News Summary for 7/16-7/30

Projects

- USDA Forest Service launches CC resource center website –info/tools under 1 roof for land mngrs to understand, plan & mng for CC, esp in W. Set of video presentations avail.

News

- All things Mitigation – Ecosystem Marketplace’s Mitigation Mail (7/24)
---CA local gov decided to create miti bank for ~newly listed tiger salamander, backs off when considers legal liability + need to come up with $$ to pay for hab cons plan. Impacters left to figure out HCP and miti ratios (? – hard to understand article) &title=Group_aims_to_revive_salamander_strategy
---Proposed port expansion in Portland OR gets new NIMBY argument: forget the development, make a mitigation bank (if can’t get outright protection)
---Pub empoyees for env respons (PEER) slams ME DOT’s proposal for st-wide umbrella miti bank. Criticisms: WL miti doesn’t work, they didn’t give a location for the bank, PEER wants w/in watershed/onsite miti, ME DOT isn’t qualified to restore WL.
---New 266-ac vernal pool fairy shrimp cons bank proposed in southern OR by Wildlands Inc. Neighbors (ag, viniculture) are concerned that turning off the irrigation taps in the summer for the species could impact their w supply.

- All things C – Ecosystem Marketplace’s V-Carbon News (7/29)
---Discussion about lack of/new REDD methodologies
---World Bank finances REDD readiness in 14 countries to estab emiss baselines, adopt REDD strat, design monitoring.
---NYMEX will sell options/futures for RGGI starting late-August.
---WL store 20% of world’s C & if destroy them, you release a “Carbon bomb” say scientists.
---Article tested 10 C calculators and found variation of 30k+ tons (~= to yrly emiss of 3 cars). Only 2 calc’s recc lifestyle changes to reduce C footprint.

(graphic source: Seattle Post Intellincer)


- Certif – study on PA sales of FSC/non-FSC sales shows PA got 10% incr in rev from FSC-certified.

- PES – PBS Frontline highlights Sierra Gorda PES project in Mexico – comm. paid to plant trees, hope to sell > svcs in the future.
- PES – Ecosys M’place article highlights wildlife tourism PES in Tanzania. Tourism interests in past paid just for concessions in wildlife viewing, now paying for (non-tourism) wildlife hab protect. Successful deals allow local comm. trad grazing, but prohibit ag, settlement, tree-felling.

- Instit – FTC to create “green” marketing standards/guidelines in 2009 – to prevent deceptive claims.

- Misc – judge includes loss of ecosys svcs in damages from a wildfire: “It's an important development in the law to have courts saying decisions aren't limited to the value of timber," said Sean Hecht, executive director of the UCLA Environmental Law Center. "A calculation is now allowed to look at the value of wildlife and the ecosystem.”

News Summary for 6/21-7/15

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Projects

- WQT Funding – EPA’s Targeted Watershed Grants app is due (w/ state governor approval) by Sept. 9. $4.2mill for 15-25 projects (range is $100k-$1mill) Contact: Chris Lewicki at lewicki.
Chris”at”epa.gov or (202) 566-1293. RFP is here
- WQT – EPA’s Toolkit on wqt to include info on trading w/onsite (septic), elig of State Revolving Funds for wqt – expect it out Aug 2008
- WQT – new PT-PT trading in Passaic (NJ) for P.

- Env Mkt – new ~Craig’s List for Farmers Market products in MD: www.foodtrader.org

News

- Leadership – Rob Doudrick, former lead for US Forest Service ecosys svcs group, leaves post to direct Resource Use Sciences. Al Todd, formerly [Ches Bay] Watershed Program Leader steps up as ecosys svcs lead within State and Private branch of USFS.
- Leadership – Dan Nees, formerly with WRI and the Conservation Finance Center (U MD), to head the Ches Clean Water Fund (aka Nutrient Neutral) within Forest Trends

- C/CC/Forests – June 13th issue of Science (vol 320) full of articles on forests, CC, C, etc.
---Miles & Kapos’ “Reducing GHG emiss from deforest & for degrad: global land-use implications”. Themes of ongoing REDD debate: baseline, countries that have already reduced deforest, protocols for meas/validation of reduct, how to fund REDD (grants vs. mkt-mech). When agree on REDD (prob 12/09), “a major new driver for forest conservation will be born”. Scale of funding HUGE: ballpark $1.2bill-$10bill/yr/globally (compare to ballpark current invest forest protection: $250mill-$700mill; & current world forestry exports: $39bill). Other ecosys svcs could be shafted – REDD “losers” should become new priority for conserv./sust forest mngt.
---Sukumar op ed “Forest Research for the 21st century”. Need > sci for use in CC adapt; > sci to inform sust harvesting in tropics.
---Canadell & Raupach “Managing Forests for CC Miti”. Reviews global estimates of reduced emiss (Pg C) of 4 forestry strat: reforest, incr C density, incr use of forest products, REDD. Also touches on: risk, biophys feedbacks, unintended conseq of lrg land-use change, etc.

