Biomass Summit, Panel 2: Supply and Environmental Benefits and Risks

By Janel Ruehl, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council

Panel Summary

What’s the right size biomass utilization project for your community? How do you assess the supply available in your region, and the viability of a variety of potential sources? In panel two of the OFRC Biomass Summit, our panelists focused on the opportunities and challenges of securing a consistent and adequate supply of small diameter wood for biomass utilization and the top considerations when determining project scale.

The US Forest Service is often the first and primary source of supply to assess when considering a biomass project. Kevin Keown, Natural Resources and Planning Staff Officer for the Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River Grassland, presented an overview of supply currently available from regional forest service lands, a snapshot of potential future supply, and highlighted some of the current challenges and opportunities in tapping into this supply. As Kevin explained, Regional Foresters are assigned two “flagship” targets each fiscal year: volume of timber sold and acres of hazardous fuels treated. In his jurisdiction, the 2018 timber volume target was set at 30,917 CCF. As of October, the USFS has already exceeded this target, with 33,387 CCF accomplished. Likewise, USFS has surpassed its 2018 target for acres of hazardous fuels treated (target of 9,500 acres, 22,174 treated). To accomplish this, Kevin and his colleagues used a variety of methods including prescribed burning, commercial and non-commercial thinning, piling, and pile burning. While there are a number of projects still outstanding in the region, many face significant challenges to implementation. Viable timber sales are limited by low product value and low volume per acre, long haul distances, harvest limitations, and few local manufacturing facilities. Nonetheless, there are opportunities to access this supply from federal lands in the future. There is a significant volume of NEPA shelf stock, new grant and other funding opportunities, new tools and Authorities recently established, and ongoing collaboration that may help ensure consistent supply from USFS lands that would be adequate for a biomass utilization project in Crook County.

The desire for viable juniper utilization is a common refrain in Central Oregon. Juniper in Oregon has exploded due to European expansion and fire suppression activities since the 1880s. Areas classified as juniper forests have increased from 420,000 acres to over 3 million today! In addition to highlighting these startling statistics, Tim Deboodt, OSU Extension Professor Emeritus and current Crook County Natural Resources Coordinator, shed some light on the potential benefits of incorporating juniper biomass into a regional utilization project. Tim discussed the economic opportunities of watershed enhancements and forest fuel reduction, machinery involved with these types of projects, and the variety of forest products that can be created from juniper biomass. Accessing this supply source requires coordination between public and private landowners and can be more labor-intensive than other species, making it harder to balance economic viability with adequate supply. However, Tim’s presentation made it clear that utilizing juniper biomass can yield huge benefits for forest and rangeland health in Central Oregon.

To better understand potential supply on private lands, we asked Brian Reel, Stewardship Forester at Oregon Department of Forestry, to give an overview of current conditions. Brian again touched on the proliferation of Juniper, noting that historically in Crook County there were only 5-15 trees per acre, while today’s levels vary widely from 150-1,000. This is a great potential source of biomass in Crook County, but private landowners are finding it hard to fund the work of removal and disposal. According to Brian, hauling costs are currently the biggest barrier for landowners. Where landowners elect to remove juniper, most chose to burn it onsite to avoid high hauling costs. ODF issued burn permits for 2,500 acres in 2018. Using BLM estimates, this would account for 40,000 tons of material removed! This hints at just a fraction of the private supply that might be available if a viable market was established.

When it comes time for project implementation, supply is just one of four important factors to consider when determining the right scale for your community. Meagan Nuss, Project Development Manager at Wisewood Energy, shared insights garnered from years of project development and her graduate research at OSU. She discussed appropriately-scaled biomass activities, the different tensions of scale, and different biomass energy technologies. In addition to supply, she calls out social acceptance, economic viability, and existing forest sector supply chains as top factors in determining the appropriate scale of a new project. Using examples from a number of projects she helped develop throughout the western United States, Meagan discussed the process that project leaders have followed to determine the most appropriate scale for their community, an improve community buy-in. Local examples included Wisewood’s design for district energy at OSU-Cascades in Bend and the Harney Community Energy facility in Burns.

As we consider the possibilities for biomass utilization projects in Crook County, available supply is one of the most important factors to determine both viability and scale, but not the only factor. Working with the Forest Service, Department of Forestry, and Bureau of Land management to compile more detailed supply estimates for the next five to ten years could help attract potential entrepreneurs or investors, while community conversations about social acceptance in relation to scale may help determine what type of project Crook County chooses to endorse.

Key Takeaways

• There is significant biomass supply in Central Oregon, but some barriers exist. To access this supply, we must address transportation costs, navigate harvest limitations, and develop new local infrastructure.
• Collaboration and coordination between various supply chains (federal, state, and privately held lands) is vital to create a consistently adequate volume of supply.
• Juniper is a huge potential supply source and juniper biomass utilization offers tremendous benefits for forest and rangeland restoration. However, market development is critical to making juniper restoration cost effective.
• The four factors that will determine the right size utilization project for Crook County (or any community) are: available supply, social acceptance, financing options, and adequate forest sector supply chains.
• Project champions and local entrepreneurs are vital to project success, at any scale.