Carbonfund.org and The Conservation Fund Celebrate Kansas Reforestation Project II

Our great friends at The Conservation Fund just sent us some more pictures from the Kansas reforestation project I recently visited (here's the original post). And - since I know it can feel a bit odd sometimes for our donors to be supporting things as intangible as carbon offsets - I thought I'd share some of the photos with everyone here.

Here's one of the seedlings that was planted in February with the help of funding from Carbonfund.org. Believe it or not, this little guy will eventually absorb more than a ton of carbon dioxide emissions. All told, The Conservation Fund replanted 775 acres worth, which will sequester more than 230,000 metric tons of CO2.

The project is on a refuge called Marais des Cygnes (Marsh of the Swans) owned and managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. These guys have been protecting forests for a long time, and the more I meet them the more I'm impressed with how committed they are to conservation - everyone from regional directors down to the locals that have worked there since they were a teenager.

Here's Tim Menard explaining details of the project to the many partners who contributed funding to the project.

Kansas was very pretty (and the weather was MUCH better than hot and humid D.C., where I was coming from).

Here's me saying something no doubt very enlightening to the assembled crowd.


I thought I'd end with this one. This is a coal power plant within sight of the refuge. The carbon dioxide emissions will actually help the new seedlings grow faster, but the plant was a poignant reminder to all of us celebrating the reforestation project of just how much work there is still to do.