Xyla Land and Resource Advisors

Xyla's visiting Claremont McKenna College! If you're in the Claremont area on November 1, I'd love to see you there!

A day in the forest talking about trees is a day well spent!

The latest auction results for the Washington State Department of Ecology and California Air Resources Board compliance carbon programs are available. Washington allowance prices held steady at about $29/ton, and California prices declined by about $7/ton, or ~22%.   I'm excited to see that the price of high-quality voluntary IFM credits continues to be on par with allowance prices in both the Washington and California markets. 

Landowners in California have enrolled over 1.2 million acres of forestlands in carbon projects. Most of these projects are Air Resource Board-compliant, designed for California's Cap and Trade market. However, we also continue to see growth in the voluntary market, with new projects listed in recent years.

Here’s a sneak peak of some exciting new developments. I can’t wait to share what we have been working on!

I am so excited to share this map of forest carbon project acreage across West Virginia! Check out the concentration of acreage in the southwestern portion of the state. It was an immense pleasure collaborating with the Roberts Environmental Center to create these maps and analysis. A special shout out to the talented, engaging REC team: Diana A., Maya Forgus, Kate Roney, Pierce Sanderson, Rachel Supnick, Mateo Thacher, and Caleb Young. Great work, ya'll!

Adding a new price to the tracker today... Congratulations to Chestnut Carbon for selling nature-based removal credits at $34/ton! These are 100% removal-based credits for an improved forest management (IFM) project in the southeastern U.S. Announced in April of 2024, this is one of the highest prices I am aware of for nature-based credits in the U.S.

Starting a business can be a nerve-racking experience, especially as a woman in a male-dominated field. Here’s to everyone channeling their inner Fearless Girl! 💚

We've generally seen slow and steady growth in the U.S. afforestation/reforestation carbon offset market, with some signs of uptick in recent years. Since 2019, project proponents have initiated nine new projects - four compliance and five voluntary. With so much environmental and market opportunity, I hope to see these growth trends continue in this market!

Q1 auction results are out for both the Washington and California markets. The Washington settlement price is approximately half of what we saw last quarter. This is likely due to multiple factors, including potential linkage with the California-Quebec market, Initiative 2117, and market variability as the program evolves. The California settlement price continues to trend upward, with the latest prices at $42/ton.