Forestlife- Winter 2008

Standing Up for Climate Benefits PFT Backing Holistic, ‘No Net Loss’ Approach for Forests

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orests can work to keep our climate cool. But only if we stop their loss and conserve, manage and restore them so that they absorb and store more carbon. That’s why the Pacific Forest Trust is building strong climate policies and robust markets that will utilize forests as a key tool in the effort to combat global warming.

PHOTO BY ANDREA DELEON

We’ve had significant success in California this year as the state moves

closer to implementing its landmark climate legislation, Assembly Bill 32. We’re encouraged by the AB 32 proposed scoping plan’s inclusion of forests as a key sector. The proposed plan incorporates our recommended sector-wide approach to monitoring and managing the carbon stored in California’s forests, including a policy of “no net loss” of forest carbon benefits. It also calls for accurate accounting of forest-based emissions,

INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE: A delegration of Chinese forestry officials led by Zhou Shaozhou (third from right) and German advisors from GTZ met with PFT’s policy team in October to learn about our forest carbon policy initiatives.

The Presidio 1001-A O’Reilly Avenue San Francisco, CA 94129 www.PacificForest.org 415.561.0700

which is especially critical as forests can affect other sectors including land use, construction, energy and transportation. The proposed plan also includes a role for the marketing of forest carbon emissions reductions, or “offsets,” that give landowners a financial incentive to manage their forests for climate gains. We continue to work with California’s Climate Action Registry in developing a “version 2.0” of their accounting protocols to ensure those emissions reductions are permanent, verifiable, and additional to what can be achieved with business-as-usual practices. “Our successes in California serve as a guide for our policy work in Washington State, the mid-Atlantic and southern states, as well as the Western Climate Initiative and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,” says PFT President Laurie Wayburn. “We’re taking what we learn from these efforts across the country to advance a strong national framework for forest climate policy, in collaboration with landowners and other climate stakeholders.”

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ON THE COVER: A small sampling of the faces and places that have helped make PFT’s 15 years of service so special.

The Pacific Forest Trust recycled is a non-profit, Printed on FSC certified paper 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to sustaining America’s working forests for all their public benefits

The Newsletter of

The Pacific Forest Trust Board of Directors Walter Sedgwick, Co-Chair Timothy N. Taylor, Co-Chair William W. Stelle, Jr., Vice-Chair Charles Swindells, Treasurer Andrea E. Tuttle, Secretary Laurie A. Wayburn, President William H. Banzhaf Constance Best Norman L. Christensen, Jr. O.H. Perry Lloyd Kirk Marckwald Timothy B. Pirrung James D. Range Hal Salwasser Gregory Tebbe William Hutton, Counsel

Staff Laurie A. Wayburn, President Constance Best, Managing Director Randall Beren, Communications Director John Bernstein, VP Conservation Anton Chiono, Policy Associate Andrea Deleon, Administrative Assistant Sally Ericsson, National Policy Representative Matt Fehrenbacher, Stewardship Forester Christine Harrison, Communications Manager Rachael Katz, Policy Project Manager Peter Kodzis, Director of Finance & Admin. Jessica Neff, Stewardship Associate Sean O’Sullivan, Office/IT Manager Alex Page, Development Associate Jonathan Remucal, Stewardship Manager Emily Russell-Roy, NE Policy Project Manager Nicole Schuetz, Development Mgr./Foundations Paula Swedeen, Senior Policy Analyst Dale Thornburgh, Ph.D., Senior Forester (CA Registered Professional Forester #430) Steve Van Landingham, Development Director Jolanta Zakrzewski, Accountant Editors: Randall Beren & Christine Harrison Art Director: Randall Beren The Pacific Forest Trust is the leading non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining America’s vital working forests for all their public benefits. © 2008 The Pacific Forest Trust. All rights reserved. Reproduction permitted with attribution.

We gratefully acknowledge the following donors whose financial gifts and pledges from May 2008 to October 2008 have helped make our work possible

‘Father of New Forestry’ Speaks About Sequoia Award and Need for Stewardship

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ften called the “guru of old growth forests” and the “father of new forestry,” University of Washington Professor of Forest Ecology Jerry Franklin, Ph.D, is known far and wide for his work developing a new forest management paradigm – one that promotes ecological as well as economic objectives. Franklin broke new ground by uniting ecosystem science with forest management, creating what he calls “ecological forestry” – a management practice that recognizes the complex web of life in forests and its important contributions to society. In recognition of these achievements, the Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) honored Franklin with the 2008 Sequoia Award for Lifetime Achievement at this year’s Forest Fete. “The award means a great deal to me because it comes from an organization fully engaged in bringing the principles of science and conservation to the development and implementation of forest policy,” Franklin says. “This makes the award much more meaningful than were it to have come from my academic peers. Coming from the Pacific Forest Trust, it means my activities have had real and positive consequences for forest conservation.”

