Hawk Mountain

Sequesters 47,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year or more. The commercial timber resource on the property has substantial value, but despite the value, Hawk Mountain’s leadership has elected to establish a carbon project on the property, limiting development and harvesting, and ensuring the health of their mature forest for years to come.

In contrast, many of the forested acres surrounding the sanctuary have been heavily harvested in recent years, making the Hawk Mountain property a model of a well-stocked, mature Pennsylvania forest.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, The Nature Conservancy, and Bluesource worked for three years to implement a creative approach to conserve the sanctuary, including putting the majority of its landholdings in a perpetual conservation easement. This partnership brings sustainable forest management expertise to ensure the forest remains healthy and productive for nature and people.

This project helps the local Pennsylvania community by preserving the native habitats of raptors, provides a location for recreation and education, and protects the planet through sequestration of carbon.

By committing to maintain forest CO₂ stocks above the baseline level, the project will provide significant climate benefits through carbon sequestration. The project action will allow the forest to progress naturally with no commercial harvesting. In tandem with the project, a conservation easement has been put into place to ensure permanence. Bluesource – Hawk Mountain Improved Forest Management Project will achieve GHG removals by sequestering more atmospheric CO₂ than a baseline scenario in live aboveground biomass, below-ground biomass, and dead wood. In addition, the efforts to use the forest for education, research, and recreation also benefit the local population.