The Montana Carbon Offset Coalition, or MCOC, is another group exploring carbon sequestration opportunities in the US. The MCOC approach to sequestration is a purely private market based program that allows CO2 emitters the opportunity to purchase carbon emission reduction credits or “CERC’s” from a wide variety of forestry projects scattered across the US.
The EPA recently chose the MCOC as one of three efforts in the US to develop planning templates for forestry sequestration projects. Under this EPA grant, the Coalition is also beginning the framework to incorporate soils and Agroforestry into mainstream sequestration efforts. The MCOC is in the process of developing the scientific baseline data needed to sell CERC’s from Agroforestry and soils based projects.
The Inland Northwest Newsletter has published several articles on the Carbon Sequestration Ptogram. Recently the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana transacted the first trade in greenhouse gas emissions reduction offsets involving carbon sequestration efforts on Native American Lands. A total of 47,972 tons of CO2 equivalent will be .sequestered over an 80 year period through reforestation of 250 acres of high-altitude pinelands on reservation lands. The carbon storage on the site will be maintained for 100 years. At the end of the eighty years all offsets shall be owned by the Tribes.
The Coalition is proud to have the best technical people in the country working with our effort. Neil Sampson, president of the Sampson Group is our lead advisor. Neil is also one of the lead authors of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the UN. Marketing of the CERC’s is handled by Environmental Financial Products Ltd. of Chicago. EFPL is a brokerage house in Chicago headed up by Dr. Richard Sandor, the man most responsible for establishing the sulfur dioxide trading market.
For more information please contact Gary at Northwest Management, Inc. (406) 543-6668 or Larry Van Rinsum, MCOC, 406-857-2285.