the services – like carbon sequestration – that our forests provide. It will mean basing our policies and practices on the most comprehensive science possible, including our improving understanding of the structure and function of forest ecosystems. It will mean restoring and maintaining ecologically sustainable conditions where they’ve been lost. It will mean reestablishing credible public land management agencies and policies. “Sustaining our forests will require aggressive investment in research and monitoring programs,” Franklin concludes. “And it will require credible third-party assessments of forestland management policies, including those applied to federally owned forests.” Franklin remains humble about his accomplishments, hastening to add that his achievements have all been collaborative. “I’ve had an incredible cadre of creative and personable associates who have been critical to my creativity and success.” t

In both his research and teaching, Franklin’s focus is now aimed at reestablishing stewardship as the central tenet of forestry. “Sustaining our forests,” he explains, “is going to require efforts across a very broad array of fronts. “It will mean facilitating the continued stewardship of private forests. It will mean developing new ways of valuing 2

Individuals

Jerry Franklin

Michael and Jeanne Adams Ralph Benson John Bernstein Peter Boyer and Terry Gamble Samuel H. Brown Lewis and Sheana Butler Ed and Kerry Cooper Peter Davis Kate Ditzler and Stuart Gasner Caroline Donsbough Katie Falkoff Nancy Fardelmann Douglas Ferguson James P. Finerty Betsy and Jesse Fink Rachel Fletcher Robert Flint, Jr. Michael Gallagher Kass Green and Gene Forsburg Edmund Hayes, Jr. George Helmholz Maurice and Janice Holloway Joe Houghteling Bennett Johnston John Laughlin Konrad J. Liegel Dixon Long Gregory E. Loniewski, Jr. Ross MacWhinney Drew Maran and Sandra Slater Kirk Marckwald and Christina Desser Sylvia McLaughlin Dan McNevin Osha Meserve Amy Meyer Douglas Miller Wes Miller Stephen C. and Amanda Morris Theresa Nelson Jennifer Niedermeyer Nancy Nordhoff Gilman and Marge Ordway Ben Patton Timothy and Ulrike Pirrung Gary C. Rynearson Walter and Jeanne Sedgwick Elizabeth Sedgwick Ed Small Steven A. Small Pieter Smith Linda Snyder Charlie Swindells

Timothy and Billie Taylor George and Anita Thompson Steve Thompson Karie and David Thomson Steve Van Landingham Kirby Walker and Paul Danielson Leslie Walker Burlock and Walter Burlock Brooks Walker, Jr. Laurie A. Wayburn Edgar Wayburn Georgia Westdahl Gregory and Daphne Tebbe

Businesses

Autodesk Baldwin, Blomstrom, Wilkinson & Associates California Ski Industry Association The Campbell Group Cantor CO2e The Collins Companies ESRI Green Mountain Energy Company Hancock Timber Resource Group K&L Gates Mendocino Redwood Company MMA Sustainable Land Investments MTR Western Pacific Gas and Electric Company Port Blakely Tree Farms R&A Investment Forestry Redtree Properties Soluri, Emrick & Meserve Sullivan & Worcester Trillium Asset Management WM Beaty & Associates

Foundations

Ayrshire Foundation Bella Vista Foundation Bullitt Foundation Energy Foundation James Irvine Foundation Kongsgaard-Goldman Foundation Laird Norton Family Foundation Marisla Foundation Moore Charitable Foundation Morgan Family Foundation Robertson Foundation S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation San Francisco Foundation Weeden Foundation 7

Photo Courtesy of MTR Western

Forests for Work. Forests for Life.

Thank You

Franklin on Forests

PHOTO BY JAMES A. LUTZ

ForestLife

Riding Clean & Green with MTR Western Guests from Sacramento arriving at Forest Fete 2008 enjoyed a comfortable, lowcarbon ride on one of the nation’s plushest motorcoaches thanks to a generous contribution from MTR Western, one of the evening’s supporting sponsors. The west coast-based charter motorcoach operator already is a top choice for tour groups, sports teams and others seeking style and comfort when they travel. Now the fleet’s top-ofthe-line features include a “net carbon negative” carbon footprint achieved with a combination of 74 state-of-the-art, cleaner-burning diesel vehicles and 6,000 metric tons of emissions reductions from PFT’s Van Eck Forest Project. “We’re the only charter motorcoach carrier in North America I know of that mitigates more than 100 percent of the emissions it creates by purchasing carbon offsets,” says Darren Berg, Chief Executive Officer of MTR Western. “Our proud support of PFT and the Van Eck Forest Project is compelling evidence of our commitment toward being a responsible environmental citizen.” t

Klamath-Cascade Collaborations

Everyone Wins with Woods

Partnerships Helping Conserve Sierra Valley and Monument Lands

“If we can create a big conservation circle around this valley, it would make me so happy,” adds Linda Sanford, whose Valley View Angus Ranch was the first Sierra Valley property to be conserved by PFT 11 years ago. “It’s a critical zone and it’s worth saving.” We’re also fulfilling our promise to realize a more complete, more fully conserved Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM). By year’s end, the Bureau of Land

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE HARRISON

Sierra Valley landowner Russell Turner, who completed a WFCE with

“With the pressure for subdividing and second homes in the mountains, we have to make decisions that will enable us to pass along our lands to the next generation,” says Turner. “With land values the way they are, the properties won’t survive settlement of an estate. But by conserving our lands with groups like the Pacific Forest Trust, we can all go forward.”

