Modeling the effects of carbon payments and forest owner cooperatives on carbon storage and revenue in Pacific Northwest forestlands

Roy Chowdhury, Pranab K.; Brown, Daniel G.

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106725

Modeling the effects of carbon payments and forest owner cooperatives on carbon storage and revenue in Pacific Northwest forestlands

Journal Article · Wed May 10 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Land Use Policy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106725· OSTI ID:2574269

Roy Chowdhury, Pranab K. ^[1]; Brown, Daniel G. ^[2]

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

The forestlands of the Pacific Northwest store a significant amount of carbon, provide wildlife habitat, generate revenue for forestland owners, and provide for sustainable generation of forest products. Promoting forest carbon storage is increasingly recognized as a key management objective to mitigate climate change. We developed an agent-based model to examine the effectiveness of current land management practices in sustaining forest carbon storage and revenue flows, and the utility of market-based carbon payments in improving carbon storage while also improving revenue generation in the Pacific Northwest. We find that while market based incentives can improve both forest carbon storage and revenue, they are limited in their benefit to small forest owners. Our results highlight the crucial need for additional policy interventions to reduce barriers to market access for small private owners and ensure sustainable forest management in this region. We further show that a forest owners’ cooperative, which aggregates small owners to reduce the costs of participating in a carbon market, can help overcome these barriers and result in both greater carbon storage and a more equitable benefit from carbon payments.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 2574269

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA--183256

Journal Information:: Land Use Policy, Journal Name: Land Use Policy Vol. 131; ISSN 0264-8377

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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