Measure the impact of carbon offset projects on management of California forestlands. There are two types of offset projects. First, under the California Cap-and-Trade Program, the Air Resources Board has the authority to approve forestry compliance offset projects. Project types include reforestation, improved forest management, and avoided conversion. Second, there are voluntary forestry offset projects that have been approved by voluntary agencies such as the Climate Action Reserve (Reserve), the American Carbon Registry (ACR), and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). The acreage in California being managed for carbon offset projects provides a measure of the impact of these programs on actual forest management in California, in terms of land managed to maintain or improve carbon storage, and to provide additional environmental benefits such as improved water quality and habitat.

Certification of forestry operations was developed to provide assurance to wood consumers/users that the operations are not destructive to forest ecosystems or nearby communities. There has been debate over whether or not certified operations are actually sustainable (e.g., allowing clear-cutting). One advantage of certified operations is that there may be more transparency about the types of operations.

Locating wood product manufacturing requires a steady supply of wood and a trained, or trainable work-force. If wood product manufacturers invest in capacity a region/municipality, it is a sign that long-term employment in wood products industries is more likely.

Measure contribution of forest biomass towards attainment of policy goals for use of renewable energy sources. California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires investor-owned utilities, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators to increase procurement from eligible renewable energy resources to 33% of total procurement by 2020 (CPUC). Forest biomass is one of many eligible sources.

Measures the contribution of forest-based biomass towards attainment of policy goals set by the California Low-Carbon Fuel Standard. California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard, established by AB32 (2006) and Executive Order S-01-07 (2007), sets a goal of a 10% reduction in carbon intensity of transportation fuels by 2020. Biofuels produced from wood biomass are one potential source to achieve the target.

Measure the contribution of niche products to the California economy in terms of total value, and direct and indirect employment. Currently, there is insufficient data to fully quantify this indicator and it is a known data gap. We can identify data sources that do exist for specific niche products.

Measure progress towards attainment of policy goals for use of renewable energy sources. California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires investor-owned utilities, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators to increase procurement from eligible renewable energy resources to 33% of total procurement by 2020 (CPUC). Eligible sources relevant to forest and rangelands include biomass, geothermal, solar, wind, and small hydroelectric.

This indicator will produce tabular information on trends in monetary measures of contributions to society and the state’s quality-of-life from three different ecosystem services: recreation, passive use values, and carbon sequestration values. Maintaining and enhancing forest’s non-commodity contributions to state and local economies, communities, and to the state's quality-of-life are very important. These values, such as clean water, habitat for fisheries, and scenery are often taken for granted because they are not generally traded in markets. As such, they have no ‘price’ and are therefore seemingly provided for “free”.

This indicator will produce tabular and graphical information on historical and current trends in sales and competitiveness of the state’s forest products sector.

Public subsidies for agricultural production and agrochemical inputs exacerbate environmental pressures by encouraging intense chemical use, the expansion of agriculture to sensitive areas, and overexploitation of resources (OECD 2004). The Agricultural Subsidies indicator measures subsidies as a proportion of agricultural value. For countries where this data is available, the authors use the Nominal Rate of Assistance (NRA), defined as the price of a product in the domestic market, less its price at a country’s border, expressed as a percentage of the border price, and adjusted for transport costs and quality differences. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2004. Environmental Performance Review of Canada - Good Progress, Much to be Done. Paris: OECD.