Landowners and PFT easement partners Russell Turner and Bob Copren (center) show Trout Unlimited’s John Williamson (left) and local forester Bob Suter (right) the lay of the land during a recent conservation tour of the Sierra Valley. 6

Tax Perks Landowners seeking to conserve their forests for the benefit of future generations will continue to have a generous tax incentive to do so with the renewal and expansion of the 2008 Farm Bill. The incentive, which is retroactive to January 2008 and extends through 2009, raises the deduction for donating an easement from 30% of a donor’s income in any one year to 50%. It also increases the number of years over which one can take deductions from six to 16. For more information about WFCEs and tax incentives, contact John Bernstein at 415.561.0700.

Management (BLM) will have purchased from PFT 1,000 acres of land within the CSNM Planning Area. This first transfer of private lands into the public CSNM uses federal funds PFT helped secure with the support of Senators Wyden, Smith and Feinstein and the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council. The tracts include a mile of the famed Pacific Crest Trail and are adjacent to old-growth stands already owned by BLM and in the Monument. PFT currently holds 4,720 acres of forestlands within the CSNM Planning Area, all acquired to protect the integrity of the only national monument dedicated to biodiversity. These threatened lands were bought with lead funding from the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Bullitt and Weeden foundations, among others. As additional federal funds become available, we will continue to transfer more of these lands to the BLM for inclusion in the Monument. t

Forest Trust and a roomful of people like you who are dedicated to our forests,” Franklin observed. “I believe if we understand forest ecosystems and fully understand their complexity and beauty, we will do the right thing.”

Fete Guests Carol Finkelstein and Sandy Dean

“T

onight we have tree huggers and tree loggers, landowners and regulators, foresters and conservationists, bankers and birders, scientists and surfers, Democrats and Republicans – every one of us united behind winning with woods.” With that rallying introduction, Pacific Forest Trust Managing Director Connie Best welcomed supporters to Forest Fete 2008: Everyone Wins with Woods.

The Phillips Brothers Mill and Tree Farm accepted the Forest Champion of the Year award honoring their groundbreaking work as the first family forest owners to enter into a working forest conservation easement partnership with PFT. “Our forest cannot be subdivided or broken up. It will be harvested in perpetuity as a biodiverse, multi-aged forest,” declared Gary Hendrix, the family’s spokesman. “I want to thank the Pacific Forest Trust for helping us realize a vision of conserving our land so it could be passed on in perpetuity to future generations of Phillips.” Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) received the Outside-the-Box Award for raising awareness of the climate

benefits of forests in Congress. In her acceptance video, she commended PFT’s economic model for rewarding landowners who manage their forests for climate benefits. “I believe we need to make sure that there are strong incentives for sustainable forest management practices and that we can tackle global warming by having those incentives in place,” she said. Speaker of the House Pelosi, along with Senators Boxer and Feinstein, sent representatives who each presented PFT with a meritorious citation lauding our 15 years of service protecting and promoting working forests. Forest Fete 2008 was presented with the generous support of Mendocino Redwood Company, Pacific Gas & Electric Company and dozens more businesses and individuals. t View Fete photos and videos at: www.pacificforest.org/ forestfete/forestfete08.html.

Renowned conservation biologist Thomas Lovejoy, who gave the evening’s keynote speech on climate change, began the program praising PFT’s forest stewardship principles. “The whole world needs to be managing their forests in the way the Pacific Forest Trust is encouraging,” asserted Lovejoy. Pioneering forest ecologist Jerry Franklin, who received the Sequoia Award for Lifetime Achievement (see opposite page), shared an optimistic vision for the future of forests. “It really fills me with hope when we have organizations like the Pacific

PHOTO BY SEAN O’SULLIVAN

In California’s Sierra Valley – where we’ve already conserved 2,700plus acres of forest and ranch lands in partnership with three different families – PFT has joined with several more landowners to design working forest conservation easement (WFCE) partnerships that will create a conservation corridor of more than 5,600 acres where the headwaters of the Feather River forms the largest alpine wetland in North America.

PFT last year, explains why he and his neighbors are looking to easement partnerships to conserve their lands and way of life:

PHOTO BY LARKIN DONLEY

T

he Pacific Forest Trust and our partners are advancing efforts to conserve thousands of acres in the remarkably biodiverse KlamathCascade eco-region, a key PFT focal area. Comprising an arc that extends from Oregon’s Klamath River basin across California’s Cascade peaks and into the northern Sierra, the region supports thousands of families who earn their livelihoods working their lands and provides essential wood, water and wildlife habitat.

