Thousands of Acres Conserved, Millions of Credits Verified, Credits include Core Carbon Principles (CCP) Labels
CONWAY, AR, FEBRUARY 10, 2026 – Conway, AR-based NativState, LLC (nativstate.com), a leading developer of nature-based carbon projects, today announced the verification and release of forest carbon credits from two Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects—ACR 900: Calion Ouachita River Wilderness and ACR 1015: Bottomland Forests of the Mississippi Backswamps and Delta Mixed Forests—marking the company’s fifth and sixth verifications and its first under the ACR Improved Forest Management on Non-Federal U.S. Forestlands Methodology version 2.1. Both projects have also earned the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label, signaling adherence to emerging global standards for carbon credit quality and integrity.
ACR IFM Methodology 2.1 incorporates dynamic baselines through comparative property analysis, strengthening carbon accounting by more precisely reflecting real-world forest management practices and regional market conditions. The addition of the CCP label further provides corporate buyers with independent assurance that the credits meet rigorous criteria for additionality, permanence, and transparency.
ACR 900 encompasses prime forestland owned by Calion Lumber Company in the West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion of Arkansas. In close cooperation with NativState, this family-owned and managed company has welcomed an opportunity to ensure the survival of its long-held values around land preservation. They recognize that the generation of carbon credits is a unique and timely opportunity for the family to ensure that these deeply held values survive for years to come.
The Thomas Family has stated: “The quality and character of our land comes from decades of sustainable management. We take deep pride in this. Responsible harvesting practice in southern Arkansas is rare, and you can easily see how our property compares to those of the big corporations around us. Unfortunately, in the face of the steep (and we fear irreversible) decline of our industry, smaller companies like ours are failing. In past decades, we have managed to stay in business while maintaining our stewardship standards. However, current financial pressures have our family struggling to find a way to do so. The only alternatives we see are to harvest much more aggressively or be forced to sell our property to much less responsible corporate owners. The unique characteristics of our forests, their support of biodiversity, the ability for community to share access, and our family’s legacy would quickly disappear. The arrival of a carbon credit market has presented us a way to stay put, and to preserve what we love and value so highly. NativState has been an excellent match as our partner, and we thank them for introducing us to such a positive option.”
Spanning over 36,000 acres of rich bottomland hardwoods along the Ouachita River—making it the largest private land conservation project in Arkansas—ACR 900 safeguards exceptional biodiversity, including critical habitat for black bear, bald eagles, river otters, and countless other species. It also enhances water quality for downstream communities by protecting the ecological integrity of the Ouachita River watershed.
Through sustainable forestry practices and carbon market participation, ACR 900 delivers meaningful climate benefits while ensuring the enduring health of this irreplaceable natural treasure for generations to come.
ACR 1015 is a groundbreaking aggregated landowner project that conserves more than 37,000 acres of diverse forestland across southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana, and western Mississippi. Representing 48 unique private landowners—with the majority of acres in Louisiana—this initiative stands as one of the region’s largest collaborative efforts to combat forest degradation through high-integrity carbon credits.
Developed by NativState, ACR 1015 enrolls these lands in rigorous sustainable forest management programs, including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. This commitment ensures comprehensive monitoring, identification and protection of High Conservation Value (HCV) areas, and adherence to best practices that enhance long-term forest health while generating verified carbon credits.
The project intersects the ranges of 15 threatened and endangered species, safeguarding critical habitat in these ecologically rich bottomland hardwood forests and delta mixed woodlands. By prioritizing conservation over intensive harvesting, ACR 1015 delivers substantial climate benefits through increased carbon sequestration, improved water quality in the Mississippi River watershed, enhanced biodiversity, and resilient ecosystems that support wildlife and local communities.
Through innovative carbon market participation, NativState empowers family forest owners with sustainable income alternatives, preserving these irreplaceable landscapes for future generations while contributing meaningfully to global climate goals.
“These verifications represent a meaningful milestone for NativState and for private forest carbon development more broadly,” said Stuart Allen, founder and CEO of NativState. “They reflect the trust that landowners place in us to deliver a stable, long-term income alternative to aggressive harvesting, as well as the continued partnership of corporate buyers who are serious about meeting their climate commitments with high-quality credits. I am proud that NativState continues to deliver on our commitments to landowners, and we appreciate their trust in us.”
“These projects demonstrate the broad applicability of ACR’s Improved Forest Management methodology,” said Dr. Kurt Krapfl, Director of Forestry at ACR. “NativState is showing how high-quality nature-based carbon projects can help to manage and conserve forests big and small, along with the biodiversity, water quality and recreational benefits forests provide.”
The credits from ACR 900 and ACR 1015 are now available to eligible buyers through existing offtake agreements and ongoing market engagement.
Each NativState Improved Forest Management (IFM) project follows strict processes for third-party audit and verification, and represents important markers for creating high-quality nature-based forest carbon credits including:
- Additionality – Projects located in the heart of timber country in the Southern United States, and are primarily commercially viable, mature forests.
- Reducing emissions at the source – Carbon reduction credits represent efficient and immediate impact through mature forest conservation.
- Carbon Removal Credits – Each project includes carbon removal credits to ensure durable decreases in atmospheric carbon levels.
- Generational Stewardship – Through a decades-long carbon agreement, landowner partners make a generational commitment to conservation.
- Co-Benefits – Improvements in biodiversity and water and soil quality are prioritized natural outcomes of forest conservation across our work.
To learn more about this and other high-quality projects, please visit www.nativstate.com/projects/.
About NativState
About NativState
NativState LLC (nativstate.com) is a forest carbon development company partnering with small to medium sized landowners across the southern United States to deliver access to global carbon markets. We work with landowners to improve and conserve their forests while realizing a financial return based on the creation of high-quality carbon credits sold to companies seeking to meet and exceed their carbon emission reduction goals. Using ACR’s Improved Forest Management (IFM) methodology and our forty-year carbon agreement, we work with landowners to provide an alternative economic use to their forests to generate income versus intensive timber harvesting. Through this process NativState empowers forest owners with the ability to manage their properties sustainably and provide the co-benefits of improved water quality, improved wildlife habitation, and improved overall health of the forest.