A Complete Guide to Reforesting Your Private Land

By 2050, nature-based solutions to climate change driven primarily by reforestation and afforestation could generate $800 billion annually. This represents more than the current market capitalization of the oil and gas industries combined. 

Reforestation – the process of replanting trees in an area that was once forested – presents the most scalable and affordable solution to reversing the impacts of climate change. Trees absorb carbon into their tissues as they grow, removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and securely storing it in their roots, trunks, and leaves. The United States alone has up to 133 million acres of reforestation potential with most of that land falling under private ownership. This offers private landowners a significant investment opportunity to capitalize on their lands’ natural capital assets by reforesting underutilized areas of their property. 

Deciding whether reforesting your land is right for you

Historically, timber has been an excellent investment due to its low correlation with stocks and bonds, allowing landowners to diversify their portfolio of land assets and hedge against risk inherent in commodity markets. Carbon markets are offering a new way for landowners to capitalize on their trees by receiving revenue as the trees grow and absorb more carbon into their tissues. Unlike timber harvesting, carbon markets allow landowners to accrue multiple income events over the lifetime of their forest without ever touching their trees. Landowners with degraded or underutilized portions of their land may wish to consider reforestation as a way to extract an additional income stream from their property. 

At GreenTrees, we partner with landowners to reforest tracts of land as small as 5 acres, giving you a long-term savings account through a world-class, legacy, private forest. We partner shoulder-to-shoulder with the landowner, covering all implementation and management costs throughout the lifetime of the project. If that kind of investment is appealing, then participating in our reforestation program could be right for you.

The benefits of reforesting your property

Forests are among our most valuable ecosystems, delivering a variety of economic and environmental benefits to their owners. Standing trees provide multiple layers of value by generating continuous carbon income, improving soil productivity, reducing flooding risk, and increasing biodiversity and wildlife abundance. These benefits can improve agricultural productivity on adjacent lands while also affording more recreation opportunities such as hunting. For example, every 6 to 7 acres of reforested land will support an additional  white-tailed deer, and anywhere from 10 to 100 additional wild turkeys can live per 1,000 acres of new forest. 

Beyond the ecological benefits, trees can be valued by the carbon they sequester as they grow. Landowners can turn their trees’ growth into an additional income stream by partnering with GreenTrees to connect their lands to international carbon markets. At GreenTrees, we are a model land-equity program where we split all carbon sales with our landowners. To see how much you could be earning, check out our GreenTrees calculator for a personalized estimate. 

Forest Implementation and Management 

Maximizing your trees’ growth is best achieved by working with career foresters whose expertise serves to advise you in establishing a successful timber stand. They will also monitor quality control and landowner relations throughout the project duration.  

GreenTrees’ forestry practices involve an optimization approach that enables landowners to receive maximum carbon income in the early years of growth. Additionally, foresters will advise you on methods of earning timber income from thinning trainer trees after 15 years, all while preserving your forest’s conservation benefits. Using our proprietary interplanting method, we design our forests to generate multiple income events for the landowner over the lifetime of the project. 

GreenTrees provides all out-of-pocket expenses associated with planting your trees and managing them as they grow. All that's required on your end is to preserve the growing trees on your property and allow GreenTrees annual access so we can verify and monitor growth. You won’t pay a dime throughout the process. 

If you are a landowner interested in a greener future, as well as safeguarding the rural character of your land while providing a legacy for your grandchildren, a GreenTrees project on your private land could provide you with the layered benefits you're looking for. Get in touch with one of our Landowner Representatives today to start planting your future. 

Landowner's Guide to Reforestation: Everything You Need to Know About Planting Your Forest

Of the 133 million acres of reforestation potential in the United States, 86% falls under private ownership. This means that private landowners will be at the forefront of the conservation revolution to bring reforestation to scale in the fight against climate change.   

Working forests make up a large part of this country’s critical resources, and they provide numerous recreational, environmental, and economic benefits to local communities. Still, private landowners have tremendous opportunity to expand these benefits further by implementing afforestation and reforestation projects on their land.