Trailblazing Landowners, Visionary Lawmaker and Leading Ecologist Honored at Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony

(from left) Gary, Gregg and Allison Hendrix and Kathy, Denice and Ed Smith are Phillips family members proud to be honored as Forest Champion of the Year. 3

Photo by Francesa Dalleo

Best & Wayburn Weigh 15 Years of Work

Conservation, Commerce, Partnerships and Persistence Define PFT

PFT President Laurie Wayburn has received two highly prestigious awards this year in recognition of her and PFT’s pioneering climate work. In June, Wayburn was named one of six recipients of the 2008 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award and received $125,000 to support PFT’s climate policy work in California. “We believe Laurie Wayburn’s innovative, cooperative approach to conservation and climate change action will make a real difference in Californians’ lives,” says Jim Canales, Irvine Foundation president and CEO. In September, Wayburn received the Land Trust Alliance’s Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award and was named a fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. “While others were simply thinking about carbon credits, Laurie and her team were designing a credible, stateadopted system for measuring and selling emissions reductions from forests that is now considered a model,” says Russ Shay, LTA director of public policy. t

“We wanted to start an organization where people met on the same side of the table, instead of across barricades,” Best recalls. “Maybe this all seemed radical, improbable. But our ideas began to click with many people: forest owners, managers, investors and conservationists who joined with us to form the Pacific Forest Trust.” Today, those alliances form the backbone of PFT’s innovative approach to conserving forests for all their ecological and economic benefits. For our 15th anniversary, Wayburn and Best reflect on the evolution of PFT into the leading non-profit advocating for working forests and their public benefits.

What established the Pacific Forest Trust as an innovator? Laurie Wayburn: We started by developing strategies to wrestle with the fact that economics shape the forest landscape. When we began, forests were valued for timber and land development – a reality that led to the unintended consequence 4

across the country. From our founding, we’ve also been developing policy and market frameworks that reward forest landowners for providing ecosystem services. The success of these efforts has been validated by California’s approval of forest carbon sequestration projects as an early-action measure to meet climate goals and by the Van Eck Forest Project becoming the first such project registered in the state. Selling emissions reductions from the project is demonstrating that sustainably managed forests can offer landowners real financial returns.

synergies between commerce and conservation. And, when we added the climate benefits of forests, we achieved a triple win for landowners, forests and the public.

Your work with PFT is a labor of love. What makes it all worthwhile? CB: It’s gratifying to see the tools we’ve developed take on a life of their own. Hundreds of thousands of acres of forestland around the country are being safeguarded with Working Forest Conservation Easements. Many partners are working with us across the U.S. to harness the power of working forests to solve the climate crisis. That’s very exciting to us. LW: And it’s incredibly rewarding every time we’re out on one of the properties we’ve worked with a landowner to conserve. It’s a wonderful feeling to know these forests are going to be well-managed, benefiting people and nature for generations to come.

What is your vision for organization going forward? landowners for their conservation and stewardship efforts. We also saw an opportunity to apply groundbreaking new findings in forest ecology to forest management in ways that would benefit both landowners and forests. Connie Best: One of our first steps was to develop a new tool that would conserve managed forestlands and offer landowners tax incentives. The result was the Working Forest Conservation Easement, which we promoted to landowners and the conservation community and that is now in wide use

the

CB: The challenges of sustaining our forests are only increasing in this turbulent time of global change. Our vision is for PFT to continue expanding our partnerships so together we can create a society that values forests for all they provide – wood, water, wildlife and a well-balanced climate.

PHOTO BY RANDALL BEREN

Irvine & LTA Honor Wayburn For Climate Work

of forest loss and depletion. We, therefore, wanted to harness financial markets to promote practices that would result in more abundant forests with healthier ecosystems. We needed economic incentives that would reward

PHOTO BY RANDALL BEREN

Wayburn and LTA President Rand Wentworth

During the “Redwood Summer” of 1990, thousands of activists gathered in Northern California, chaining themselves to trees and blocking bulldozers to protest unsustainable logging. People were polarized. Extremism ruled. PFT founders Laurie Wayburn and Connie Best met soon after and conceived of a new approach to forest conservation.

What has fueled PFT’s growth? CB: It’s taken good ideas, great partnerships and, frankly, persistence. LW: We focused on positive solutions to complex problems. We found

LW: The value of the whole forest is far greater than the sum of its parts. This is a fundamental shift in the way people value forests. So, we intend to continue building on this model in order to retain, sustain and gain from forests in ways that benefit us all. t 5

15

YEARS

Anniversary Challenge doubles Your Gift The Pacific Forest Trust is proud to be celebrating 15 years of delivering innovative conservation and climate solutions. Since our founding, we’ve made great progress ensuring America’s working forests are safeguarded and strengthened for the benefit of generations to come. But there is much work yet to do to successfully tackle new conservation challenges in the West and promote strong climate policies nationally. That’s why PFT’s Board of Directors is sponsoring a 15 Year Anniversary Donor Challenge. With your support, we’re aiming to kick off the next 15 years with expanded and enhanced partnerships that will enable us to better Retain, Sustain and Gain from America’s working forests. To help us meet these goals, our Board – spurred by sizeable gifts from Gregory and Daphne Tebbe and Charles Swindells – has generously offered to double the size of your 2008 gift by up to $150,000 – that’s $10,000 for every year we’ve been championing forests. So, please, celebrate our past by giving to our future. Donate today by using the attached envelope to mail your gift. Or give online at:

