The Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities Partnership (HFHC) was the recent recipient of a $249,000 Woody Biomass Utilization Grant from the US Forest Service. Through this grant, HFHC will provide strategic financial and technical assistance to four separate projects treating at-risk forests and processing the small diameter material into value added products.

All four projects to be served under this grant have identified direct financial needs from $25,000-45,000 that will enable them to upgrade their production or improve operating systems to either utilize more biomass or pay more for raw material. By packaging funding with assistance in business and product development, technology transfer, marketing, and peer learning, HFHC will successfully improve the economic viability of fuels reduction projects and increase the impact on regional forests.

The combined projects will provide markets for biomass from over 12,500 acres of planned projects, utilize approximately 90,000 tons of biomass annually, and could reduce the cost of fuels reduction projects on five National Forests across three states. Furthermore, these projects will document and share their results and knowledge acquired by hosting site visits from professional peers and HFHC Partners who are also looking for new ways to profitably utilize the by-products of fuels reduction, thereby adding to the capacity for woody biomass utilization across the region. HFHC’s staff is excited about the impact that this project will have both regionally and across the Partnership. Learn more about the Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities Partnership.