Yes, this program requires that you donate the Carbon+ Credits generated in the planting areas on your land. The sale of these credits is used to keep the program free.

To receive reforestation services, the applicant must own land that is within the 7-county region of Travis, Bastrop, Hays, Williamson, Caldwell, Burnet, and Blanco and have a  portion of FEMA’s 100yr floodplain in it. CTFRP qualified land cannot already be fully forested, as we cannot plant under existing canopy cover.

The program is valued at $11,500 per acre, but is completely free of charge for participating landowners.

Carbon+ Credits are at their simplest a way to estimate how much one metric ton of carbon dioxide is worth once it has been removed from the atmosphere. One metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted by a car or an industrial plant may be ‘offset’ by doing something to capture carbon from the air.

For example, the City of Austin would like to purchase credits to offset the carbon generated by daily activities (mostly driving vehicles). Carbon credits are quantified using a unique method developed by scientists at the nonprofit City Forest Credits.

This method accounts for the particular environmental variables of riparian plantings in our region and includes the additional benefits of quantified rainfall interception, energy savings, and air quality improvements.

This program is novel in its goal of generating carbon credits from our free planting services on private Texas land. Your support helps us try out this exciting new framework, and we will work hand-in-hand with you as the process develops. The most important things to know are:

• Producing Carbon+ Credits requires a promise to not remove the trees for 26 years, so that they may sequester enough carbon to be meaningful. The protection is granted through a legal deed restriction or declaration of covenants attached to the land.
• Livestock activity is extremely harmful to streambanks, young trees, and natural vegetation. Fencing out livestock prevents the consumption and trampling of young trees and other vegetation and reduces erosion issues. Mowing prevents young trees from growing in and can increase erosion due to a lack of soil protection and stabilization. Livestock must be fenced out or removed and mowing must stop within planting areas for at least 10 years.
• Tree growth will be measured by satellite imagery, like Google Maps, and will require little to no access to the property over those 26 years
• Funds generated from the sale of the carbon credits will be used exclusively by TreeFolks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, to fund future tree plantings in Central Texas and will not be used for personal gain.
• The value of the Carbon+ Credits is not currently considered a tax-deductible donation.

Assisting TreeFolks in this program will allow you to protect your trees and give back to your community for future generations!

We plant very young saplings that are about 1 or 2 feet tall. In our work reforesting the Lost Pines after the fires of 2011 and along the Blanco River after the floods of 2015, we found that large-scale reforestation through planting small saplings is the most cost-effective method of establishing forestland at scale.

The methodology, backed by peer-reviewed science, yields healthy forest density by overplanting low-cost native tree saplings at high density in order to offset mortality (our minimum is 545 trees per acre, or space at around 8-9’ apart). Not needing irrigation or fencing (except in the case of active livestock grazing) helps keep costs low.

Landowners are not expected to actively maintain the saplings once planted and are offered free educational consultations to increase understanding of the importance of healthy, riparian forests, with follow-up tree survival studies where applicable.

Planting is performed by volunteers, TXCC, and Superior Forestry Service.