A new legislative measure signed by Governor Janet Mills mandates that landowners partaking in the forest carbon credit market in Maine are to provide essential details to the state annually. This information, which includes the landowner’s name, contact details, date of enrollment, and the total acreage involved, will be used to develop a database to monitor the effect of carbon credits on Maine’s woodlands.
Morten Moesswilde, division director of Forest Policy and Management for the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, emphasized the importance of understanding how Maine’s woodland owners engage with the burgeoning forest carbon market. He acknowledged that despite the presence of national and international registries, accessing and deciphering this data is arduous because it is scattered across different formats and hidden in supplementary documents. Upon implementation, Maine will join New Hampshire as the second state in the U.S. to adopt such a system for tracking this data.
The enactment of this law has received backing from conservation organizations, the Maine Forest Products Council, and numerous woodlot owners who stress the necessity of grasping the dynamics of this emerging market. Former owner of Robbins Lumber Inc., James Robbins, expressed apprehensions through his testimony about the potential impact of large companies purchasing significant volumes of carbon credits in Maine, which could severely curtail timber harvests.
Robbins articulated a common criticism of the forest carbon credit market, suggesting it allows large organizations to effectively gain “a license to pollute” while maintaining a façade of carbon neutrality to appeal to the public and stakeholders. Advocates of the market argue that despite its flaws, it serves as a mechanism to conserve forest lands and incentivize landowners to engage in sustainable forestry practices.
Mark Berry, Maine’s forest program director for The Nature Conservancy, noted that even if some carbon projects offer only modest climate benefits, maintaining forests on the landscape contributes positively. Forests operating as carbon sinks is a primary strategy in achieving Maine’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2045. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection reported in 2021 that 91% of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions were offset by natural sequestration via forests and wetlands.
Critics, however, contend that the figures include carbon credits sold in the marketplace and argue that if other states or companies already utilize these credits, Maine should reevaluate its own carbon offset strategies. A recent 2023 report suggests northern Maine’s working forests have the potential to increase carbon storage by at least 20% without cutting back on timber production, contingent upon the cooperation of private landowners who control nearly all of the state’s forested areas.
Despite the longevity of the forest carbon market, which has existed for decades, Maine landowners have been hesitant to participate. Reporting has shown that only a small fraction, about 3.5% of the state’s major landowners, have engaged in carbon deals. Small woodlot owners have similarly been reluctant, attributing their hesitation to meager payment offers that fail to meet the compliance costs required by rigorous standards.
The new law stops short of requiring landowners to disclose the financial value of the credits, as stated by Moesswilde. Furthermore, any personal information will not be shared publicly or through record requests, ensuring privacy. According to him, the principal advantage of the legislation will be the establishment of a trend line over time.