www.PacificForest.org

Photo by Francesa Dalleo

Best & Wayburn Weigh 15 Years of Work

Conservation, Commerce, Partnerships and Persistence Define PFT

PFT President Laurie Wayburn has received two highly prestigious awards this year in recognition of her and PFT’s pioneering climate work. In June, Wayburn was named one of six recipients of the 2008 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award and received $125,000 to support PFT’s climate policy work in California. “We believe Laurie Wayburn’s innovative, cooperative approach to conservation and climate change action will make a real difference in Californians’ lives,” says Jim Canales, Irvine Foundation president and CEO. In September, Wayburn received the Land Trust Alliance’s Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award and was named a fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. “While others were simply thinking about carbon credits, Laurie and her team were designing a credible, stateadopted system for measuring and selling emissions reductions from forests that is now considered a model,” says Russ Shay, LTA director of public policy. t

“We wanted to start an organization where people met on the same side of the table, instead of across barricades,” Best recalls. “Maybe this all seemed radical, improbable. But our ideas began to click with many people: forest owners, managers, investors and conservationists who joined with us to form the Pacific Forest Trust.” Today, those alliances form the backbone of PFT’s innovative approach to conserving forests for all their ecological and economic benefits. For our 15th anniversary, Wayburn and Best reflect on the evolution of PFT into the leading non-profit advocating for working forests and their public benefits.

What established the Pacific Forest Trust as an innovator? Laurie Wayburn: We started by developing strategies to wrestle with the fact that economics shape the forest landscape. When we began, forests were valued for timber and land development – a reality that led to the unintended consequence 4

across the country. From our founding, we’ve also been developing policy and market frameworks that reward forest landowners for providing ecosystem services. The success of these efforts has been validated by California’s approval of forest carbon sequestration projects as an early-action measure to meet climate goals and by the Van Eck Forest Project becoming the first such project registered in the state. Selling emissions reductions from the project is demonstrating that sustainably managed forests can offer landowners real financial returns.

synergies between commerce and conservation. And, when we added the climate benefits of forests, we achieved a triple win for landowners, forests and the public.

Your work with PFT is a labor of love. What makes it all worthwhile? CB: It’s gratifying to see the tools we’ve developed take on a life of their own. Hundreds of thousands of acres of forestland around the country are being safeguarded with Working Forest Conservation Easements. Many partners are working with us across the U.S. to harness the power of working forests to solve the climate crisis. That’s very exciting to us. LW: And it’s incredibly rewarding every time we’re out on one of the properties we’ve worked with a landowner to conserve. It’s a wonderful feeling to know these forests are going to be well-managed, benefiting people and nature for generations to come.

What is your vision for organization going forward? landowners for their conservation and stewardship efforts. We also saw an opportunity to apply groundbreaking new findings in forest ecology to forest management in ways that would benefit both landowners and forests. Connie Best: One of our first steps was to develop a new tool that would conserve managed forestlands and offer landowners tax incentives. The result was the Working Forest Conservation Easement, which we promoted to landowners and the conservation community and that is now in wide use

the

CB: The challenges of sustaining our forests are only increasing in this turbulent time of global change. Our vision is for PFT to continue expanding our partnerships so together we can create a society that values forests for all they provide – wood, water, wildlife and a well-balanced climate.

PHOTO BY RANDALL BEREN

Irvine & LTA Honor Wayburn For Climate Work

of forest loss and depletion. We, therefore, wanted to harness financial markets to promote practices that would result in more abundant forests with healthier ecosystems. We needed economic incentives that would reward

PHOTO BY RANDALL BEREN

Wayburn and LTA President Rand Wentworth

During the “Redwood Summer” of 1990, thousands of activists gathered in Northern California, chaining themselves to trees and blocking bulldozers to protest unsustainable logging. People were polarized. Extremism ruled. PFT founders Laurie Wayburn and Connie Best met soon after and conceived of a new approach to forest conservation.

What has fueled PFT’s growth? CB: It’s taken good ideas, great partnerships and, frankly, persistence. LW: We focused on positive solutions to complex problems. We found

LW: The value of the whole forest is far greater than the sum of its parts. This is a fundamental shift in the way people value forests. So, we intend to continue building on this model in order to retain, sustain and gain from forests in ways that benefit us all. t 5

15

YEARS

Anniversary Challenge doubles Your Gift The Pacific Forest Trust is proud to be celebrating 15 years of delivering innovative conservation and climate solutions. Since our founding, we’ve made great progress ensuring America’s working forests are safeguarded and strengthened for the benefit of generations to come. But there is much work yet to do to successfully tackle new conservation challenges in the West and promote strong climate policies nationally. That’s why PFT’s Board of Directors is sponsoring a 15 Year Anniversary Donor Challenge. With your support, we’re aiming to kick off the next 15 years with expanded and enhanced partnerships that will enable us to better Retain, Sustain and Gain from America’s working forests. To help us meet these goals, our Board – spurred by sizeable gifts from Gregory and Daphne Tebbe and Charles Swindells – has generously offered to double the size of your 2008 gift by up to $150,000 – that’s $10,000 for every year we’ve been championing forests. So, please, celebrate our past by giving to our future. Donate today by using the attached envelope to mail your gift. Or give online at:

www.PacificForest.org

Klamath-Cascade Collaborations

Everyone Wins with Woods

Partnerships Helping Conserve Sierra Valley and Monument Lands

“If we can create a big conservation circle around this valley, it would make me so happy,” adds Linda Sanford, whose Valley View Angus Ranch was the first Sierra Valley property to be conserved by PFT 11 years ago. “It’s a critical zone and it’s worth saving.” We’re also fulfilling our promise to realize a more complete, more fully conserved Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM). By year’s end, the Bureau of Land

