FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Randall Beren

510.452.8000 | rberen@scscertified.com

Scientific Certification Systems Validates Conservation Fund’s

Latest Go Zero Carbon Offset Project to Gold Level

Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge Restoration Initiative in Kansas

Meets Highest Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance Standard
 
August 4, 2009 – Emeryville, CA – The Conservation Fund's Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife 
Refuge Restoration Initiative has been validated by Scientific Certification Systems as meeting 
the requirements of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity standards.   
 
The SCS Greenhouse Gas Verification program conducted both desk and field‐based assessment 
activities in its evaluation of the Fund’s project. SCS found that, in addition to conforming to the 
15 required CCB criteria, the Marias des Cygnes Initiative meets eight additional, optional‐CCB 
criteria qualifying the project for Gold Level status.  
 
"The Marias des Cygnes Initiative is the second CCB project Scientific Certification Systems has 
validated for The Conservation Fund," says Dr. Robert J. Hrubes, SCS Senior Vice President. 
"With the experience the Fund gained from their previous Red River Initiative and the diligence 
they put toward developing this one, we were able to conduct a thorough audit in a very 
efficient manner.”  
 
Over the next 100 years, the recently restored Marais de Cygnes refuge, a 776‐acres native 
bottomland hardwood forest in eastern Kansas, is projected to sequester 336 metric tons of 
CO2e per acre. In addition to combating climate change, The Conservation Fund’s most recent 
Go Zero project helps conserve biodiversity and support local communities. 
 
"Go Zero donors are providing critical, private capital that will help address two of the most 
extraordinary environmental challenges of our time – climate change and habitat loss," says 
The Conservation Fund's Go Zero director, Jena Meredith. "The CCB Gold Level validation by 
Scientific Certification Systems ensures these donations result in real, measurable results to 

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help stabilize climate change and restore important wildlife habitat on behalf of the National 
Wildlife Refuge System and the American people." 
 
# # # 
 
Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) has been providing global leadership in third‐party 
environmental and sustainability certification, auditing, testing and standards development for 
more than 25 years. SCS programs span a wide cross‐section of industries, recognizing 
achievements in green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, retailing 
and more. The SCS Greenhouse Gas Verification Program provides verification of project‐based 
emissions reductions, project design validation and pre‐assessment analysis. SCS is accredited 
to ISO 14065 for GHG validation and verification by the American National Standards Institute 
(ANSI) and, under this accreditation, offers Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate Action 
Reserve (CAR) offset verification services. SCS also offers offset verification services under the 
Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) standards. 
http://www.SCScertified.com 
 
The Conservation Fund is dedicated to advancing America's land and water legacy. With our 
partners, we conserve land, train leaders and invest in conservation at home. Since 1985, we 
have helped protect more than 6 million acres, sustaining wild havens, working lands and 
vibrant communities. We're a top‐ranked conservation organization, effective and efficient.  
http://www.conservationfund.org
 
Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards evaluate land‐based carbon mitigation projects 
in the early stages of development. The CCB Standards foster the integration of best‐practice 
and  multiple‐benefit  approaches  into  project  design  and  evolution.  The  Standards  identify 
projects that simultaneously address climate change, support local communities and conserve 
biodiversity;  promote  excellence  and  innovation  in  project  design;  and  mitigate  risk  for 
investors and increase funding opportunities for project developers.   
http://www.climate-standards.org
 

###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Randall Beren
510.452.8000 | rberen@scscertified.com

Scientific Certification Systems Validates

First Climate, Community and Biodiversity
Carbon Offset Project in Tasmania

Redd Forests Project Reduces C02 Emissions and

Protects Endangered Tasmanian Devil Habitat Photo credit: Wayne McLean

July 20, 2009 - Emeryville, CA – Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) has validated an improved
forest management project in Tasmania, Australia, to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB)
standard. Logging and carbon sequestration rights were acquired by Redd Forests to protect 790
hectares of privately owned native forest in the Tasmania Macquarie River Basin.

With much of the forestland on the island of Tasmania being lost to unsustainable forestry practices and
development, the Redd Forests Tasmania Project has been designed to prove the commercial viability of
utilizing revenue from the sale of carbon offsets to generate a viable alternative to traditional logging
income.

“Scientific Certification Systems provided excellent support. Their professional, independent auditing
services ensures that our project offers investors’ true multi-benefit carbon credits,” says Stephen Dickey,
founder and managing director of Redd Forests, the project developer.

