BLM-Utah Biomass Resources Partnership Project

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BLM Utah is seeking a partner under the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Unit to give students and faculty an opportunity to be exposed to a well rounded and functioning collaborative group. This group will facilitate the utilization of biomass, assist in establishing a biomass market, generate community support, add to the local economy, and help meet forest and woodland health and management goals. Additionally, this will help land management agencies provide a leading role in fulfilling goals for a new energy economy based on a rapid and responsible move to large-scale production of solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy. This collaborative effort is in direct support of the BLM draft biomass strategy. Opportunities for biomass utilization in BLM Utah are great; however, currently available markets and costs associated with removing/hauling material make small scale utilization profit negligible. In many instances, in regard to restoration treatments, biomass utilization as opposed to mastication or burning can be viewed as financially impractical while the overall ecosystem and carbon benefit of biomass removal is greater.

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