America’s Biggest Landowner Greenlighted to Sell Forest Carbon Offsets
- Media Manager
- Sep 21, 2023
- 1 min read
The Wall Street Journal
Written By: Ryan Dezember
Published: September 22nd, 2023
Weyerhaeuser, the forest-products firm that is the largest private U.S. landowner, said it has gained approval from an organization that vets environmental credits to proceed with its first sale of forest-carbon offsets.
The company, which owns about 11 million acres of U.S. timberland, is now set to join the ranks of forest owners that have agreed to leave trees standing and absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere instead of cutting them down in exchange for payments from companies looking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Weyerhaeuser, which has cut down more trees than any other American company since its founder started logging before the Civil War, said it will manage about 50,000 acres of its timberlands in the North Maine Woods to accumulate carbon in the standing trees.
It has enlisted a firm called Carbon Direct to find buyers for its initial offering of 32,000 offsets, each representing a metric ton of carbon dioxide sequestered in its trees. Over several decades, as the trees on the land grow, the Seattle firm expects the property to produce as many as 475,000 offsets.
Weyerhaeuser Chief Executive Devin Stockfish told investors this summer that he expected the offsets to fetch more than $20 apiece, though executives at the company believe offset prices will eventually rise as companies face pressure to reduce their carbon footprints.