The Redd Forests Tasmania Project is the first CCB project on the island of Tasmania and aims to
prevent the loss of carbon and wildlife habitat associated with clear-fell logging and land conversion.
According to the SCS Lead Auditor Mike Thompson, research and evidence from adjoining properties
shows that the area – which is home to a healthy population of the endangered Tasmanian Devil – is
under immediate threat of being cleared and replaced with a monoculture plantation project.

“Our many years of experience certifying international forest management projects under Forest
Stewardship Council guidelines allow us to apply our expertise to validate multi-attribute projects under
the Climate, Community and Biodiversity standard,” says SCS Senior Vice President Robert J. Hrubes.

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SCS’ previous experience validating carbon projects to the CCB standard include reforestation projects
developed by The Conservation Fund in Louisiana and Kansas and a Ducks Unlimited avoided grassland
conversion project in the Dakotas.

###

Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) has been providing global leadership in third-party
environmental and sustainability certification, auditing, testing and standards development for more than
25 years. SCS programs span a wide cross-section of industries, recognizing achievements in green
building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, retailing and more. The SCS Greenhouse
Gas Verification Program provides verification of project-based emissions reductions, project design
validation and pre-assessment analysis. SCS is accredited to ISO 14065 for GHG validation and
verification by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and, under this accreditation, offers
Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate Action Reserve (CAR) offset verification services. SCS also
offers offset verification services under the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the Climate, Community
and Biodiversity (CCB) standards.
http://www.SCScertified.com

Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards evaluate land-based carbon mitigation projects in the
early stages of development. The CCB Standards foster the integration of best-practice and multiple-
benefit approaches into project design and evolution. The Standards identify projects that simultaneously
address climate change, support local communities and conserve biodiversity; promote excellence and
innovation in project design; and mitigate risk for investors and increase funding opportunities for project
developers.
http://www.climate-standards.org

Redd Forests was incorporated in December of 2008 as a “profit for purpose” business designed to
apply commercially viable methodologies to replace activities that degrade or destroy the world’s forests.
Redd Forests seeks to acquire the logging and carbon sequestration rights from landowners of native and
old growth forests that are under threat from destructive logging or conversion to monoculture
plantations.
http://www.reddforests.com

###
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

March 12, 2007 Contact: Randall Beren, Communications Director

The Pacific Forest Trust – 415.561.0700

Governor Schwarzenegger to Reduce Carbon Footprint

Using Emissions Offsets from Forest Conservation Project
Climate Benefits of Working Forests are Key to Combating Global Warming

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to offset the

carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by his jet travel (both personal and official) by
supporting the Pacific Forest Trust’s Van Eck Forest Project – a forest conservation and
stewardship project that will permanently reduce approximately 500,000 tons of CO2
emissions over a 100-year period. This is the first emissions reductions project registered
with and following the rigorous standards of the California Climate Action Registry.

"California is a leader in the fight against global warming. I look forward to working
with organizations like the Pacific Forest Trust because it is important that we continue
to focus on innovative ways to reduce our society's carbon footprint," says Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Owned by the Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation, the 2,200-acre Van Eck Forest in
Humboldt County is a working redwood forest conserved and managed by the Pacific
Forest Trust (PFT) to increase carbon stores, restore biodiversity and old growth
qualities, and provide habitat for endangered species. Therefore, in addition to helping
cool the climate, the Van Eck Forest Project helps protect wildlife habitat, safeguard clean
water and sustain rural communities and jobs for the benefit of all Californians.

Forests like Van Eck provide climate benefits by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and
storing it as carbon in trees for hundreds of years. California’s coastal redwood forests –
which grow the fastest, largest and for the longest period of time – are especially vital as
they are among the most productive forest carbon “sinks” in the world. Because older
forests store more CO2 in their trees than do younger forests, managing the Van Eck
Forest to store more carbon will result in substantially greater stores of carbon sooner
than could be achieved by planting trees or from conventional management practices –
a major climate benefit.

1
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

"Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere comes from two sources: fossil fuels and forest loss,"
says PFT President Laurie Wayburn. “To successfully address climate change, we must
work on both sources, complementing the major focus on fossil fuels with actions for
forests. We applaud the Governor’s leadership in backing the conservation and carbon
management of working forests.”

The Governor will pay the Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation from his own personal
funds to acquire the Van Eck Forest Project offsets. The Pacific Forest Trust will represent
the landowner.

Forest loss, scientists agree, is responsible for roughly 25% of all man-made, global CO2
emissions today (and more than 40% in the past when forestlands were cleared for fuel,
cities and farmlands). In the U.S., for example, roughly 1.5 million acres of forests are
currently lost to development and conversion each year. Figured conservatively, this
forest loss results in the release of 275 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere –
a release equivalent to one year’s emissions output by 53 million vehicles.

