partners DU, TCT, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund and Terra Global Capital, the Avoided Conversion of Grasslands and Shrublands (ACoGS) carbon offset methodology is the first of its kind and provides real opportunities for achieving a meaningful level of emissions reductions in the agriculture sector. In practice, the ACoGS methodology will enable grassland-based agricultural producers to earn income from the sale of carbon credits generated through the preservation of their grasslands.   

“This project provides Northern Great Plains producers with new ways to earn income from conservation activities, expanded opportunity for outdoor recreation and an opportunity to create jobs in their communities,” said Robert Bonnie, USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment. “The American Carbon Registry’s approval of this innovative ACoGS protocol enables vital projects like our partnership with Ducks Unlimited to preserve a treasured national landscape, while also preventing the release of greenhouse gas emissions.”

“Rural communities will not only benefit from project payments, but could also see economic benefits from outdoor recreation opportunities on grasslands, attracting hunters, photographers, and other nature enthusiasts from across the country,” said Steve Adair, Director of DU’s Great Plains Region. “Research has shown the economic benefit of wildlife provided from grasslands is estimated at $63 per acre. This equates to money-in-hand for these rural populations.”

“What’s great about this project is that it opens new opportunities to compensate ranchers for continuing to produce the benefits they have historically provided – the conservation of our grasslands for the benefit of people and wildlife – that are now at risk from rangeland conversion,” said Joe Fargione, The Nature Conservancy’s Director of Science for North America.

Agriculture accounts for approximately 8 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions—while agriculture’s emissions have increased 11.5 percent since 1990. Specifically, more than 750,000 acres of native grassland were converted to cropland from 1997 to 2007. In the Prairie Pothole Region of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, annual losses of native grasslands have averaged approximately 50,000 acres per year since 2007, leading to a significant loss of soil carbon, and emitting 20-75 MTCO2e/acre. Final project benefits are estimated to perpetually conserve 5,000-6,000 acres of native mixed-grass prairie. The protection of grasslands will also indirectly protect 500-600 acres of seasonal and semi-permanent wetlands situated in the protected grasslands.

“In addition to the significant GHG emissions reductions achieved by this project, carbon financing allows local ranch families to maintain their traditional livelihood of cattle grazing by providing economic incentives,” said Dick Kempka, Vice President of Business Development for The Climate Trust. “The project also generates significant environmental co-benefits by enhancing water retention, air quality and soil quality, in addition to preserving habitat for at least four endangered species that call the grasslands home.”

The process of developing, planning and implementing the USDA CIG climate change initiatives has played a key role in helping to inform ongoing development of agricultural offset protocols with a national impact. “This offset protocol will allow farmers and ranchers from across the United States to earn revenue for conservation practices from emerging environmental markets such as California’s carbon market,” said Robert Parkhurst, Director of Agriculture Greenhouse Gas Markets at Environmental Defense Fund. These projects have served as pilots, providing a bridge to carbon offset markets and the potential role of agricultural projects within these markets.

The DU-led prairie preservation effort is a primary example of how collaborations of this nature can accomplish a great deal by everyone doing their part to reach mutually beneficial goals.

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About The Partners

Originally established by Congress in 1935 as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has expanded to become a conservation leader for all natural resources, ensuring private lands are conserved, restored, and more resilient to environmental challenges, like climate change. Seventy percent of the land in the United States is privately owned, making stewardship by private landowners absolutely critical to the health of our Nation’s environment. NRCS works with landowners through conservation planning and assistance designed to benefit the soil, water, air, plants, and animals that result in productive lands and healthy ecosystems. www.usda.nrcs.gov 

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org . Connect with us on our Facebook page at facebook.com/DucksUnlimited, follow our tweets at twitter.com/DucksUnlimited and watch DU videos at youtube.com/DucksUnlimited Inc.

The Climate Trust is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with over 16 years of carbon financing experience. Our mission is to provide expertise, financing, and inspiration to accelerate innovative climate solutions that endure. In order to arrest the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change, The Climate Trust works to accelerate project implementation, develop financing solutions, and establish a supportive policy environment in the renewable energy, agriculture, forestry and energy efficiency sectors. Additional information at www.climatetrust.org | @ClimateTrust | facebook.com/TheClimateTrust

The American Carbon Registry, (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading nonprofit carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the first private greenhouse gas registry in the world, ACR has over 18 years of unparalleled experience in the voluntary carbon market. In addition, ACR is an approved Offset Project Registry (OPR) for the California Cap-and-Trade Program. In this role, ACR works with the state regulatory agency to oversee the registration and issuance of Offset Credits, which can be converted to compliance credits and used by California entities to help meet their emissions reductions obligations. Visit www.americancarbonregistry.org.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than one million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

