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Dear Chelsey,
We hope everyone is doing well in the Chilkat Valley.
Update on Carbon Credit Program
Thank you to all who took the time to submit comments to the public notice about the university’s potential carbon credit program. The response from the Land Management team went out recently. The next step will be to issue a request for proposals seeking a developer to administer the program for the University. We won’t have any more details about the program (how many years, which market, etc.) until after the developer submits a plan. The developer may determine that one or more parcels identified in the public notice are not suited for carbon offset credits. In that case, the parcel will be removed from the program; however, the public notice will remain in effect on the parcel. The developer may recommend additional lands for inclusion into a program. In that case, any additional lands will have a public notice in a similar process as this one.
I want to emphasize that establishing a carbon credit program is just one part of what the Land Management Team is planning for development in the Chilkat Valley. That’s why not all of the lands were included for carbon sequestration. We are still exploring many of the revenue streams that are important to all of you — small-scale timber sales, biomass innovation, subdivisions, conservation easements and more. We continue to support our fiduciary responsibility of monetizing the university’s land assets to fund the university’s endowment while stimulating the local economy. If you know of other opportunities that you think the Land Management team should explore, we are always eager to hear from you.
Ripinski Trail Easement
Please stay tuned for more information coming very soon. The University is committed to finding a mutually beneficial solution to continued access in places where the Ripinski Trail bisects University lands. Thank you to folks from Haines Huts and all those who have asked for an update.
University Land Grant Legislation
As some of you may already know, Congress recently passed legislation to finalize the University’s land entitlement. Land selection is a complex, multi-year process and so it was not possible to include any of those potential parcels in the carbon credit program. For more information, please read about the legislation and the history of the university’s land grant.
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