The Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader

July 15, 2010

The Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Majority Leader Reid:

The undersigned forest, agriculture, and conservation organizations, representing over 2.2 million landowners, conservationists, and natural resource professionals, are writing to urge you to include the Carbon Conservation Program and the necessary funding for this program in any climate and energy legislation moving through the Senate.

We were pleased to see authorizing language for theCarbon Conservation Program (“the Program”) in the Kerry-Lieberman legislation released on May 12, 2010. This language was also included in legislation introduced by Senators Stabenow (D-MI) and Baucus (D-MT) as well as Senators Shaheen (D-NH) and Snowe (R-ME). However, we were deeply disappointed to find that the Program did not receive an allocation of emission allowances or auction proceeds in the proposal from Kerry and Lieberman. This is especially disappointing given that the Kerry-Boxer legislation that passed out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee included an allocation of emissions allowances for forest and agriculture carbon incentives worth over $600 million annually.

Any climate and energy legislation that moves forward must include the Carbon Conservation Program as avoluntary, flexible, and incentive-based approachto increase carbon sequestration in agriculture and forestry. However, legislation must also provide the funding needed to make this approach successful. Specifically, we request thatany climate and energy legislation in the Senate allocate funding to the Carbon Conservation Program through the Carbon Conservation Fund established for this purpose. This will ensure America’s rural lands are fully utilized in our nation’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere and will put Americans to work doing so.

In fact, a recent study from the University of Massachusetts found that for every $1 million invested in sustainable forestry, forest restoration, and related activities, an estimated 39.7 jobs are created. This was the highest number for any economic sector studied, exceeding even renewable energy and transportation infrastructure. The Carbon Conservation Program, a forest and agriculture carbon sequestration and storage incentive program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), can create financial incentives for these activities where they offer carbon benefits. This will help spread the job creation and other economic benefits of carbon emissions reduction activities to private landowners and communities across rural America.

U.S. forests and agricultural lands already play an important role in sequestering more than 15 percent of annual U.S. carbon emissions. The Program will help secure this current benefit and increase the carbon sequestration and storage in U.S.forests and agriculture lands, which can capture and store as much as 25 percent of annual U.S. emissions.

The Program will provide financial incentives on a per-acre basis to forest and agricultural landowners willing to undertake improved management practices to capture more carbon in their land. The Program will also pay landowners for conservation easements that prevent land conversion, another critical strategy to maintain stored carbon and future sequestration capacity.

The Programoffers an important complement to opportunities for landowners to participate in carbon offset markets. Transaction costs for carbon projects are extremely sensitive to scale, and so even with aggregation of multiple landowners, experience under state and voluntary markets suggests that as much as 25% of U.S. forests and farms will be effectively excluded from carbon markets. The Carbon Conservation Program will enable USDA to work with a broad range of U.S. forest and agriculture owners to mitigate climate change, including those who cannot participate in offset markets due to economies of scale or other constraints.

We strongly urge you to include the Carbon Conservation Program and the necessary funding in climate and/or energy legislation moving through the Senate. This will enable America’s rural lands and rural workers to begin working immediately to reduce carbon emissions.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Alliance for Community Trees
American Bird Conservancy
American Farmland Trust
AmericanForest Foundation
AndroscogginRiver Watershed Council
Appalachian Mountain Club
Black HillsForest Resource Association
Blue Source LLC
Carbon Offset Providers Coalition
Carbon Verde
Colorado Timber Industry Association
Environment Northeast
FamilyForest Foundation
Forest Guild
Hardwood Federation
HarrisCenter for Conservation Education
KentuckyForest Industries Association
Louisiana Forestry Association
Lyme Timber Company
MaineForest Service
MassachusettsForest Landowners Association
Meadowsend Timberlands LLC
Minnesota Forestry Association
Monadnock Conservancy
National Association of Forest Service Retirees
National Association of State Foresters
National Wildlife Federation
National Wild Turkey Federation
National Woodland Owners Association
New England Wood Pellet and Propell Energy
Northern ForestAlliance
Northern ForestCenter
NorthlandForest Products
Pinchot Institute for Conservation
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
Society of American Foresters
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Southern Environmental LawCenter
The Nature Conservancy
The Trust for PublicLand
Vermont Woodlands Association
Virginia Forestry Association
Washington Farm Forestry Association
Wildlife Mississippi

Cc:

Senator Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader, United States Senate

Senator Jeff Bingaman, Chairman, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Ranking member, Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee

Senator Max Baucus, Chairman, Senate Finance Committee

Senator Charles Grassley, Ranking member, Senate Finance Committee

Senator Blanche Lincoln, Chairman, Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee

Senator Saxby Chambliss, Ranking member, Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee

Senator Debby Stabenow, Chairman, Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry, and Credit Subcommittee, Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee

Senator John Cornyn, Ranking member, Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry, and Credit Subcommittee, Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee

Senator John Kerry, Chairman, Foreign Relations Committee

Senator Joseph Lieberman, Chairman, Homeland Security and Government Affairs