Season 7 | Episode 4
Down Home Carbon: Climate Solutions from Family Forests
April 1, 2026
Managing forests for carbon—and navigating emerging carbon markets—can feel overwhelming, especially for family forest owners managing smaller parcels. So how can landowners with just a couple forty-acre parcels participate in these opportunities? And what does carbon-enhanced silviculture actually look like at that scale? In this episode of SilviCast, we sit down with Brittany VanderWall, Lynn Riley, and Richard Campbell from the American Forest Foundation to break down the essentials of the Family Forest Carbon Program. They share practical insights on how family forest owners can access carbon markets, implement climate-smart forest practices, and make the most of their land—without needing thousands of acres to get started.
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Guests On This Episode

Richard Campbell
Director, Science and Product Refinement, American Forest Foundation
Richard Campbell leads the Science and Product Refinement team at American Forest Foundation, where he works to ensure that the opportunities offered to landowners represent a real benefit to the climate and the forest. Richard leads the team responsible for carbon accounting, the interpretation of forest management practices in the context of FFCP, and aligning program design with high integrity carbon accounting methodologies. He is trained as a forester and has spent nearly 20 years working in forests across the country focusing on long-term forest resilience and health. Richard lives in northern Vermont with his wife, two daughters, dog, cats, and fish.

Lynn Riley
Lead Scientist, American Forest Foundation
Lynn Riley is the Lead Scientist for the American Forest Foundation. She is responsible for the scientific integrity of AFF’s work, from the forest management practices, to the credits, to the claims we make about our work. Lynn has been a part of the Family Forest Carbon Program since 2019, working with landowners, foresters, standards bodies, academics, fellow project developers, and teammates to continue to advance high-integrity climate mitigation in ways that also work for small landowners.

Brittany VanderWall, CF
Senior Forestry Manager, Midwest, American Forest Foundation
Brittany VanderWall is the Midwest Senior Forestry Manager for the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP), which includes Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. She received her B.S in Forestry from Michigan Tech University and spent 8 years as a Conservation District Forester in Northern Michigan. Her role is focused on overseeing the FFCP regional technical assistance and managing a team of internal and external foresters.
Outside of work she is a practicing martial artist, painter and gamer.
Additional Resources
Natural Climate Solutions for the United States. Fargione et al. 2018.
The Principles of Natural Climate Solutions. Ellis et al. 2024.
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Continuing Education
Wisconsin Cooperating Foresters do not need to complete a quiz to claim continuing education units. For reporting purposes, please note the date viewed, episode number, as well as title, sponsor, and hours. Silvicast episodes are rated for qualifying continuing education hours on an hour-for-hour basis.
We are no longer offer Continuing Forester Education (CFE) through the Society of American Foresters for new SilviCast episodes published after September 2025.
However, CFEs are still available for episodes published prior to September 2025.
If you would like to earn CFEs for past SilviCast episodes, let us know which episodes you are interested in. We will send the registration links so you can take the quizzes. Upon completion, the system will automatically generate a certificate that you can submit to SAF.
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