Measuring Assets in the Carbon Economy Someday owners of forests
and fields will earn revenue from the carbon stored in their
land. This day has already arrived at Goshen College, where a
recent sale of carbon credit from a restored prairie generated a
minor source of income and a major learning opportunity for
three students in the Economics of the Environment course. Alli
Hawkins (Business), David Harnish (History), Chelsea Frederick
(Biology) and economics professor Jerrell Ross Richer recently
toured the restored prairie and a nearby parcel of woods at
Goshen College’s Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center with
Bill Minter, Director of Land Management. Minter is a certified
professional forester with expertise in measuring the carbon
absorbed by trees in forests and long-rooted plants in prairies.
Last year he worked with the Delta Institute to sell carbon
credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange, earning $5.00 per acre
for the 35 acre plot known as Lucky Prairie. “It’s admittedly
not going to change the