Environmental Defense Fund is a national environmental organization working to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends, focusing on the most critical environmental problems. Our working lands team is creating conservation incentives that work for people wildlife and the economy. Visit www.edf.org

Terra Global Capital, LLC was founded in 2006 to facilitate market and payment-for-performance based approaches for forest and land-use emission reductions that provide community benefits. Terra is now the leader in forest and land-use analytics and finance, providing technical expertise and investment capital to their global client base in a collaborative and innovative manner. As a group, Terra has more global experience in the land-use sector than any other entity and is committed to working with its local partners to build capacity and support local communities and governments to sustainably manage their land. Terra has extensive developing country experience and is the leading developer of protocols to measure GHG emissions reductions from a full range of agricultural activities in the United States. www.terraglobalcapital.com Tel: (1) 415 215 5941

ARLINGTON, VA, November 5, 2012 – The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, is highlighted in the newly released 2012 State of the Forest Carbon Market report as the most widely used forest carbon standard in North America in 2011 as well as the second most widely used voluntary carbon market forest standard in the world.

The report, which aggregates historic data from 215 forest carbon projects around the globe, was published last Thursday by Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace, a world-leading provider of news, data and analytics on environmental markets and investments in conservation. Ranking of ten voluntary forest carbon standards was based on contracted forest offset purchase volume in 2011.

According to the report “voluntary action remained a dominant force behind forest carbon credit transactions in North America. Projects adhering to the ACR standard contracted the largest volume of forest carbon credits from any North American program…owing to their popularity among purely voluntary buyers based primarily in the U.S.” Corporate Social Responsibility buyers of the two million ACR forest offsets transacted in 2011 included Norfolk Southern, General Motors/ Chevrolet and The Walt Disney Company.

In 2011 Norfolk Southern launched Trees and Trains, a $5.6 million partnership with ACR member GreenTrees to restore 10,000 acres in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by planting six million hardwoods & cottonwoods. All emissions reductions from the project, the largest reforestation project in North America, are measured, monitored, verified and registered on ACR.

“With the longest operational history of all the registries, ACR combines scientific rigor backed by Winrock International with marketplace realism. This combo is unmatched in the registry world,” explained Chandler Van Voorhis, GreenTrees co-founder and managing partner. “GreenTrees’ goal is to one day restore one million acres in America’s Amazon, the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. To do so requires working with all types of landowners — large and small. ACR’s Forestry Standard is the most responsive.”

“Our collaboration with GreenTrees will foster revitalization of the Mississippi Delta’s environmental health and generate economic benefits for a region long served by Norfolk Southern,” said Blair

Wimbush, vice president real estate and corporate sustainability officer. “Our company’s 180-year history tends to give us a long-term perspective, and this kind of sustainable, lasting initiative is exactly what we like to do.”

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) registered two projects on ACR in 2011. The first will restore 250 acres of the San Juan National Forest in Colorado destroyed by the 2003 Bear Creek Fire. Offsets generated by the project will be retired on behalf of Chevrolet.  The second project will restore 900 acres in California’s Angeles National Forest, which was decimated by the 2009 Station Fire, for which offsets will be retired on behalf of The Walt Disney Company.

“We selected American Carbon Registry because of the organization’s extensive knowledge of terrestrial carbon sequestration, understanding of public lands issues, and focus on accountability,” said NFF president Bill Possiel. “We look forward to working with ACR on future forest carbon projects.”

“ACR is honored for this recognition as the leading forest carbon standard in North America. We would like to thank the companies who have pioneered the development of forest carbon projects under our standard as well as those purchasing the offsets as an investment in the environment and to demonstrate voluntary action to reduce emissions,” said John Kadyszewski, director of ACR. “Our ability to advance standards and methodologies that deliver projects with real environmental benefits begins with Winrock’s deep bench of in-house expertise in land use and forest carbon science, a direct result of our commitment to market integrity.” 

ACR has registered forest carbon projects throughout the U.S., Brazil and Madagascar as well as a pipeline of high quality voluntary projects around the world.

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 About American Carbon Registry

The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996, ACR has over fifteen years of experience in development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as operational experience in high quality carbon offset project registration, offset issuance, serialization and transparent on-line transaction and retirement reporting. As the first private GHG registry in the world, ACR has set the bar in the global voluntary carbon market for offset quality and operational transparency that is the market standard today and continues to lead carbon market innovation.

About Winrock International

Winrock International is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources. For over 15 years, Winrock has been a global leader in designing and implementing science-based methods to measure, monitor and report GHG emissions reductions in the agriculture, land use and forestry sectors for clients including the United Nations, the World Bank and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Winrock is headquartered in Little Rock, Ark.