- C - RGGI begins auctioning permits Sept 25

- All things C – Ecosystem Marketplace’s V-Carbon Mail (6/27)
---Sir Nicholas Stern’s co IdeaCarbon will rate C credits like bond ratings (AAA -> D)
---Gold Standard-certified C projects can get C insur at reduced rate via company CarbonRe
--- Australia & Indonesia signed Forest C agreement for REDD activities

- REDD – Ecosys M’place releases REDD primer

- C biz – study analyzed 16 major consult firms and says ICF is tops for C work. BTW – ICF is looking to hire a Senior Assoc in their Env Markets group in DC.
- C biz - …but maybe Richard Branson will crash the C consultancy party? w/ new eco-consult Virgin Green Owls
- C biz – Conserv International expanding their Forest C Markets work: hiring Advisor in DC area
(hat tip to ecorazzi for the Gore/Branson love)

- Instit – Ecosys M’place has primer on C registries – breaks it down to emissions tracking registries (“measuring the beans”) and C credit accounting registries (“tracking the trades”). Great overview.
- Instit – Vol C Standard Assoc (VCS) gives blessing to 4 (accounting) registries: APX, Caisee des Depots, Bank of NY and TZ1

- CC – new book “The Atlas of CC: Mapping the World’s Greatest Challenge” – reviewer in Cons Bio says it’s a great “intro and general ref for people involved in policy at any level”. Wish Amazon had sample pages. (Parmesan, 2008, Cons Bio, Vol 22, No. 3).

- All things Mitigation – Ecosystem Marketplace’s Mitigation Mail (7/3)
---Env Mkt – Ecosystem Marketplace releases “the Matrix: Mapping Ecosystem Service Markets” is living database/spreadsheet/info resource summarizes globally env svc mkts (mkt description, size/volume of trades, players, emerging issues, env and dev world impact)
---WQT – Ecosys M’place article highlights momentum of Katoomba mtg for Ches Bay players, emph on figuring out how to help wqt work regionally, Nutrient Neutral Fund idea funded by CIG grant – will follow ex of C neutral
---DU buys easements on prairie potholes, gives easement to FWS, keeps right to sell C & plan to use proceeds to fund restor in plains states. Considering rights to sell wq credits or endangered species miti (esp migratory bird hab)
---TIMO in the St Johns water mngt district (FL) gives up dev rights on ½ its land to create WL bank of 450+ credits. Credits in area are selling for $30k-$160K
---Alberta Canada considering starting oil sands biodiv offset requirements (sounds like 1:1 ratio for preservation or restoration)
---VA broken dam (w/lowered lake levels/prop values) could be new WL miti bank if restore
---BushTender in Australia gets $2.7mill more to add 6kha of restor on priv land (10kha already completed)

- WL Miti – Robertson & Hayden, 2008 (Cons Bio Vol 22, No 3) conduct complete survey of entrepreneurial bank transactions in Chi ACOE District from 94-02. Found temporal loss of WL (allowable in regs, wch release credits for sale in phases based 1st on site-protection & then ecolog perform measures). WL miti an average of 16 mi away from WL loss (allowable in regs). Meets no net loss goal. Discussed regulatory uncertainty – new local laws tht create > localized areas in wch WL miti must occur.
- Str Miti – “Natural Channel Design”, Rosgen’s method of str restor, has tete-a-tete in JAWRA betw authors asking for peer-review (/peer-rev citations) of meth and the creator of the meth (Rosgen 2008, JAWRA, Vol 44, No. 3; Simon et al 2008, JAWRA, Vol 44, No. 3)

- Incen – EDF working w/ state/fed funds to pay farmers in W lake Erie to impr wq & wildlife hab.

- Cons Finance – HUGE TNC/TPL deal to buy priv for industry land (Plum Creek) in MO adjacent to Nat Forests (lands go to Forest Service). $510 mill for 500 sq miles - $ is ½ from donations, ½ from tax credits. Allows some sust forestry/cert logging.

- Stacking – Plantinga et al. 2008 (forthcoming) Efficiency of Incentives to Jointly Increase Carbon Sequestration and Species Conservation on a Landscape. NSF-funded study says you can’t get both C & biodiv. You can maximize species when you restore rare hab; you max C when you restore forests.
- Stacking – Bekessy & Wintle argue in Cons Bio (vol 22, No 3) that current Kyoto C scheme should be changed to make C + biodiv > competitive to C-only. Implied/stated arguments: a C investor will want C + biodiv b/c of positive PR and investment risk-spreading, there is/will be a mkt for biodiv, regulated C mkt should be for > than C.

