Building the Future from the Ground Up

USBI-NABC24-PANEL-BiocharInTheWoods-Slash pile fate-Decomposition burning or biochar

Deborah Page-Dumroese, Ph. D.
Speaker Title
Senior Research Soil Scientist
Organization
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Abstract

A few key collaborators
Nate Anderson – supply chain
Kas Dumroese – growing seedlings
Derek Pierson – carbon
Dan McCollum – economics
Carlos Rodriguez-Franco – forest management 
Joanne Tirocke – CharBoss® operations

 

Too much low-value woody biomass!
• Overstocked forests
• Long-term droughts
• Fire suppression
• Insects and disease
• Dead trees
• Lack of infrastructure
• No or few markets for small-diameter material

Choices and finding balance
Challenges in land management, social science, and climate change
What to do with unmerchentable wood? • Leave some coarse wood
• Burn
• Decompose
• Biochar
• Combinations?

 

View the slide deck to learn more!