Forest Service Announces Awards for Woody Biomass Projects in New Mexico and Arizona

Albuquerque, NM Five small businesses in Arizona and New Mexico were awarded biomass grants totalling almost $1.7 million from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. This was part of $4.2 million that was awarded nationally through The Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program. These award recipients are developing ways to create new products and processing to utilize woody biomass from hazardous fuel reduction projects on National Forest land. The grantees in Arizona are: Cooley Forest Products, Phoenix: awarded $350,000 to develop a mobile chipping canter that can make cants in the woods that can go directly to the market, working with the Coconino, Kaibab and Apache-Sigreaves National Forests in Arizona and the Cibola National Forest in New Mexico. Arizona Log and timberworks, Eagar: also awarded $350,000 to expand the pressure treatment plant to use wood preservatives and build round wood guard rail posts and blocks for use along state highways, working with the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. San Carlos Apache Timber Products, San Carlos: awarded $272,770 to install a series of mill upgrades that will increase production capacity at the San Carlos Tribal Mill, working with the Apache-Sitgreaves, Coronado and Tonto National Forests in Arizona. The grantees in New Mexico are: J.L. Shavings, Tularosa: awarded $350,000 to complete a mobile shavings operation that will make bagged shavings for bedding in the woods, working with the Lincoln National Forest. Restoration Solutions, Corona: awarded $350,000 to add mechanized harvesting equipment that will allow the company to move into Ponderosa pine-type forested areas and commerical logging operations, working with the Cibola, Lincoln and Santa Fe National Forests. I am very pleased to see that small businesses in Arizona and New Mexico competed extremely well in this process, stated Southwestern Regional Forester Corbin Newman. There were 185 applications submitted nationally and five of the thirteen grant awardees are in the Southwest, he added. Woody biomass includes small-diameter and low-value wood residue such as tree limbs, tops, needles and bark that are often byproducts of forest management activities. Innovative uses for such biomass can help offset expensive thinning operations and enhance the health and resilience of forest ecosystems. Grant recipients are required to provide at least 20 percent of the total project cost. Non-federal matching funds total more than $9 million. In Arizona, for example, Cooley Forest Products will purchase a mobile canter saw allowing them to process small logs at a forest landing, thereby reducing transportation costs. The Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization grant program was established in 2005 and is administered by the State and Private Forestry, Technology Marketing Unit, at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. The program has provided over $30.6 million toward various projects, ranging from biomass boilers for heating schools and prisons, to helping forest-based businesses acquire equipment to improve processing efficiencies. In total, 123 grants have been awarded to small businesses, non-profits, tribes and state agencies working to improve forest health while promoting jobs, green energy and healthy communities.