Schwarzenegger’s commitment to offset the impact his air travel has on global warming
expands upon similar efforts by other high-ranking California officials and demonstrates
growing, bi-partisan support for forests and their climate benefits.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D), who shares the Governor’s desire to see California
lead the climate change movement and who authored AB 32, has worked with PFT to use
Van Eck Forest carbon to offset travel to various climate-related events including his
recent trip to Washington D.C. to testify before the Senate’s Environment and Public
Works Committee.

“Forests are one of the amazing environmental treasures California holds in trust for the
future and carbon offsets are an important new tool in our fight against climate change,”
states Speaker Núñez. “Being able to lower our carbon footprint and lessen global
warming at the same time we’re boosting our forests and their benefits, that’s an easy
win-win for California and the world.”

2
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

Secretary Linda Adams of the California Environmental Protection and her deputy
secretary, Eileen Tutt, also used Van Eck forest carbon last December to offset the CO2
emissions generated by their trip to attend the United Nations Climate Change
Conference for the 2nd Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Kenya.

“This is a new concept that we are pioneering in California with the Pacific Forest Trust,”
comments Secretary Linda Adams of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
“This is something the Governor personally feels is the right thing to do.”

Van Eck Forest Project emission reductions are highly credible, high-quality offsets
because:

• the Project follows the rigorous, standardized accounting requirements called for
in the California Climate Action Registry Forest Protocols that will include
third-party verification and yearly monitoring

• their permanence is assured by a conservation easement (held by PFT) that

guides long term forestry and prevents the forestlands from being developed or
converted to other uses

• the sustainable forestry practiced on Van Eck will result in more carbon being
sequestered than could be attained through conventional management, as
measured against a baseline of “business as usual” practices

”The Van Eck Forest Project meets the highest standards, providing real, significant and
durable sequestration,” says California Climate Action Registry President Diane
Wittenberg.

Studies by Oregon State University scientists Mark Harmon and Olga Krankina show
that forests managed to achieve increased carbon stores could lead to an additional 25
billion metric tons of carbon stored globally over the next 50 years. Matched by
reductions in fossil fuel use, investments in the conservation, restoration and carbon
management of working forests would enable the US to become carbon neutral and
begin repairing the climate.

3
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

For Van Eck Forest Project maps, photos and charts, please visit
http://www.pacificforest.org/news/GovernorOffsets.html

––––––––

The Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is the leading non-profit organization dedicated to protecting
America’s private working forests for all their public benefits and is a leading advocate for the
climate benefits of forests. In California, PFT has been instrumental in crafting legislation and
policies that ensure the role of forests in the State’s climate change programs and has registered
the first emission reductions project with the California Climate Action Registry. Nationally, PFT
published the landmark “Forest Carbon in the United States” report and is advising state
governments and federal leaders about the inclusion of forest conservation and sustainable
management in climate policies, markets and best-practices. To learn more about the Pacific Forest
Trust and our campaigns, please visit www.PacificForest.org.

4
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

December 18, 2006 Contact: Connie Best, Managing Director

Randall Beren, Communications Director
The Pacific Forest Trust – 415.561.0700

First Sale of First California State-Backed Carbon Dioxide

Emissions Reductions Announced at Forest Fete 2006
US Forest Service Associate Chief Sally Collins Gives Keynote,
"Outside-the-Box" Innovators and Forest Champion of the Year Honored

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) held it's annual forest
celebration – Forest Fete 2006: The Gift of Working Forests – last week at the Presidio
Officers' Club and announced the first sale of the first California state-registered
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reductions.

Linda Adams, Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency

(Cal/EPA), and her deputy secretary, Eileen Tutt, were recognized for making the
historic purchase. The two purchased 14 tons of forest carbon from the van Eck
Forest in Humboldt County to offset the CO2 emissions generated by their trip to
Nairobi, Kenya to attend the United National Climate Change conference on the
Kyoto Protocol.

“It cost them $10 per ton, paid out of their own pockets, for the first forest credits
registered by the California Climate Action Registry,” said EPA spokeswoman
BreAnda Northcutt. ”As the leader of California's Environmental Protection Agency,
it's important they lead by example,” Northcutt said.

In addition to announcing this first purchase at the event, PFT introduced its Gift of
Climate Benefits program. The Gift of Climate Benefits program makes van Eck Forest
emission reductions available to the public by offering individuals and businesses
the opportunity to offset their own CO2 emissions or those of family and friends for
$10/ton. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Sean O'Sullivan (415.561.0700
or sosullivan@pacificforest.org) at the Pacific Forest Trust for further details and
ordering information.

