The southern region of the U.S. has been called the nation’s “timber basket” due to the abundance of timber managed for harvest and the predominance of mills.
The infrastructure that is currently in place makes timber harvesting a very easy and profitable means for small landowners to cover the expense of private forest ownership. Carbon credit sales via forest carbon project development offer these landowners a much-needed alternative for revenue production and contribute globally to the removal and reduction of carbon emissions as a strategic element of climate action.
The Southern United States: A Unique Region
- The South has more than 245 million forested acres (about 6x the size of the state of Florida) with some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (Source: Southern Group of State Foresters)
- The watersheds in much of the south flow into the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico, carrying with them silt, sediment, and agricultural runoff. The health and productivity of the river and gulf are directly related to the health of the water flowing through the forests in the South.
- Approximately 86 percent of the South’s forestland is privately-owned, mostly by families and individuals with an average parcel size smaller than 25 acres. These owners represent a diverse group of people who have many reasons for owning their forests. ( Source: Forest & Woodlands Management – Southern Group of State Foresters)
- Many communities in the South are underserved. Those who live and work in delta regions are at greater risk of climate-related events such as severe weather and flooding. As an example, read What Climate Change Means for Mississippi
- The map below shows just four of the states where NativState is partnering with small private landowners to conserve their acres. These states have an abundance of private non-industrial land acres that are potentially excellent sources for the development of high-quality forest carbon credits.
National Timberland Use
Recognized timberland used for production across the United States covers 521.4 million acres. (Source: National Association of State Foresters)
That’s more than 10 times the acreage of all the U.S. National Parks combined.
The “timber basket” leads the nation for timber harvested and processed through mills. Mill capacity indicates the amount of timber a mill can process annually. This volume provides a snapshot of the most likely use of timberland within proximity to the mill. The South is home to over 1,600 mills and has the greatest mill capacity of any region in the U.S., exceeding its runner-up – the Pacific Northwest – by more than 300 million tons.
Additionally, nearly 71% of the mill capacity in the United States originates in the Southern US Forest Service Region (source: FORISK Consulting’s Mill Capacity Database, Q1 2024). The abundance of sawmill capacity, easily accessible timber stands via service road access to enrolled forests, and common regional timber harvest practices for small landowners in Arkansas demonstrate that the forests enrolled in NativState’s IFM program are inherently at significantly higher risk of aggressive timber harvesting practices relative to any other region in the US.
Business As Usual = Intensive Timber Management
Until the arrival of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) and carbon project developers such as
NativState, the primary way for private landowners to realize income from their land was through intensive timber management, i.e., clear-cutting.
As the VCM ecosystem around carbon credit purchases evolves (a system including project developers, corporate credit buyers, advisors, consultants, verifiers, and standards bodies) a crucial aspect of evaluating projects for integrity and impact is gaining a full understanding of the “on the ground” facts of the forest management practices in our home region.
The South boasts a well-established, thriving, and expanding timber industry, supported by a regulatory environment that grants landowners significant discretion over harvesting practices. Due to the liquidity of small private forestland in the region, many landowners treat their forests as a “Savings Account.” Clear-cutting acres is often viewed as a practical and accepted means of generating necessary funds when expenses arise – such as education costs, insurance, taxes, or medical bills.
Fully understanding the regional context of the timber industry in the South paired with the longstanding history of small forest landownership and common practices empowers the VCM and its players to draw meaningful comparisons of alternative scenarios when land is enrolled in a forest carbon program versus what happens if it is not. Very high levels of aggressive cutting across small landowner forests – and commercial production in many geographically proximate timber mills – means that these forests are at a significantly higher risk of being cut in the South than in other parts of the United States.
Baseline models and calculations that appear in Programmatic Development Approach Documents for projects in this part of the country typically reflect higher risk of forests being cut – because they are at demonstrably higher risk.
NativState welcomes discussions, and site visits, to this region to discuss and see in real-time the daily life and work of the timber industry in our home region. Below you can see photos and a video showing a typical timber harvest. The land in these photos and video is land directly adjacent to land enrolled in NativState’s IFM program.
NativState Provides an Alternative for Small Forest Landowners
NativState’s innovative carbon credit development program provides small forest landowners with a viable alternative by granting them access to the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). Traditionally, smaller landowners have faced significant barriers to entering the VCM, but NativState’s aggregated model removes these obstacles, allowing them to generate revenue through sustainable forest conservation and management.
Our program specifically targets forests that have reached commercial maturity for timber, ensuring that nearly all enrolled forests are at economic maturity at the time of participation. However, due to the high value and liquidity of timber, our conversion rate remains around 30%, as carbon credits alone cannot yet fully compete with traditional timber markets in this region.
Given an alternative to relying on timber harvests for revenue, small forest landowners can generate income by enrolling in a forest carbon credit program and optimizing their forests for carbon sequestration, conservation, and restoration. In addition to diversifying their revenue streams, landowners receive free forest management plans, create healthier wildlife habitats, support biodiversity, improve water and soil quality, increase their property value, and create a land legacy for future generations.
Learn more about our small family forest owners, the land being conserved in this vulnerable region, and the high-quality carbon credits developed in each project.