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE HARRISON

Sierra Valley landowner Russell Turner, who completed a WFCE with

“With the pressure for subdividing and second homes in the mountains, we have to make decisions that will enable us to pass along our lands to the next generation,” says Turner. “With land values the way they are, the properties won’t survive settlement of an estate. But by conserving our lands with groups like the Pacific Forest Trust, we can all go forward.”

Landowners and PFT easement partners Russell Turner and Bob Copren (center) show Trout Unlimited’s John Williamson (left) and local forester Bob Suter (right) the lay of the land during a recent conservation tour of the Sierra Valley. 6

Tax Perks Landowners seeking to conserve their forests for the benefit of future generations will continue to have a generous tax incentive to do so with the renewal and expansion of the 2008 Farm Bill. The incentive, which is retroactive to January 2008 and extends through 2009, raises the deduction for donating an easement from 30% of a donor’s income in any one year to 50%. It also increases the number of years over which one can take deductions from six to 16. For more information about WFCEs and tax incentives, contact John Bernstein at 415.561.0700.

Management (BLM) will have purchased from PFT 1,000 acres of land within the CSNM Planning Area. This first transfer of private lands into the public CSNM uses federal funds PFT helped secure with the support of Senators Wyden, Smith and Feinstein and the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council. The tracts include a mile of the famed Pacific Crest Trail and are adjacent to old-growth stands already owned by BLM and in the Monument. PFT currently holds 4,720 acres of forestlands within the CSNM Planning Area, all acquired to protect the integrity of the only national monument dedicated to biodiversity. These threatened lands were bought with lead funding from the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Bullitt and Weeden foundations, among others. As additional federal funds become available, we will continue to transfer more of these lands to the BLM for inclusion in the Monument. t

Forest Trust and a roomful of people like you who are dedicated to our forests,” Franklin observed. “I believe if we understand forest ecosystems and fully understand their complexity and beauty, we will do the right thing.”

Fete Guests Carol Finkelstein and Sandy Dean

“T

onight we have tree huggers and tree loggers, landowners and regulators, foresters and conservationists, bankers and birders, scientists and surfers, Democrats and Republicans – every one of us united behind winning with woods.” With that rallying introduction, Pacific Forest Trust Managing Director Connie Best welcomed supporters to Forest Fete 2008: Everyone Wins with Woods.

The Phillips Brothers Mill and Tree Farm accepted the Forest Champion of the Year award honoring their groundbreaking work as the first family forest owners to enter into a working forest conservation easement partnership with PFT. “Our forest cannot be subdivided or broken up. It will be harvested in perpetuity as a biodiverse, multi-aged forest,” declared Gary Hendrix, the family’s spokesman. “I want to thank the Pacific Forest Trust for helping us realize a vision of conserving our land so it could be passed on in perpetuity to future generations of Phillips.” Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) received the Outside-the-Box Award for raising awareness of the climate

benefits of forests in Congress. In her acceptance video, she commended PFT’s economic model for rewarding landowners who manage their forests for climate benefits. “I believe we need to make sure that there are strong incentives for sustainable forest management practices and that we can tackle global warming by having those incentives in place,” she said. Speaker of the House Pelosi, along with Senators Boxer and Feinstein, sent representatives who each presented PFT with a meritorious citation lauding our 15 years of service protecting and promoting working forests. Forest Fete 2008 was presented with the generous support of Mendocino Redwood Company, Pacific Gas & Electric Company and dozens more businesses and individuals. t View Fete photos and videos at: www.pacificforest.org/ forestfete/forestfete08.html.

Renowned conservation biologist Thomas Lovejoy, who gave the evening’s keynote speech on climate change, began the program praising PFT’s forest stewardship principles. “The whole world needs to be managing their forests in the way the Pacific Forest Trust is encouraging,” asserted Lovejoy. Pioneering forest ecologist Jerry Franklin, who received the Sequoia Award for Lifetime Achievement (see opposite page), shared an optimistic vision for the future of forests. “It really fills me with hope when we have organizations like the Pacific

PHOTO BY SEAN O’SULLIVAN

In California’s Sierra Valley – where we’ve already conserved 2,700plus acres of forest and ranch lands in partnership with three different families – PFT has joined with several more landowners to design working forest conservation easement (WFCE) partnerships that will create a conservation corridor of more than 5,600 acres where the headwaters of the Feather River forms the largest alpine wetland in North America.

