When
Biochar Opportunities in the Southwest: Extension Workshop Overview
APRIL 7, 2021, 4:00pm - 5:30pm MDT*: Special Keynote Presentation Tom Miles, United States Biochar Initiative, Executive Director Title: Overview on Biochar in the United States and Southwest
APRIL 8, 2021 9:00am - 12:30pm MDT*: Environmental, Social and Technical Focus on Biochar. Keynote and invited speakers: Dr Deborah Page-Dumroese, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station; Mike Lester, State Forester and Director, Colorado State Forest Service; Darren McAvoy, Extension Assistant Professor of Forestry, Utah State University; and Dr Catherine Brewer, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University.
APRIL 8, 2021 4:00pm - 5:30pm MDT*: Virtual field trip and informal “social” session to network and talk shop.
APRIL 9, 2021 9:00am - 12:30pm MDT*: Economics and Entrepreneurial Focus on Biochar. Keynote and panel speakers: Dr Nathaniel Anderson, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station; Laura Wolf, USFS Region 2, Biomass Coordinator; Forest Product Businesses: Tyson Nicoll, AZ Log & Timberworks; Kelpie Wilson, Wilson Biochar (OR); Gordon West, Troll Works (NM); John Webster, Go Biochar (UT); and Eva Stricker, Carbon Ranch (NM). Panel discussion and breakout sessions to discuss barriers and opportunities to make biochar an economically viable forest product.
* All start times are one hour earlier in Arizona: at 3:00pm or at 8:00am
WORKSHOP GOALS
- Raise awareness about biochar ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration; forest management and forest health concerns; wildfire/WUI risk and smoke impacts on public health.
- Raise awareness for entrepreneurs regarding economies of scale, including micro-scale opportunities; entrepreneurial clusters; markets and supply chains.
- Collect and refine stakeholder input on barriers and opportunities to develop biochar as an economically viable forest product.
AUDIENCE
- Biomass entrepreneurs: Active and potential
- Landowners and managers from: Mining companies, ranches, non-industrial forest lands, state, county, tribal and federal lands, turf industry, landfill/waste management industry, sawmills, horticulture, agriculture
- Potential markets: Wildland restoration, mining restoration, cattle industry, landfill/waste management, soil amendment for turf, saline soils, horticulture and farming
Cost: Free