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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-line-height-alt:12.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:19.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#024A82'>Schwarzenegger,
Sierra Pacific agree on carbon-offset project<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'> </span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>By Jim Downing</span><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><br>
<a href="mailto:jdowning@sacbee.com"><span style='color:#024A82'>jdowning@sacbee.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Published: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 8B</span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><br>
Last Modified: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009 - 8:08 am<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and timber giant <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sierra+Pacific/"><span style='color:black'>Sierra
Pacific</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Industries on Wednesday evening announced the
nation's largest forest carbon-offset project, meant to keep millions of tons
of climate-warming gases out of the atmosphere over the next century.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Forestry and
some</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/conservation+groups/"><span style='color:black'>conservation
groups</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'>said the deal shows the state's new rules on
forest offsets, adopted last week by the</span></b><b><span style='font-size:
11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Air+Resources+Board/"><span style='color:black'>Air
Resources Board,</span></a>will be attractive to landowners.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>But some
environmental advocates said it's a sign that the</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/timber+industry/"><span style='color:black'>timber
industry</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>is poised to capitalize on a
provision that allows clear-cutting on land enrolled in carbon-offset programs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>"This
is the thing we were worried about," said <a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Michael+Endicott/"><span style='color:black'>Michael
Endicott,</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>resource sustainability advocate at</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sierra+Club/"><span style='color:#024A82'>Sierra
Club</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/California/"><span
style='color:black'>California.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>The deal
coincides with a high-profile international climate summit Schwarzenegger is
hosting in <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Los+Angeles/"><span
style='color:#024A82'>Los Angeles</span></a></span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>this week.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>On four
plots totaling 60,000 acres in</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Tuolumne/"><span style='color:black'>Tuolumne,</span></a></span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Tehama,
Shasta and Siskiyou counties,</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sierra+Pacific/"><span style='color:black'>Sierra
Pacific</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'>is committing to timber management strategies
that should store more carbon compared with "business as usual."<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>"We can
still manage our forests, but we have to meet or exceed the baseline
conditions," said <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Mark+Pawlicki/"><span
style='color:black'>Mark Pawlicki,</span></a></span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>a spokesman
for the company.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Over the
next five years,</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sierra+Pacific/"><span style='color:black'>Sierra
Pacific</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'>expects the new management practices will keep
1.5 million metric tons of</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/carbon+dioxide/"><span style='color:black'>carbon
dioxide</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'>stored in the trees and soil that would
otherwise be released into the atmosphere. That's equivalent to what's
generated by burning 170 million gallons of gasoline.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Additional
carbon would be stored in subsequent years, with the deal constraining what</span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Sierra+Pacific/"><span style='color:black'>Sierra
Pacific</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'>can do with the land for 100 years.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>That stored
carbon could likely be purchased as an "offset" by industrial
polluters or electricity generators needing to reduce emissions under the
state's "cap and trade" system. That program is slated to take effect
in 2012, though details have yet to be finalized.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Clear-cutting,
or removing all the trees in a plot, is allowed on sections of up to 40 acres
on private land in</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/California/"><span
style='color:black'>California.</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:
11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>The offset
policy doesn't change that.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Land
registered for a forest-offset program could be clear-cut if that represented
an improvement over how the land would have been managed otherwise. For
instance, a forest in an area that has been cleared every 40 years might
instead be allowed to grow for 80 years before logging, a cycle that would
likely store more carbon.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>Groups like
the Sierra Club and the</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Center+for+Biological+Diversity/"><span
style='color:black'>Center for Biological Diversity</span></a></span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>oppose
clear-cutting mainly because it can damage</span></b><b><span style='font-size:
11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/wildlife+habitat/"><span style='color:black'>wildlife
habitat,</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>erode forest soils and pollute
waterways. By making carbon-offset revenue available only for lands logged less
invasively - by cutting some trees but leaving others, for instance - the state
could have discouraged clear-cutting, they argue.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>But other
groups like the</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Nature+Conservancy/"><span style='color:#024A82'>Nature
Conservancy</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>support the new rules and say they balance
the need to have a program that is attractive to landowners while still
maintaining environmental standards.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span
style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>"There's
a fine line with how far you should go with additional (environmental)
requirements," said</span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'><a
href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Michelle+Passero/"><span style='color:black'>Michelle
Passero,</span></a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:
"Georgia","serif";color:black'> </span></b><b><span style='font-size:11.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black'>the group's senior climate policy
adviser, who helped craft the rules approved last week.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
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