"By embracing North American tribal sovereignties in the process of reducing emissions, there is the inherent promise of traditional tribal conservation measures being implemented, as well. That would be good news for Americans, and for the planet." –Michael Tobias, Forbes

Van Ness Feldman (VNF) was mentioned in an on-line article by Forbes discussing a recently announced $1.226 million Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) USDA to the Colville Indian Tribe of Washington to explore whether the barriers to entry into the forest carbon sequestration market and other environmental markets faced by tribes can be surmounted. As the article indicates, the project will demonstrate and adapt innovative (GHG) emission mitigation strategies and management systems to help create and monetize forest carbon offsets on tribal lands across the United States. It will be the first such project in the country.

VNF will be conducting the legal analysis for the project, seeking to demonstrate that the trust status of Indian land and other unique attributes of Indian land and tribal sovereignty do not present insuperable barriers to the participation of tribes in the carbon market.  The VNF team’s efforts will be led by Partner Dan Press, and VNF Associate Kaitlin Gregg who will be putting her combined legal and forestry degrees to work on the project. 

Click here to read the full Article.