Prince George Free Press, May 31, 2013

CITY: Illegal dumping falls on property owner A3 Friday, May 31, 2013 New Toyota dealership taking shape A9

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Seven billion and counting DELYNDA PILON newsroom@pgfreepress.com

The first tree for the Carbon Offset Aggregate Cooperative was planted at the Central B.C. Railway and Forestry Museum Tuesday, commemorating a landmark agreement which will see Crown land, especially that which was devastated by the mountain pine beetle or forest fires, replanted. Alongside the first COAC tree, the seven billionth seedling from the province’s silviculture industry was planted. Mary-Anne Arcand, COAC president, said last summer she was approached by a gentleman with the idea carbon could be captured through tree planting. “We started last September,” Arcand said, adding they bid on a government proposal to replant Crown land, especially areas devastated by the mountain pine beetle and forest fires. “Nobody is obligated to replant,” Arcand said, underscoring the difference between what happens on Crown land and what happens otherwise. “It’s left to natural regeneration.” Many times this means trees are sparse and straggly, hardly the healthy forests that provide shelter for wildlife, escape for naturalists and economic prosperity for loggers. “We need to take it to that next step,” Arcand, who also heads up the local logging association, said. “We wanted to do more.” The COAC is the official coordinating entity for carbon projects on crown land for B.C.

According to a news release this means COAC manages the data for lands that get replanted under the agreement (fee-forservice), translation of that data into carbon offsets (fee-for-service) and commission on the sales. It is also a mechanism for private sources to help rehabilitate B.C.’s forests, with a trust fund to draw from for decades and an aggregated carbon bank to sell from. “This means COAC has two ways to protect the environment,” MLA Shirley Bond said. The first carbon offset aggregation program reduces diesel consumption in big trucks and equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and helps owners save on operating costs, converting fuel savings into carbon offset credits. This agreement allows COAC to add reforestation and incremental silviculture to that portfolio, planting trees to capture carbon offsets which finances planting more trees. To take part in the process, contractors must join the COAC diesel reduction program. Arcand said this means a more carbonfriendly, fuel-efficient environment. “This is for the sake of my nine grandkids, their kids and their kid’s kids,” she said. On May 29 the first 9,000 trees were to be planted for carbon in the Nazko area, southwest of Quesnel. These trees are funded by the province, according to a press release. During the first week of June, another 10,000 privately funded trees will be planted in the same area. De Ly nd a PILON/ Fre e Pre s s

Mary-Anne Arcand had her granddaughter, Emma, plant the first Carbon Offset Aggregation Cooperative seedling at the Central B.C. Railway and Forestry Museum. The tree commemorates a new way of approaching silviculture in the province, which includes replanting crown land, paying for it with carbon offsets, a project headed by COAC. The seventh billion seedling was planted during the same ceremony.

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