Landowners provide documentation of meeting all program requirements and sign a 15 year contract
To be eligible for this market, the carbon offsets must be the result of certified sustainable forest management. This means that forest landowners must provide documentation to prove that the offsets result from certified sustainable management of existing forests. The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) requires a statement of intent from the landowner to maintain all of their forestland under certified sustainable management for 15 years to prevent leakage on other non-enrolled lands. This minimum 15 year commitment as well as the Forest Carbon Reserve Pool establishes a high level of permanence for the offsets. Based on the pressure for conversion from forest to other non-forest uses, and the overall mismanagement of forestland in the region, our program ensures additionality by enrolling forestland that had no prior management or may have existing management, but is still at risk of land conversion due to development pressure and economic drivers.
The requirements outlined below acknowledge a commitment to sustainable forestry and document intent to keep the forestland in a certified sustainable management system for 15 years.
1. Proof of Ownership: Landowners must present proof of ownership including property deeds and tax records that show clear boundary lines and title to the land they wish to enroll.
2. Forest Certification: All forested properties owned by the landowner must obtain certification of sustainable forest management from a PEFC (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certifications) recognized program, such as the American Tree Farm system, or through the Forest Stewardship Council. This includes lands owned that are not being enrolled. Note that certification requires a management or stewardship plan. Certification must be maintained for 15 years from the date of the contract.
3. Contract: The contract period for generating carbon offsets is fifteen years. Contact MACED if you would like to review the contract. The contract includes the following two documents.
• Statement of Intent: This document emphasizes that by enrolling into the program, the landowner commits to maintaining forest certification on all forested lands for 15 years from the date of enrollment.
• Memorandum of Contract: This document will be filed with the deeds to the property. It discloses that the property is under contract with MACED. It should be signed by the landowner in front of a notary.
4. Inventory: In order to enroll, all landowner properties must have a current forest inventory conducted for them by a professional, third-party forester. This inventory must be conducted in full conformance with MACED’s inventory protocol. The inventory protocol is provided to the forester conducting the inventory. Contact MACED if you would like to receive a copy of the protocol to review yourself. MACED provides loans to cover the cost of the inventory.
The inventory also provides the base year for the accumulation for carbon offsets. The base year clearly establishes the project carbon baseline. As the landowner makes management decisions, carbon is either sequestered above the baseline, which results in a credit; or the management results in reduction of carbon, in which case the landowner is debited based on the reduction of carbon in the forest.
Enrollment cannot be completed until all the requirements have been met. In no event will any landowner receive payment from the sale of carbon offsets until all program requirements have been fully satisfied.
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Everyday people can take steps to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. The actions that are voluntarily taken by private Appalachian forest landowners to sequester carbon go above and beyond business as usual for this region, where less than five percent of forests have any sort of management plan. These landowners are making long-term commitments to certify sustainable management of their forests. 