1
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

The van Eck Forest Project will achieve more than 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions
reductions by ensuring significant climate benefits are achieved from the sustainable
management of 2,200 acres of working forestlands managed by PFT and owned by
the Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation. These climate benefits are accounted for
using the rigorous practices required by the California Climate Action Registry.

California’s forest carbon program is important to the fight against global warming
because forest loss is the second largest cause of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Converting forestlands to other uses accounts for 20-25% of all human-caused CO2
emissions annually, a pollution effect equal to the emissions generated by 1.4 billion
cars.

Forests provide climate benefits by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it
as carbon in trees for hundreds to thousands of years. California’s forests – which
grow the fastest, largest and for the longest period of time – are especially vital as they
are among the most productive forest carbon reservoirs or “sinks” in the world. And
California’s program ensures the state’s remarkable forests are conserved and
managed for increased carbon stores.

PFT holds a permanent working forest conservation easement on the van Eck forests,
ensuring these lands will never be lost to development. Further, the easement ensures
the use of sustainable forestry practices that will, in turn, result in more carbon being
sequestered than otherwise.

Sally Collins, Associate Chief of the USDA Forest Service, gave the keynote address
and described the critical ecosystem services provided by the nation’s working
forests: clean water flows, biodiversity and, most notably, carbon sequestration.

“Carbon markets appear to hold huge potential. There’s a growing consensus on the
need for a national approach to regulating greenhouse gas emissions and, thanks to
California, action may be taken sooner rather than later,” said Collins. “And we have
to be sure that forestry is on the table as offsets are being discussed.”

2
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

Pacific Gas & Electric Company and Director of Environmental Policy Wendy
Pulling were honored with an Outside-the-Box Award in recognition of the utility's
leadership in the business community to reduce greenhouse gases and combat global
warming. They were also honored for their exemplary stewardship of their
watershed forestlands.

“We’re honored by this recognition and we look forward to continuing our

partnership with the Pacific Forest Trust to provide our customers with innovative
ways to combat climate change and preserve California’s forests,” said Pulling.

Forest Systems, a national forest investment management leader, and President Rick
Smith also received an Outside-the-Box Award. Theirs was given in recognition of
the company's partnership with PFT in creating the landmark McCloud Project
working forest conservation easement – the first forestland easement in California on
lands owned by a major commercial timber interest.

Richard N. Goldman – founder and president of the Goldman Environmental Prize

and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund – was honored as the 2006 Forest
Champion of the Year for his commitment to creating a legacy of protected natural
lands in California by supporting forest conservation that yields both environmental
and economic benefits. The Goldman Fund contributed nearly $1 million toward the
acquisition of the McCloud Project in 2006.

________

The Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is the only conservation organization in the nation solely
dedicated to protecting America’s vital private forests for all their public benefits. Since 1993,
PFT has been implementing a comprehensive conservation strategy through education,
innovation and collaboration. To date, PFT has directly conserved more than 50,000 acres of
working forests in the Pacific west valued at over $150,000,000. To learn more about the
Pacific Forest Trust and our forest campaigns, please visit www.PacificForest.org.

3
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

Contact: Connie Best, Managing Director

August 24, 2006 Randall Beren, Communications Director
The Pacific Forest Trust – 415.561.0700

Historic Public-Private Partnership Keeps

Threatened Forests Working for All Californians
The Pacific Forest Trust completes largest working forest conservation easement
in state on 9,200 acres of commercial timberland at base of Mt. Shasta

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – With forests across California increasingly being lost to residential
development, the Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is proud to announce the completion of a
landmark working forest conservation easement (WFCE) on 9,200 acres of prime forestland
located at the base of majestic Mt. Shasta, along eight miles of the famed McCloud River. The
McCloud Project is a historic public-partnership among PFT, landowner Bascom Pacific,
forest managers Forest Systems, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, the National
Fish & Wildlife Foundation and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.

The McCloud Project creates the largest forest conservation easement west of the Rockies. It
protects 15 square miles of forestland – an area twice the size of Yosemite Valley – that lies
in the heart of the state’s commercial “wood-basket” where residential and recreational
development threatens the integrity of the forested headwaters of the Sacramento River. The
McCloud Project is also the first WFCE in California on lands owned by a major commercial
timber interest.

In addition to preventing all development, the easement protects water quality and important
fish and wildlife habitat, provides public recreational access to the popular McCloud Falls and
Pacific Coast Trail – all while promoting sustainable forest management. Bascom Pacific’s
conserved forests will remain in private stewardship and productive use, thereby providing
jobs to the local community and quality timber products to consumers.

