Laurie A. Wayburn, President, Pacific Forest Trust

The mission of the Pacific Forest Trust is to protect and sustain America's private working forests for all their public benefits. Wayburn has 25 years experience in conservation-based sustainable development. She currently serves of the Sustainable Forestry board and has previously served on those of the Land Trust Alliance, Seventh American Forest Congress, U.C. Center for Forestry, Oregon Board of Forest Incentives Group, U.S. Man and Biosphere Committee and the Compton Foundation. Wayburn is a frequent writer and speaker on the topic of private forest conservation and incentives. She co-authored "America's Private Forests" in 2001.

Seeking the Holy Grail
A tangible "ecosystem services" market that brought dollars to landowners and supported the whole forest, rather than just one simplifying product, has been an elusive Holy Grail for many in forestry: intensively desired, never quite gained. The proposal of market-based solutions for climate change, and California's development of an actual regulatory framework that includes such solutions, may be just that! California's system recognizes the importance of forests in helping address climate change, focusing on conserving managed forests as key. It does so complementarily with timber harvest, seen as an essential tool to sustaining native forest ecosystems and increasing net carbon stocks over time.