This reforestation guide provides you with a framework for understanding how a GreenTrees partnership can bring you into this conservation revolution by growing a world-class forest on your property.  

Define Your Planting Objectives

Reforestation provides multiple layers of value corresponding to a variety of short and long-term financial and environmental objectives. These may include: 

1. Carbon and Timber Income

Carbon offsetting is one of the fastest growing markets today, with a XX% increase in carbon prices last year alone. The Institute of International Finance predicts that the market will scale by more than 15-fold by 2030, driving continued upward pressure on prices. Private landowners are perfectly positioned to see significant returns on their reforestation investments as a result of this market trend. Standing trees are therefore an excellent way of diversifying your land’s income streams through continuous carbon sales. 

Forests can also give landowners an economic boon through timber thinning, which can remain a longstanding source of income when managed effectively. Timber markets are stable and dependable, historically having a low correlation with more traditional asset classes and commodity markets. Additionally, timber thinning of pioneering species at year 16 of the GreenTrees contract helps reduce stand competition, providing space for slower-growing hardwoods to more quickly  increase their biomass and reap higher carbon income.   

1. Recreation 

Forests’ economic benefits are complemented by the numerous recreational opportunities they afford landowners. Reforestation projects provide excellent space for hunting, wildlife observation, hiking, camping, and more. GreenTrees’ interplanting method is designed to increase wildlife populations including deer and turkey above traditional forestry projects.

1. Environmental Conservation

Forests support increased biodiversity, greater wildlife abundance, improved air quality, better soil productivity, reduced flooding risk, and a host of other ecosystem services that help repair environmental degradation. These benefits manifest on a variety of scales, from better soil quality and greater pollinator populations improving agricultural productivity on adjacent cropland to cleaner air and water benefiting the entire community. 

1. Privacy

Finally, you can plant trees strategically to maximize privacy. For instance, we can implement a roadside buffer or situate your project on a property boundary to screen our neighbors. Fast-growing pioneering species interplanted with native hardwoods create a visible forest in only four years, quickly delivering your land with desired privacy.

Identify The Right Program

Regardless of your objectives, your tree planting project will only be as successful as the reforestation program you choose. 

What to Expect with a GreenTrees Partnership

Your land is valuable. With a growing number of carbon forestry options available, you should look for programs that recognize the full value potential of your land while keeping in mind your short and long-term objectives. GreenTrees pays landowners more carbon income than any other carbon forestry program in the US because we know that we only succeed when you do. 

Keep in mind the following benefits of a GreenTrees partnership:

• Direct environmental impact - Tree plantings for carbon income are the first step towards creating the Advanced Carbon Restored Ecosystem (ACRE); a top-down approach to reversing humans’ impact on our environment by driving global change at local scale. At the center of this conservation revolution is the landowner, who enjoys all the environmental benefits of a world-class forest while knowing their land is helping to repair the past by growing the future. 

• Guarantee of measurable results - Third-party verifications are conducted annually to record the tangible increase of tree biomass in your GreenTrees project. Should acres be underperforming due to tree mortality, GreenTrees will cover all replanting costs through our DRAFT Reboot Initiative. 

• Professional support and mentorship - Over the course of their decades-long careers, our experienced foresters have developed unparalleled expertise on sustainable forestry practices and proper forest establishment. Our foresters are always available for consultation and to answer any questions or concerns you may have. 

• Ease of activation through the GreenTrees enrollment process - We are available and prepared to answer any questions our new partners may have as they begin the enrollment process. Additionally, we are committed to maintaining connections and correspondence with our landowner partners throughout the duration of their contracts. Get started today. 

What Sets GreenTrees Apart?

• We provide access to voluntary carbon markets otherwise inaccessible to small and medium landowners

• Landowners are paid for every carbon credit sale based on acres enrolled and carbon produced. GreenTrees gives landowners higher payments than any other US carbon forestry program, reflecting the strength and equity of our mutual partnership. We only make money when you do. 