PFT last year, explains why he and his neighbors are looking to easement partnerships to conserve their lands and way of life:

PHOTO BY LARKIN DONLEY

T

he Pacific Forest Trust and our partners are advancing efforts to conserve thousands of acres in the remarkably biodiverse KlamathCascade eco-region, a key PFT focal area. Comprising an arc that extends from Oregon’s Klamath River basin across California’s Cascade peaks and into the northern Sierra, the region supports thousands of families who earn their livelihoods working their lands and provides essential wood, water and wildlife habitat.

Trailblazing Landowners, Visionary Lawmaker and Leading Ecologist Honored at Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony

(from left) Gary, Gregg and Allison Hendrix and Kathy, Denice and Ed Smith are Phillips family members proud to be honored as Forest Champion of the Year. 3

The Newsletter of

The Pacific Forest Trust Board of Directors Walter Sedgwick, Co-Chair Timothy N. Taylor, Co-Chair William W. Stelle, Jr., Vice-Chair Charles Swindells, Treasurer Andrea E. Tuttle, Secretary Laurie A. Wayburn, President William H. Banzhaf Constance Best Norman L. Christensen, Jr. O.H. Perry Lloyd Kirk Marckwald Timothy B. Pirrung James D. Range Hal Salwasser Gregory Tebbe William Hutton, Counsel

Staff Laurie A. Wayburn, President Constance Best, Managing Director Randall Beren, Communications Director John Bernstein, VP Conservation Anton Chiono, Policy Associate Andrea Deleon, Administrative Assistant Sally Ericsson, National Policy Representative Matt Fehrenbacher, Stewardship Forester Christine Harrison, Communications Manager Rachael Katz, Policy Project Manager Peter Kodzis, Director of Finance & Admin. Jessica Neff, Stewardship Associate Sean O’Sullivan, Office/IT Manager Alex Page, Development Associate Jonathan Remucal, Stewardship Manager Emily Russell-Roy, NE Policy Project Manager Nicole Schuetz, Development Mgr./Foundations Paula Swedeen, Senior Policy Analyst Dale Thornburgh, Ph.D., Senior Forester (CA Registered Professional Forester #430) Steve Van Landingham, Development Director Jolanta Zakrzewski, Accountant Editors: Randall Beren & Christine Harrison Art Director: Randall Beren The Pacific Forest Trust is the leading non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining America’s vital working forests for all their public benefits. © 2008 The Pacific Forest Trust. All rights reserved. Reproduction permitted with attribution.

We gratefully acknowledge the following donors whose financial gifts and pledges from May 2008 to October 2008 have helped make our work possible

‘Father of New Forestry’ Speaks About Sequoia Award and Need for Stewardship

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ften called the “guru of old growth forests” and the “father of new forestry,” University of Washington Professor of Forest Ecology Jerry Franklin, Ph.D, is known far and wide for his work developing a new forest management paradigm – one that promotes ecological as well as economic objectives. Franklin broke new ground by uniting ecosystem science with forest management, creating what he calls “ecological forestry” – a management practice that recognizes the complex web of life in forests and its important contributions to society. In recognition of these achievements, the Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) honored Franklin with the 2008 Sequoia Award for Lifetime Achievement at this year’s Forest Fete. “The award means a great deal to me because it comes from an organization fully engaged in bringing the principles of science and conservation to the development and implementation of forest policy,” Franklin says. “This makes the award much more meaningful than were it to have come from my academic peers. Coming from the Pacific Forest Trust, it means my activities have had real and positive consequences for forest conservation.”

the services – like carbon sequestration – that our forests provide. It will mean basing our policies and practices on the most comprehensive science possible, including our improving understanding of the structure and function of forest ecosystems. It will mean restoring and maintaining ecologically sustainable conditions where they’ve been lost. It will mean reestablishing credible public land management agencies and policies. “Sustaining our forests will require aggressive investment in research and monitoring programs,” Franklin concludes. “And it will require credible third-party assessments of forestland management policies, including those applied to federally owned forests.” Franklin remains humble about his accomplishments, hastening to add that his achievements have all been collaborative. “I’ve had an incredible cadre of creative and personable associates who have been critical to my creativity and success.” t

In both his research and teaching, Franklin’s focus is now aimed at reestablishing stewardship as the central tenet of forestry. “Sustaining our forests,” he explains, “is going to require efforts across a very broad array of fronts. “It will mean facilitating the continued stewardship of private forests. It will mean developing new ways of valuing 2

Individuals

Jerry Franklin

Michael and Jeanne Adams Ralph Benson John Bernstein Peter Boyer and Terry Gamble Samuel H. Brown Lewis and Sheana Butler Ed and Kerry Cooper Peter Davis Kate Ditzler and Stuart Gasner Caroline Donsbough Katie Falkoff Nancy Fardelmann Douglas Ferguson James P. Finerty Betsy and Jesse Fink Rachel Fletcher Robert Flint, Jr. Michael Gallagher Kass Green and Gene Forsburg Edmund Hayes, Jr. George Helmholz Maurice and Janice Holloway Joe Houghteling Bennett Johnston John Laughlin Konrad J. Liegel Dixon Long Gregory E. Loniewski, Jr. Ross MacWhinney Drew Maran and Sandra Slater Kirk Marckwald and Christina Desser Sylvia McLaughlin Dan McNevin Osha Meserve Amy Meyer Douglas Miller Wes Miller Stephen C. and Amanda Morris Theresa Nelson Jennifer Niedermeyer Nancy Nordhoff Gilman and Marge Ordway Ben Patton Timothy and Ulrike Pirrung Gary C. Rynearson Walter and Jeanne Sedgwick Elizabeth Sedgwick Ed Small Steven A. Small Pieter Smith Linda Snyder Charlie Swindells