“Bascom Pacific is demonstrating that forestry and conservation, private ventures and public
values are complimentary, not contradictory,” notes PFT Managing Director Constance Best.
“The great challenge of protecting California’s private forests in the face of burgeoning
development requires more partnerships like this one, now, before the landscape loses its
economic and ecological vitality from further forest loss and fragmentation.”

1
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

Funding for the $7.3 million acquisition and associated costs of the McCloud Project came
from a consortium of public and private sources united by a desire to set a precedent for
conserving California’s working forests. The state Wildlife Conservation Board’s contribution
of $5.6 million was matched by grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($1
million through their Wal-Mart-sponsored Acres for America program) and the Richard and
Rhoda Goldman Fund ($800,000).

“After decades of timber wars, PFT’s landmark McCloud Project represents a new era of
cooperation and partnership between forest owners, conservationists and the state,” says Al
Wright, Executive Director of the California Wildlife Conservation Board. “With
development escalating rapidly, we can’t take working forests for granted anymore. If we are
to keep California’s private forests productive and providing the public with vital resources
such as clean water, abundant fish and wildlife and inspiring recreational opportunities, we
will need more working forest conservation easements like this one.”

Rick Smith, President and CEO of Forest Systems explains the landowner’s perspective:
“Working forest conservation easements are an important part of our long-term investment
strategy as they give private landowners an extra financial incentive to practice high standards
of stewardship. We hope this project helps set a conservation precedent in California and
beyond – because we all have a vested interest in seeing working forests continue to provide
the public with the wood, water and other resources on which we depend.”

Bascom Pacific’s property is located within the remarkably rich Klamath-Cascade region
where the conifer forests rate among the most biodiverse in the world. The mixed conifer
forests, oak and aspen stands, varied meadows and numerous trout streams on the property
support more than 250 species of birds, fish and mammals including special-status species
such as the northern spotted owl, bald eagle, Pacific fisher and the imperiled redband trout.
Specific terms in the easement provide added safeguards for water quality that will protect
flows from these forests to the faucets of more than 20 million Californians through the
Sacramento system. Further, the McCloud Project easement links critical habit across 2.1
million acres of the surrounding Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Preventing development and
ensuring model forest management here will also enhance the forest’s long-term ability to
store carbon, in turn providing Californian’s with increased climate benefits.

State Secretary of Resources Mike Chrisman has championed the McCloud Project from its
inception. “The Pacific Forest Trust is setting a very high standard for the kind of
conservation activities we are embarking on here in California,” explains Chrisman “Their

2
 Press Release – The Pacific Forest Trust

McCloud Project is a creative approach to conservation and the protection of fish and wildlife
habitat. It is also emblematic of the shifting role of government in conservation, where
government acts as a partner with private landowners and non-profits to share in the costs and
responsibilities of stewardship in the public interest. This project is a prime example of that
new cooperative effort.”

This project, and WFCEs in general, represent an innovative new model for saving working
forest landscapes. In return for their commitment to conservation and high standards of
stewardship, private forest landowners are financially rewarded. Working forest conservation
easements are a good investment for the public, too, as they protect valuable resources at a
fraction of the cost of buying a property outright – in this case half as much. Plus, because
Bascom Pacific and PFT will share stewardship responsibilities, government does not have to
bear the financial burden of managing the property in perpetuity.

Richard Goldman, president of the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund describes their interest:
“Conservation easements are a promising tool to protect forests,” says Goldman. “We are
excited to take part in this unique opportunity and hope it serves as a model for forest
protection throughout the West.”

In November, California voters will have the opportunity to help ensure the state’s forests do
in fact continue to provide invaluable public benefits. Proposition 84, the Clean Water, Parks
and Coastal Protection Bond, designates $450 million for the conservation, protection and
restoration of forests, wildlife and working landscapes. The proposition is supported by
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Treasurer Phil Angelides, Senator Dianne Feinstein,
legislative leaders, the Pacific Forest Trust and more than 200 state environmental, business
and civic groups.
________

The Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is the only conservation organization in the nation solely
dedicated to protecting America’s vital private forests for all their public benefits. Since 1993,
PFT has been implementing a comprehensive conservation strategy through education,
innovation and collaboration. To date, PFT has directly conserved more than 50,000 acres of
working forests in the Pacific west valued at over $150,000,000. To learn more about the
Pacific Forest Trust and our forest campaigns, please visit www.PacificForest.org.