Flyway Forests Reforestation Program

Learn More

Climate change impacts the health of wildlife, hydrology, and agricultural systems and is causing billions of dollars of economic damage every year across the world. There is scientific consensus that mitigation is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of rising greenhouse gas temperatures in the atmosphere. Natural Climate Solutions are opportunities to use nature to remove and store carbon from the atmosphere, while also providing habitat and ecosystem services such as clean water and clean air. Ducks Unlimited (DU) has long understood that our sustainable ecosystem work has benefits beyond waterfowl.

What Can We Do

DU’s new Flyway Forests program is designed to restore bottomland hardwood forests on private lands in the lower Mississippi River valley, tributaries, and adjacent counties by planting trees to help capture significant amounts of carbon. DU is partnering with Land and Water Corp to implement this program on private lands with private equity funding. Land and Water Corp is a founding member of Flyway Forests and is a family-owed and operated land, equipment, and services company based in Colorado.

Partnership Goals

Restore at least 10,000 acres of forests in the lower Mississippi River and adjacent counties by 2030.
Improve air quality, preserve soil health, provide oxygen, benefit the climate, support waterfowl and wildlife habitat, and replant native hardwood species.

Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate impacts by capturing carbon dioxide and storing carbon with soils and forest biomass. Approximately 50% of the carbon stored in a forest is in the soil, and the rest is stored in the trunk, branches, and roots.

How It Works

DU will work with private landowners to design reforestation projects using native bottomland hardwood species.
Payment terms are based on current land use (cropland or grassland/pasture) and contract type (permanent conservation easement or 40-year term agreement).
Landowners enrolled in a permanent conservation easement are eligible for $3400/ac (cropland) or $2430/ac (grassland/pasture), paid over 20 years.
Landowners enrolled in a 40-year term contract are eligible for $4350/ac (cropland) or $2115/ac (grassland/pasture), paid over 40 years.
The landowner will retain ownership of the land while DU covers the costs of site prep, tree planting, and survival monitoring.
DU may conduct adaptive management to achieve a target density of approximately 350 trees/acre.
Third parties will conduct forest monitoring events over the 40-year crediting period to verify the amount of carbon stored in the forest.
Carbon credits will be traded in the Voluntary Carbon Market.

Photo by Ben Hemmings

Who is Eligible?

Landowners in lower Mississippi Valley in eligible counties as shown on the map.
Landowners with at least 75+ acres available for reforestation.
Applicant must own land at the time of enrollment

Non-eligible lands include:

Emergent wetlands.
Land already enrolled in government-funded programs for tree planting.
Forests cleared in the last 10 years.

Program Enrollment

Join the Ducks Unlimited Flyway Forest Reforestation Program today to help restore critical habitats and capture significant amounts of carbon. By enrolling, you will contribute to improving air quality, preserving soil health, and providing essential ecosystems for wildlife while earning financial incentives and ensuring the protection of your land for future generations.

Timeline of Implementation Activities

PROGRAM ENROLLMENT FAQs

Can I submit an application for a property I am considering purchasing?

We don’t have any minimum required ownership length, but we do require that the property is owned in fee title at the time the application is submitted. Enrollment is not guaranteed until the Flyway Forests purchase agreement is signed and the 90-day due diligence period has passed.
Can I sell the property before the project is complete?

Yes, although the restrictions in the conservation easement and term agreement are recorded with the title to the property and transfer to the next landowner; the payments also transfer to the next landowner (run with the land).
What kind of management can I do? Am I allowed to flood the trees?

Timber harvest will be restricted during the 40-year crediting period. Carbon registries do not allow intentional water management inside the boundaries of a reforestation carbon project due to methane emissions. However, we will work with you to create a site plan that meets your needs. This might look like setting aside an area for moist soil management outside the carbon project boundaries.