- Biofuels – Groom et al. 2008 (Cons Bio Vol 22, No 3) argue biofuels should be certified biodiv-friendly – should be sust & small footprint, maintain native/essential food crop habitats, be at least net C neutral.

- Tools – USGS to provide Landsat for free (1972-present)
- Tools – Kalacska et al. 2008 (Journal of Env Mngt, vol 88). Q: are land cover maps accurate enough to use as baseline forest cover (for CDM)? A: no – low accuracies (in Costa Rica, Mex) – nat level maps overest for cover by counting evergr veg, but underest deciduous forest in > local maps.
- Tools – Heinz Center completes 2008 update of measure/monitor project State of the Nation’s Ecosystems 2008, wch tracks/reports on 68 indicators. They hope feds will take over project. Stokstad, Science vol 320, p. 1575.
- Tools – re: cons prioritiz assessments: of published assess papers, 2/3rds never get imple (usu b/c researcher doesn’t plan on imple)- ouch. Article suggests: rewarding academics for “doing”, linking research to q’s of practitioners, etc. Knight et al. 2008, Conservation Biology vol 22, No. 3.

- PES – research on effectiveness of payments (that went to dev projects in communities) to stop illegal logging in a nat park in Indo had no effect on reduced deforest (paired study) - ouch. Linkie et al. 2008, Science, Vol 22, No 3.
- PES – Forest Trends/Katoomba/UNEP release primer on getting started in PES: ID’ing opp’s and buyers, considering instit/tech capacity & access, making & imple a PES agreement
- PES – USFS PNW research station pub synthesizes research work on ecosys svcs, summaries for how FS can integrate into mngt

- Misc – goats provide weed mngt service, bats (bat boxes) provide pest-reduction services in San Jose, CA. Pricey (~$700/acre goats, $145/box), *but* nonmkt val’s: fire fuel reduction, “wildlife viewing” val, edu.

- Nonmarket Val – Martin-Lopez et al 2008 (Cons Bio Vol 22, No 3) do meta-analysis of WTP for biodiversity val studies (single species only) and find factors that contribute to WTP: anthropomorphic (cuteness), anthropocentric (how useful they are – hunt, fish, wildlife view). Goldmine of 60 WTP values in table on p.628-629.
- Nonmarket Val – National Res Council study on forests and water conclude tht most important output of forests is water.
- Nonmarket Val – Gund Instit+USFS PNW research doing val (bene transfer) for multi (23) ecosys svcs in watershed near Seattle (p.5)

News Summary for 5/17-6/3

Projects
- Nonmarket Valuation – BBC World “Nature Inc.” – “a new series that reveals the true value of nature by putting a price tag on it.” 1st install – bee pollination & CA almond groves June 13th 19:30GMT.
- W Flow – new FS project looks at beavers/fens restor/reintro in Rocky Mtn region to incr w retention capacity as CC adaptation. Contact: Trey Schillie

News
- Farm Bill (USDA website)
---“Passes” (w/snafu) on 5/22 (veto overridden)
---5-yr, $307 bill - $4bill for conservation ($188mill for Ches Bay)
---Lang to help env svcs markets but no funding (“develop uniform standards for quantifying environmental services; establish credit registries; and offer credit audit and certification services”)
---New grants for buying community forests; cost share for emergency for restor; state forest assess & plans; forest “CIG”-type grant program; wood-to-NRG program
---Some, but not much reform of subsidies (see Economist slam)
---Ecosystem Marketplace summary
---Summary of forestry-related items by Northern Forest Alliance Exec Dir George Gay
---Summary of Conservation Title from American Farmland Trust

- All things Mitigation - Ecosystem Marketplace’s Mitigation Mail (5/30)
---FL bill to regulate sea grass loss/damages fine facing veto as last-min amend to allow mitigation banking angers enviros. Crit: miti = net loss
---a NJ conserve trust is putting land up for bid to dev/sell WL miti (but not own the land). Bids start at $15k. Could bring the org $3.8mill.
---TX County has HCP for review that sets up cons miti bank (birds, karst invertebrates) for roads, schools, utilities, pub or priv dev, etc. in Co.
---Charlotte County plans to buy scrub jay (TES) habitat crit: $$, would be preserved by landowner anyway (additionality), pub access concerns
---Another Co gets crit re: additionality of cons miti plan on pub land bought for conservation. Sounds like idea to create bank spurred by dev D/ lack of miti S
---Another gov gets crit re: additionality/net loss – ME DOT + partners planned to restore WL for restoration’s sake, then decided to turn it into a WL miti bank for their uses.
---Miti industry consolidation – Wildlands Inc. buys Acer Environmental (GA/NC)
---Australia’s BioBanking has RFP for landowners to dev/sell biodiv credits, sign biobanking agree

