Zack Parisa, SilviaTerra's CEO, says landowners are typically paid for the only dimension of their holdings that can be weighed and valued -- timber -- even if the same acreage creates harder-to-measure benefits like recharging aquifers, supporting wildlife and storing carbon. He believes satellite data and artificial intelligence are changing that. "Our core thesis is that 'measurements make markets,' " he says.

Carbon sequestration is among the most straightforward outputs to measure, but Mr. Parisa imagines landowners ultimately getting paid for benefits as esoteric as providing a habitat for migratory songbirds. "If we are ever to live in a world that reflects our social values better than it does today, we have to find better ways of measuring and paying for more of what we want," he wrote.

In mid-October, Mr. Lowrie received a check in the mail for $3,649.

Next year, SilviaTerra intends to expand the pilot to commercial scale in 11 states.

Mr. Alcorn is a writer in New York. Email him at reports@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-03-20 1414ET