• Our decades of expertise in planting design provides you with a dependable forestry partner throughout the project lifetime

• GreenTrees offers risk mitigation to landowners through pooled aggregation. By pooling hundreds of tracts together into one project, GreenTrees protects the carbon income of individual landowners from high costs.

• GreenTrees’ proprietary model allows landowners to see more metric tons of carbon in the first years of growth, meaning increased carbon yield and better timber. 

Government Incentives 

To promote land use conversion to forestry, the federal government offers many incentives for investing in reforestation. Landowners can enroll in these programs in tandem with their GreenTrees contract, creating layers of income from the same parcel of land. View our carbon calculator to see how much you could be making by bundling GreenTrees carbon income with government rental payments on your reforestation project. The two most popular incentives for Southeastern and Midwestern states include:

• Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) - The CRP is arguably the federal government’s most popular conservation incentive program with over 20 million acres enrolled as of 2022. Administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), enrolled farmers accept an annual rental payment for establishing a variety of restoration practices on environmentally sensitive land, including forestry. The FSA uses CRP participation to increase wildlife habitat, improve water quality, and prevent soil erosion on previously deforested land. To be eligible for CRP participation farmers must stop agricultural production on contracted parcels in return for their rental payments. 

• Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) - Established in 1990, WRP aims to restore, enhance, and protect wetlands in perpetuity. This voluntary program is specific to wetland restoration and pays landowners about 50% of the cost to establish conservation practices. Like CRP, this is a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that offers contracts of 15 years, 30 years, and in perpetuity. 

What Are the Risk Factors to Your Reforestation Project?

Like any other venture, there are a number of factors that can hinder the proper establishment of your reforestation project. These factors may include:

1. Flooding

Flooding and soil oversaturation can affect tree survival at any stage of their life cycle. Often this can cause root system destabilization, pest infestations, soil changes, and disease. The degree of damage varies depending on the tree species and age but is generally most intense during the initial stages of forest establishment.

1. Invasive Plants

Invasive plants pose a significant threat to forest establishment by outcompeting seedlings for nutrients and sunlight and/or smothering them and restricting their growth. Some of the more notorious common invasives include Eastern Baccharis (SaltBush/Groundsel bush), Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven), Russian Olive, and Multiflora Rose.

1. Animals

Some animals can interfere with tree growth in their early years. Deer and various species of rodents graze on seedlings, potentially causing mortality in the first few years after planting. Larger animals including unsupervised livestock can also trample young trees and kill them. 

1. Solutions

One aspect of landowner partnerships with GreenTrees is the DRAFT program, which involves replanting all failed timber stands enrolled in the program. These replantings are executed at no cost to the landowner because they should not have to foot the bill for unpredictable events caused by nature. Additionally, GreenTrees aims to mitigate potential damages from invasive weeds by offering plans for weed control in the establishment phase of each timber stand.

Responsibilities as a Carbon Forest Landowner

GreenTrees’ model land-equity partnership is designed to minimize landowners’ responsibility for managing their trees. That’s why we cover all costs associated with planting, establishing, and monitoring your forest. However, we expect landowners will:

• Abide by Relevant Laws - The first and arguably greatest responsibility as a landowner is to abide by applicable federal, state, and local laws. Ideally, these laws only touch on paying your property taxes on time.

• Maintain Timber Rights - You must keep your timber rights for the duration of the contract period.

• Grant Access for Monitoring and Evaluation - Finally, you must allow property access for monitoring and evaluation. Planned visits are infrequent, and you will typically receive advance notice of their appearance. 

How to Enroll Today 

Join our movement of over 600 landowners who are driving global change at local scale by pioneering the reforestation revolution. We look forward to seeing what a GreenTrees partnership can mean for you and the posterity of your family. 

To see a personalized estimate of what your land could earn, view our Carbon Calculator. 

Visit our website and submit a form to organize a consultation and free land assessment today!