This summer marks a major turning point for Shannondale and the Missouri Mid-South Conference, which has been

Wes Hurt, MMSUCC Conference Council Moderator, signing the Shannondale Carbon LLC documents.

the founder and steward of this important property and mission for the past 84 years. In late July, the Shannondale Carbon LLC documents were approved, signed, notarized and recorded in Shannon County, thus culminating almost four years of painstaking work on the part of Jeff Fulk,Pastor/Director of Shannondale, Rev. Jeff Whitman, and your Conference Council and Officers. The process of registering the forest with Climate Action Reserve is still underway, and we anticipate that we will "go live" with the carbon credits early this fall. As your Acting Conference Minister, I consider it a great privilege to be here while this is happening!

So, my friends, you are the first religious entity in the United States to dedicate your 4,000 wooded acres to serve for the next 100+ years to offset the impact of carbon emissions. This ensures that this jewel of a forest will not be developed, that it will continue to be sustainably harvested, and that Shannondale can strengthen its mission of providing an economic base and other forms of support for the people of Shannon County. It also means that you are helping to clean the air and to reduce carbon emissions, an important environmental ministry. This is your ministry and you should be proud!

Both of these purposes are important to understand. The Shannondale Community Center and its forest ministry make a huge difference in the lives of the people of the county. It provides seasonal work at the time of timber harvest, using local companies who employ local residents. It offers educational support for children from kindergarten through eighth grade in after school programs and special experiences like field trips out of the county. It brings together work teams to help neighbors with winterizing their homes, siding, roofing and painting, and outdoor maintenance for elders and those who live with disabilities.

Jeff Fulk, Pastor/Director of Shannondale was the first fire chief in that area of the county, and about six years ago, you gave three acres to the community to build and equip the first firehouse there. Not long after that, it was clear that Shannondale had to become financially sustainable on its own. Jeff prayed and prayed, and asked God for a "sign" of the best way to do that. Then one day, he said, "a neighboring lumberman came by and asked me what I knew about carbon credits. I said I didn't know about them but started on the research right away. And there it was, the way to financial viability!"  It was Jeff's idea to look into carbon credits as a way to sustain good environmental practices there and be a good global citizen. Without his initial research and ongoing enthusiasm, this project would never have happened.

The second purpose is as important as the first. This project participates with government in putting a price on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, and thus creates an incentive for corporations that emit greenhouse gases to reduce their emissions. As Christians, we look forward to the day when such emissions are truly minimal and God's earth is secure from the deleterious impact of our human actions. Until then, we need to use every tool available to us to reduce that impact and to clean the air. One of our hopes is that with Shannondale entering the carbon credit program, other forest owners nearby will choose to do the same and will convert to more sustainable management techniques as well.

One of my hopes is that as we move into this phase of the carbon credit program, you will use this as a moment in your personal life to inventory your own emission of carbon through your travel, heating and cooling, plastic purchases, etc., and to commit to reduce your own carbon footprint. General Synod adopted a resolution to encourage churches to become carbon neutral, and I was very impressed at the way churches in Minnesota (the originator of the resolution) are making progress on that. Here's a link to that resolution: http://uccfiles.com/pdf/gs29-2.pdf We could double the impact of this decision if all of us took our own steps to stop contributing so many emissions of our own! Perhaps now is the time for this Conference to launch an Environmental Covenanted Ministry Team!

Our General Minister and President, Rev. Geoffrey Black, got to talk with Jeff Fulk recently, and I overheard him say the same thing I said: "I've been around the United Church of Christ a long time and I've never heard of Shannondale! What an amazing story!" If you have never visited Shannondale, now's the time. Go to canoe/kayak the Current River, to birdwatch during the migration season, to join forces with others and do a work camp for residents or for Shannondale itself. Take your youth, take your church leaders, send adults on a retreat. You will come away inspired for your own lives and ministries.  

Jeff Fulk, Pastor/Director of Shannondale.

History of Shannondale

Shannondale's ministry was founded by the German Evangelical Church in 1929 when the Rev. Paul Wobus traveled the region with the intent of starting new churches. He established what is now the Shannondale United Church of Christ. Shortly after that, Rev. Vincent Bucher arrived to serve as the pastor, and it was he who established the ministry of service to the community, including developing the forest as a means of support financially to residents there. Later Rev. Bucher researched and developed the plan for sustainable harvesting that is still used today: the 4,000 acres are divided into 200 plots of 20 acres each and each plot is harvested in an annual rotation. Today your woodland at Shannondale is the oldest continuously owned Tree Farm in Missouri, and the only surviving forest of the first ten Missouri Tree Farms designated by the state in 1949.

What does all this mean?

One important impact of this decision is that Shannondale Carbon LLC will be able to sell carbon credits and thus ensure an income stream for Shannondale. At this time, we plan to wait to sell carbon credits until their value increases. Of the initial dollars that are received a good portion will need to be set aside to ensure our ability to meet the standards that maintain the viability of the forest as a carbon sequestration project. It will have to be re-inventoried on a regular basis and re-certified as well, and there are costs connected to that work. In addition, if we were to have an event categorized as an "intentional reversal", we would be responsible to repay the carbon credits related to that event, so we must be prepared for that possibility even though we will do everything we can to prevent it occurring.  

Another amount will be invested so that the steady stream of income will support better maintenance and facilities at Shannondale. It is important that everyone understand that although this will help with Shannondale's future, it will not take the place of your regular support of its mission. Your Conference Council will be taking action on recommendations about this in the next several weeks.

It is also important that we all understand some other factors: the program we are entering, unlike some in the international market, requires ongoing validation of the forest and its proper, sustainable maintenance. This ensures that we are connected to other programs that are equally responsible and are being appropriately managed. The broad coalition of groups participating in the program include The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and forest industry companies as well.

On our website, we have placed an updated version of Frequently Asked Questions about Shannondale and the carbon credit program. We hope this will answer questions you may have about some of the technical matters related to the program.