Payson (Ariz.) Roundup
Federal bill would help cope with ‘biomass bottleneck’
By Peter Aleshire
So a bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) last week introduced a bill to help loggers haul away the tons of biomass left behind in forest restoration projects.
The initial price tag is just $25 million a year, but it tackles the thorny “biomass bottleneck” problem that has stalled large-scale forest restoration efforts to save communities and watersheds from wildfires.
The bill would add $25 million annually through 2030 and reauthorize an existing program. The grants would have a $3 million cap per project and allow spending of $260,000 for equipment. Grants provide a federal cost-share of 75%, except for Tribes, which are eligible for a 90% federal cost-share.
Sponsors of the Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance Act included Kelly, Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Adam Schiff (D-CA), John Curtis (R-UT), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS). The bill would help haul away the woody biomass left behind after a restoration project hauls off the small saleable logs.
This could prove vital in Arizona, where the biomass burning power plant in Snowflake provides the only currently reliable consistent market for the 5-15 tons of wood scrap generated by a logging an acre of overgrown forest. The transportation subsidy could mean contractors can afford to haul the biomass to Snowflake from a larger area.
The Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) is the most ambitious forest restoration operation in the country, but the biomass bottle neck has limited the annual acres thinned to about 15,000, rather than the originally envisioned 50,000 annually.
The cost of hauling the biomass to the power plant, biochar process operations or mills that manufacture particle board has been compounded by soaring diesel prices. The cost of hauling the biomass away has increased by a third just this year.
The Forest Service can leave piles of biomass behind and burn the piles once they dry out. However, leaving the piles in the forest actually increases the risk of a wildfire.
The 200,000-acre Dragon Bravo Fire that last year destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge plus the strenuous lobbying efforts by Eastern Arizona Counties Organization and others finally got the attention of Congress, in the wake of deep staff cuts that have upended Forest Service processing of timber sales.
Kelly flew over the Dragon Fire damage with the Park Service and met with owners of the Kaibab Lodge and Jacob Lake Inn, hearing how the fires had devastated the summer tourism season their businesses depend on.
“Arizona communities know firsthand the toll of wildfires on natural habitats, the economy, and personal lives, especially after the fires at the Grand Canyon last year,” said Kelly. “Thinning the forest is only half the job. This legislation will help get the material left behind out of the forest to prevent more wildfires and support the jobs, businesses, and forest restoration projects so many Arizona families depend on.”
New Mexico has also been hard hit by wildfires.
The legislation is supported by the National Forest Foundation, Eastern Arizona Counties Organization, The Nature Conservancy, Ecological Restoration Institute, Southwest Biochar, Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, Southwest Loggers Association, American Biomass Energy Association, American Loggers Council, National Association of State Foresters, and the National Wild Turkey Federation.
“Removing hazardous fuels is one of the most effective long-term investments we can make for the health and resilience of our nation’s forests,” said Dan Stellar, State Director at The Nature Conservancy in Arizona.
“Hazardous fuels treatment is a proven way to reduce wildfire risk in communities across the country, but the high cost of transporting biomass remains a significant barrier to scaling this work,” said Dieter Fenkart-Froeschl, President & CEO, National Forest Foundation.
“Arizona has already utilized substantial funding from this program to treat hazardous fuels across our state. As we scale up forest treatment activities in the coming years, having dedicated transportation assistance for biomass makes the difference between protecting our forests and leaving hazardous fuel on the ground, waiting to ignite. Senator Kelly’s legislation will keep this program running and help us treat more acres, protect more communities, and build more resilient forests across Arizona,” said Thomas Torres, Director and State Forester, Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
The Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance program was established through the Inflation Reduction Act. The latest action would reauthorize and codify the program to cover transportation of hazardous fuels to processing facilities. It would prioritize projects that would treat hazardous fuels in high-risk fire sheds, support development or expansion of wood processing facilities, and encourage collaboration among industrial, state/local, and/or tribal partners.
This could include the ongoing effort to thin the overgrown, 64,000 watershed of the C.C. Cragin Reservoir, which lies too far from the Snowflake biomass burning plant to make most thinning projects economical. The Salt River Project has been helping subsidize thinning projects on the watershed to protect the C.C. Cragin Reservoir, which supplies both Payson and the Valley with water.