Chimacum Ridge Community Forest from above. Photo courtesy of EFM.
Last year, while on one of Jefferson Land Trust’s public tours of the future 918-acre Chimacum Ridge Community Forest, local resident Don Dybeck had “a powerful epiphany.”
“As a serious sport fisherman and world traveler, my carbon footprint and the associated guilt are significant,” Don says. For the past couple of years, he’s been actively looking for a meaningful way to offset his carbon footprint — and that day on Chimacum Ridge, all the pieces came together.
Chimacum Ridge Community Forest by Tim Lawson.
“The Land Trust’s many worthwhile projects help preserve trees and their carbon sequestration potential,” he says. “Why not avoid all the complexities and questions involved in purchasing carbon credits elsewhere and simply support Jefferson Land Trust?”
With his wife Celeste, Don plans to donate 5-10% of the cost of each plane ticket he buys to Jefferson Land Trust — and he wants to encourage others to do the same.
“I challenge others to join us in this easy approach to helping save our planet,” he says.
Don moved to the Olympic Peninsula from Olympia more than 20 years ago and connected with the then-small but ever-passionate staff of Jefferson Land Trust. He served on the Land Trust’s Board of Directors for a number of years and has been a supporter ever since.
“Serving on the Land Trust Board, I began to recognize the broader implications of carbon emissions,” he says.
As he researched offsetting his carbon footprint over the past couple of years, he found several organizations selling carbon credits. However, the numerous choices were as wide-ranging as their carbon-credit calculations — integrating aircraft size and flight time; involving solar farms, offshore wind farms, and tree farms from Panama to Portugal. Overall, the research process left him wondering if his donations were actually making a difference.
“Why go through the hassle of researching some company based far away when we can keep it close to home, right here in our own backyard — and see that work happening with our own eyes?” Don asks. “All I have to do is keep track of what I’ve committed to the Land Trust, and make a once-a-year, tax-deductible donation. Piece of cake.”
He adds, “To me, it’s pretty amazing what the Land Trust has accomplished over the past several years. Together, we can show the world what a small community can do.”
Thank you to Don and Celeste for their ongoing support of Jefferson Land Trust and for making this unique and inspiring commitment that exemplifies the powerful philosophy of “Think globally, act locally.”
If you want to join Don and Celeste in making annual (or monthly) donations to the Land Trust to offset your carbon emissions, please contact the Land Trust’s Development Manager Sarah Zablocki Axling at szaxling[at]saveland.org. Thank you!
Interested in taking a walking tour of Chimacum Ridge Community Forest? Dates are available in April, May, and June 2025. Click here to learn more and sign up for your complimentary tour.
