Forest Service and Endowment Initiate Joint-venture for Biomass
The USDA Forest Service (Forest Service) and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) have developed a joint-venture designed to advance sustainable uses of woody biomass. “Our goal is to develop and promote markets for low-value wood, further domestic energy production and grow jobs in rural America while retaining healthy, working forests,” said Endowment President Carlton N. Owen.
Each organization has committed a minimum of $2 million in the initial phase of the partnership. Funded projects will provide at least a 50% local match extending the reach of the initiative to more than $6 million. Several projects are already in the pipeline and will be announced soon. Initial projects allocating about one-half of funds were identified from more than 70 candidates that the Endowment received in response to a request for proposals issued earlier in the year. Funded partners will include private for-profit companies, conservation organizations and research institutions. The common thread will be that each project offers significant potential to rapidly clarify the promise of certain woody biomass technologies and processes to enter in and compete in the volatile energy industry while holding the value of working forests and family-supporting jobs as the ultimate measures of success.
The Forest Service and the Endowment share a belief that while there are clear limits to the amount of energy that can and should be supplied from woody biomass, including the potential threat of competition for fiber that could result in job loss in traditional forest products companies, there are also potential benefits. “In many parts of the country forests are unnaturally dense with small-diameter, low-value trees many of which are dead or dying and that are not sought by traditional companies in the quantities available. Without additional markets such as those provided by biomass energy users, forest landowners are faced with limited management options and higher risks to overall forest health and productivity,” said Owen.
