Redwood Forest Foundation Biochar Demonstration Project

The Biochar Demonstration Project addresses a major regional conservation issue, i.e. removal of excess biomass, by salvaging and recycling unwanted biomass into a marketable product the revenue from which will decrease the cost of installing an innovative, beneficial conservation practice. In many local forests the growth of small diameter trees and underbrush negatively impacts forest health- increasing vulnerability to catastrophic forest fire, impairing forest habitat and increasing ground water use thereby reducing water in streams and tributaries. Currently, landowners use time, resources and/or potentially harmful chemicals to clear brush and thin over-crowded stands- often brush piles are burned on-site. We intend to demonstrate ecologically and economically sound methods for dealing with excess woody biomass that is being created by thinning that underbrush in Mendocino County timberland.