Officials with ECO2 Forests say it’ll be the first of up to a-hundred-thousand acres of tree plantations they intend to grow in the coming years.

 

The project is aimed at building up carbon credits and slowing deforestation.

 

Collie Christensen is ECO2 Forest’s CEO. He says they’ll plant up to three-million kiri trees at nurseries outside of Reno over the next seven years. And they’ll be hiring workers.

 

“We anticipate within the first year we’ll create about 280 jobs. We need forestry guys. Once you plant the tree you can’t just forget about it. It has to be maintained in order to get grade A lumber.”

 

The kiri is a fast-growing, broad-leafed hardwood from China that naturally regenerates from the stump after harvest. Christensen says it can hold more carbon than any other tree.

ECO2 Forest acquired the water rights they need in Nevada to launch the first two-thousand acre plantation in May. But critics are skeptical of the project. They say the trees will need a lot more water than is available in northern Nevada.