2
march22
2011
Featured Property
36840 NW Schefflin Lakes Lane/Cornelius, Oregon
Listed at: $1,399,900.00
Alderwood Country Estate is situated
in the scenic farmland area of Western Wash-
ington County on 8.08 acres.
This elegant country home was built by the
best craftsmen with the best products and it
shows! The owner, Dave Ott , a respected
Oregon builder, thought of everything to make
this a truly one of a kind home!
Call for a private showing – 503-819-7924 –
Sharon Bernal, Principal Broker
Sharon A. Bernal
Real Estate Broker
Cell: (503) 819.7924
Email: Sharon@Bernals.com
The Western Oregon Forest Health – Human Health Initiative
This project will develop the business plan for an innovative model that aggregates forestland owner carbon payments to fund family and rural commu-
nity health care while servicing community thermal energy needs. This is one of several articles to follow in the Vernonia’s Voice regarding the Forest
Health-Human Health Initiative. We know you have many questions, and will be addressing the 10 most-asked questions about the Forest Health-
Human Health Initiative in the next issue of the Vernonia’s Voice. For starters – we want to share with you an overview of how this all got started.
Background: Since 2007, The Pinchot Institute for Conserva-
tion has been engaged in forestland owner offspring research
projects – documenting the issues and concerns that face the
next generation of family forestland owners in the US. Over
600 offspring interviews have been conducted primarily in four
states: Oregon (100), Washington (100), Pennsylvania (260),
and Wisconsin (260). Much has been learned as a result of
those interviews, but key findings hold relevance to the
Western Oregon (Vernonia) Forest Health – Human Health
Initiative. Amongst the most compelling findings: much of the
conversion from forest to non-forest cover will occur when
offspring – who plan to inherit the family forestland - are faced
with medical care expenses they do not anticipate nor can
afford to pay for without selling the family forests (ranked
higher than concern over tax payments in some states).
Offspring across the US also identified payment for ecosystem
services – particularly carbon banking – as a financial tool they
would find important or most important in helping them to
keep the family forests.
The community of Vernonia Oregon, located in the NW
region of Oregon ~40 miles due west and north of Portland,
after suffering two 500-year floods in the last 7 years, is in the
process of rebuilding the entire community: relocating all
schools, public buildings (including the community health
clinic), and 50% of the residential homes outside of the flood
plain. The community has decided to make sustainability the
backbone of the rebuild effort; including rebuilding the K-12
schools to LEED-certification standards. The community
was originally built around the forest products industry and
today still remains one of the most productive forested areas
in the state. Included in the rebuild effort is the process of
using woody biomass from both public and private
surrounding forestlands for thermal energy for the public
facilities being relocated outside the floodplain. It has been
estimated that approximately 1,000 gT of woody biomass
will be needed annually to service the community facility
heating and cooling needs. Aside from the public forestlands
surrounding the Vernonia area (national forests, state forests,
BLM lands, university demonstration forests), there are ~700
private non-industrial forestland owners just in Columbia
County with Vernonia at the center. Many of these
forestland owners are at the age where their family forests
will transition to their offspring in the immediate future.
This Forest Health – Human Health Initiative is the first
project in the US to link forestland owner offspring concerns
regarding health care access to carbon banking payments,
while providing additional regional markets for woody
biomass from the family forestlands.
health care clinic, the community would agree to purchase
woody biomass from participating family forest operations
to service community thermal energy needs.
Human
Health
Family of insurance products
Community
health facility
Insurance
provider
Carbon
investor
The Forest Health – Human Health Process:
Forestland owners in Columbia County would engage in
carbon contract with a carbon aggregator/investor;
Carbon payments from investors would be derived from
family forestland carbon credits. Payments would go direct
to landowner-selected insurance companies and the
government-funded community health care clinics;
Payments directed to insurance companies will pay for
landowner-selected health insurance products for themselves
and/or their offspring. A portion of these payments may be
tax deductible to the landowner.
Payments to the community health care clinic would come
from a percentage of the carbon credit payments derived
from the same family forests as above. These payments will
be earmarked for increasing access to medical care for all
citizens in the community (new telemedicine technology;
other). These payments may be tax deductible to the carbon
investor.
In exchange for the family forestland contribution of a
percentage of their carbon payments to the community
For more information contact: Catherine M. Mater at mater@mater .com; 541-753-7335; or
Brian Kittler at bkittler@pinchot.org; 202-797-6585
www.pinchot.org
Forestland
aggregator
Carbon
contract
Forest landowners
(and offspring)
Forest
Health
Woody biomass to
community thermal
energy needs
The Pinchot Institute has just been awarded $200,000 in
grant funds from Regence BlueCross BlueShield, the
Kelley Family Foundation, and USDA to engage in Phase 2
of the Forest Health-Human Health Initiative in Vernonia:
This includes developing the business plan for the Forest
Health - Human Health Initiative in Columbia County,
verifying landowner and offspring interest to participate in
the initiative, determining carbon pricing and contract
conditions, determining sustainable biomass supply
capability from family forestlands, etc. Assuming project
results document market and financial viability, the
Initiative could be launched in Columbia County by the end
of 2011, with expanded application throughout other regions
in Oregon, the PNW, and the US.
