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As part of the Chicago Region Carbon Program, the McHenry County Conservation Foundation recently received 8,266 carbon credits from its Camp Lakota Woodland project, a 70-acre carbon project in Hartland Township northwest of Woodstock. A second issuance of carbon credits is scheduled to take place in November with a total of 11,622 credits available for local and regional businesses in the Chicago area to buy.
The purchase of these credits allows a business to reduce its carbon footprint and invest in the health and vitality of the local community, according to a news release from the foundation.
In 2021, the foundation bought 120 acres of land formerly owned by the Boy Scouts of America and operated as Camp Lakota. Of those 120 acres, almost 70 are mature oak and hickory woodland that contain significant stands of white, red and bur oaks and limited numbers of hills oak, swamp white oak and pine plantation. Through participation in the Chicago Region Carbon Program, the foundation was able to enroll those 70 acres into a regionwide carbon crediting program, which the foundation said will ensure the protection of the woodlands while also providing a revenue stream that will be used to support the vision of the McHenry County Conservation District.
An Arlington Heights-based local Boy Scouts council sold the property to the foundation, the fundraising arm for the McHenry County Conservation District, in 2021.
A carbon credit represents 1 metric ton of stored carbon dioxide. Companies, communities or organizations that wish to reduce their carbon footprint can buy carbon credits to offset emissions they are unable to reduce through other means.
The foundation’s carbon credits are registered with City Forest Credits, a national nonprofit that administers technical carbon standards, including methods for quantifying how much carbon dioxide is stored in project trees, according to the release. It also said the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance, which certifies best practices for carbon offsetting, has endorsed all of the carbon credits registered with City Forest Credits.
Voluntary carbon markets such as the one managed by City Forest Credits help mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions by working with organizations and agencies to fund natural climate solutions through the sale of their carbon credits, according to the foundation.
The credits also provide industries with the opportunity to offset emissions immediately while they take steps to eliminate carbon emissions, the foundation said.
The foundation did not disclose the cost of a credit in its news release. Any businesses interested in learning more about this opportunity should contact Shawna Flavell, executive director of the McHenry County Conservation Foundation, at 815-338-6223 or sflavell@mchenryconservation.org.