LITTLE ROCK—Some Arkansas landowners have discovered that money can grow on trees.

Earl Smith of Little Rock enrolled 158 acres of loblolly pines in Izard County with a carbon-credit broker and was among the first group of forest landowners in the state to be paid for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Ken Wiesner of North Little Rock enrolled 226 acres of loblolly pines in Saline County and Garland County, although he was dubious that would pay off.

“I was skeptical until we opened up the envelope with a check in it,” Wiesner says.

The Chicago-based Delta Institute, a not-for-profit broker for the Chicago Climate Exchange, has paid 18 landowners in the state a total of $126,000.

The exchange was established in 2003, as an experimental program to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by companies in the course of doing business. Carbon dioxide that is sequestered, or withdrawn, from the atmosphere by trees during photosynthesis can offset carbon dioxide emitted by fossil-fuel burning plants, such as coal-fired power plants.

Hundreds of companies have joined the exchange—some voluntarily, others in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. U.S. companies also expect the federal government will soon regulate emissions.

If the member companies fail to reach their targets, they can buy carbon credits on the exchange to make up the difference.

Smith says his trees can sequester about 2.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide per acre annually, based upon their species, growing region, age and planting density. The Delta Institute, which aggregated Smith’s acreage with a number of similar carbon credits, sold the entire pool on the Chicago Climate Exchange in May at a price of $6.99 per metric ton.

Bill Schleizer, an associate with the Delta Institute, says the first payments represented up to five years’ worth of carbon-dioxide sequestration. Future payments are ensured through 2010, when the exchange is scheduled to expire. Schleizer says the future of the exchange depends on what happens with federal regulations.

The first mandatory U.S. carbon cap-and-trade program, an effort by 10 Northeastern states to reduce power-plant emissions, is to begin next year.

Like Smith and Wiesner, Ken Allen of Plain Dealing, La., had doubts about whether he would earn anything by enrolling his 350 acres of loblolly pines in Lafayette County in the program.

“We were very skeptical, but we went through the Delta Institute and they made things so simple,” he said. “We manage the land for wildlife and timber, and this little bit of income helps both areas.”