Timothy and Billie Taylor George and Anita Thompson Steve Thompson Karie and David Thomson Steve Van Landingham Kirby Walker and Paul Danielson Leslie Walker Burlock and Walter Burlock Brooks Walker, Jr. Laurie A. Wayburn Edgar Wayburn Georgia Westdahl Gregory and Daphne Tebbe

Businesses

Autodesk Baldwin, Blomstrom, Wilkinson & Associates California Ski Industry Association The Campbell Group Cantor CO2e The Collins Companies ESRI Green Mountain Energy Company Hancock Timber Resource Group K&L Gates Mendocino Redwood Company MMA Sustainable Land Investments MTR Western Pacific Gas and Electric Company Port Blakely Tree Farms R&A Investment Forestry Redtree Properties Soluri, Emrick & Meserve Sullivan & Worcester Trillium Asset Management WM Beaty & Associates

Foundations

Ayrshire Foundation Bella Vista Foundation Bullitt Foundation Energy Foundation James Irvine Foundation Kongsgaard-Goldman Foundation Laird Norton Family Foundation Marisla Foundation Moore Charitable Foundation Morgan Family Foundation Robertson Foundation S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation San Francisco Foundation Weeden Foundation 7

Photo Courtesy of MTR Western

Forests for Work. Forests for Life.

Thank You

Franklin on Forests

PHOTO BY JAMES A. LUTZ

ForestLife

Riding Clean & Green with MTR Western Guests from Sacramento arriving at Forest Fete 2008 enjoyed a comfortable, lowcarbon ride on one of the nation’s plushest motorcoaches thanks to a generous contribution from MTR Western, one of the evening’s supporting sponsors. The west coast-based charter motorcoach operator already is a top choice for tour groups, sports teams and others seeking style and comfort when they travel. Now the fleet’s top-ofthe-line features include a “net carbon negative” carbon footprint achieved with a combination of 74 state-of-the-art, cleaner-burning diesel vehicles and 6,000 metric tons of emissions reductions from PFT’s Van Eck Forest Project. “We’re the only charter motorcoach carrier in North America I know of that mitigates more than 100 percent of the emissions it creates by purchasing carbon offsets,” says Darren Berg, Chief Executive Officer of MTR Western. “Our proud support of PFT and the Van Eck Forest Project is compelling evidence of our commitment toward being a responsible environmental citizen.” t

Standing Up for Climate Benefits PFT Backing Holistic, ‘No Net Loss’ Approach for Forests

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orests can work to keep our climate cool. But only if we stop their loss and conserve, manage and restore them so that they absorb and store more carbon. That’s why the Pacific Forest Trust is building strong climate policies and robust markets that will utilize forests as a key tool in the effort to combat global warming.

PHOTO BY ANDREA DELEON

We’ve had significant success in California this year as the state moves

closer to implementing its landmark climate legislation, Assembly Bill 32. We’re encouraged by the AB 32 proposed scoping plan’s inclusion of forests as a key sector. The proposed plan incorporates our recommended sector-wide approach to monitoring and managing the carbon stored in California’s forests, including a policy of “no net loss” of forest carbon benefits. It also calls for accurate accounting of forest-based emissions,

INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE: A delegration of Chinese forestry officials led by Zhou Shaozhou (third from right) and German advisors from GTZ met with PFT’s policy team in October to learn about our forest carbon policy initiatives.

The Presidio 1001-A O’Reilly Avenue San Francisco, CA 94129 www.PacificForest.org 415.561.0700

which is especially critical as forests can affect other sectors including land use, construction, energy and transportation. The proposed plan also includes a role for the marketing of forest carbon emissions reductions, or “offsets,” that give landowners a financial incentive to manage their forests for climate gains. We continue to work with California’s Climate Action Registry in developing a “version 2.0” of their accounting protocols to ensure those emissions reductions are permanent, verifiable, and additional to what can be achieved with business-as-usual practices. “Our successes in California serve as a guide for our policy work in Washington State, the mid-Atlantic and southern states, as well as the Western Climate Initiative and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,” says PFT President Laurie Wayburn. “We’re taking what we learn from these efforts across the country to advance a strong national framework for forest climate policy, in collaboration with landowners and other climate stakeholders.”

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ON THE COVER: A small sampling of the faces and places that have helped make PFT’s 15 years of service so special.

The Pacific Forest Trust recycled is a non-profit, Printed on FSC certified paper 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to sustaining America’s working forests for all their public benefits