- Cons banking/ Regulatory drivers – US House Nat Res Comm/GAO investigation finds USFWS could have “trumped science with politics” on 8 ESA [de]listing decisions (of ~200 investigated). Looks like FWS jumped the gun in delisting. Pol interference could create unnaturally weak demand-driver for cons banking. House Nat Res Comm site, GAO report (70p), News article summarizing GAO official’s testimony to the House Nat Res Committee

- WQT – Ecosystem Marketplace article on Vol W Mkts reviews basics of D drivers (even if “vol”, gotta have reg driver)/players (regulated PT source, unreg ag sector) in WQT; ag prefers to stay under the radar of regulation/gov (eg – verifiers on farms); WQT price must entice - no D if ag prices high; state policies can work against D (ex – MD “flush tax” paying for PT source poll reduction).

- C – PG&E RFP asks for up to 1mill tons GHG emiss reduction via CA CCAR-verified projects to use customers’ vol offset $s. Deadline 7/2.
- C tax – SF Bay air qual mngt auth 1st in US to charge businesses fees to emit GHG. Will raise $1.1mill from 2500 businesses (ex fees: ~$1/yr for service station -> $50k+/yr for oil refinery). [Q: and do what with it?]
- REDD – New Forests continues S Asia roll (orangutan miti in Malaysia, selling biodiv credits to palm oil manu in Borneo) w/ REDD arrange w/ Indonesia regional gov for up to 1mill hectares forest.
- REDD in the USA – NPR story on N CA forest mngd by Pac For Trust –old trees capture/store > C > quickly than younger trees; variable standards of vol C offsets; CCAR

- Nonmarket valuation –U MD Center for Agroecology study on multi ecosys svcs, incl: maximizing forest mngt for C seq & timber, recre values ($96/day trip, $400/overnight trip), existence value of forests ($200-$375/person/yr). Press release, News story
- Nonmarket val – EU/Germany report: world env damage and species loss from forests costs $2.1-$4.8 trill/yr (NPV). Other world-scale val studies in draft stage: gen biodiv loss, coral reefs, Meditterr coastal WL, env bene of flood/erosion risk mngt, cost of species/hab plans.
- Nonmarket val – Tufts U/NRDC research – cost of not addressing CC (esp from hurri damages, real est loss, incr NRG costs, w costs) in US is $3.8trill/yr by 2100.
- Nonmarket val – CA Forest Assoc’s summer mag is all about link betw forest -> clean water/ consistent flow, W & CC, etc.

- Certif – FSC Fam Forest Cert mtg ID’d ways 2 reduce costs assoc w/ cert, incr landowner bene, impr communic. Mtg report soon.

- Tools – NWI maps now on Google Earth
- Tools – Forestry GIS freeware

-Misc – OSU article on forest mkt drivers - TIMOs and REITs don’t care about maximizing ecosys svcs, sustaining local econ, etc. Land goes to highest val (golf course, timber, whatever). Rise of TIMOs/REITS b/c of tax law (disadvan for timber co’s to own land).

News Summary for 4/5-4/20

- Gov Incentives – Land Econ article (Suter, Poe, & Bills, 2008) concludes that 1-time sign-up bonuses are > cost-effective at incr cons than increases in annual payments.
- Gov Incen – US Forest Service will spend $54 mill on cons ease on working forests via Forest Legacy Program in ’08. 35 projects in 32 states
- Gov Incen – NOAA is requesting comments by June 9 on revisions to Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP)
- Cons Finance – REDD in the USA? some individuals in AR bought forest land, asking folks to lease it for $200/yr per 1k sq ft.

- WQT – Ches Bay watermen considering suing state agencies re: water quality & economic impacts; potential driver for TMDL regulation in the Chesapeake, wqt.

- REDD – Marriott signs agreement w/ Brazilian state (Amazonas) to protect trees. Gives $2mill for 1.4mill acres.
- C tools – COMET-VR to pair up with COLE.
- C tools – Wilderness Society report criticizes USFS’ COLE, C Calculation tool, other tools – good effort, but coarse scale. News story, report

- Renew NRG – Waste Management going to open 60 new landfill gas-to-energy facilities. Dell HQ is using 100% of the power from 1st Austin TX facility.
- Renew NRG – CO Universities, Nat Renew NRG Lab, businesses partner on C2B2 (CO Center for Biorefining and Biofuels) to research biofuel/refining tech.
- Cellulosic biomass – Iowa State U, ConocoPhillips, Nat Renew NRG Lab partner on dev tech for converting (mostly ag) non-food cell biomass into transportation fuels.

- Misc – U of Missouri research – the public prioritizes local env issues. Top 3: local drinking water, reducing US water poll, impr urban air poll issues like smog. Global warming is 8th.
- Misc – over 50% of paper used in US is recovered for recycling.