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Related Links
Select the subheadings below to expand or contract the lists of related links, or you may Contract All or Expand All.
- USDA Biobased Products and Bioenergy Coordination Council - provides a forum through which USDA agencies will coordinate, facilitate and promote research, development, transfer of technology, commercialization, and marketing of biobased products and Bioenergy using renewable domestic agricultural and forestry materials.
Forest Service
- Partnership Resource Center – National Forest Foundation and USDA Forest Service joint project to provide needed online resources to build vibrant partnerships and effective collaboration for the nation's forests, grasslands, and other special places.
- State and Private Forestry - works with States, private landowners, and other partners to promote healthy forests and livable communities throughout the United States.
Interagency
- Biomass Research and Development Initiative - a multi-agency effort to coordinate and accelerate all Federal biobased products and bioenergy research and development, including the United States Department of Energy and the United States Department of Agriculture.
Community Partnerships
- Four Corners Sustainable Forests Partnership - the Partnership focuses attention and resources on forest restoration and community issues common throughout the region.
- Fuels for Schools and Beyond - a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service State and Private Forestry and the Bitterroot Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Area, Inc. There are currently six state forestry departments participating in this program providing technical and financial assistance to interested parties in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota. Fuels for Schools mission is to promote and encourage the use of woody biomass as a renewable, natural resource to provide a clean, readily available energy source suitable for heat and power generation in public and private buildings; and, to facilitate the removal of hazardous fuels from our forests by assisting in the development of viable commercial uses of removed material.
- Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities Partnership - a collaborative business network with roots in six rural communities of the Pacific Northwest who’s commitment is to restore forest ecosystems and spawn rural economic vitality by growing wood product-related businesses.
- Southern Alliance for the Utilization of Biomass Resources - a Partnership for Rural Development Through the Production of Energy and Chemicals from Forests and Farms in the Southern United States.
- Sustainable Northwest - partners with communities and enterprises to achieve economic, ecological, and community vitality and resilience.
- Western Collaboration Assistance Network - promotes collaborative approaches to natural resource management conflicts by providing a range of expertise to help collaborative efforts get started, work through challenging issues, and demonstrate progress.
- Western Forestry Leadership Coalition - assists family forest-owners, rural and state fire organizations, and community forestry groups to improve forest health, encourage land conservation, and stimulate community economic recovery.
- Western Governor’s Association - addresses important policy and governance issues in the West, advances the role of the Western states in the federal system, and strengthens the social and economic fabric of the region.
Forest Service
- Eastern Forest Threat Center – provides the latest research and expertise on issues such as insects and disease, wildland loss, invasive species, uncharacteristic fire and climate change, to assist land owners, managers and scientists in detecting and predicting future threats to their land.
- Forest Products Laboratory – conducts research on expanded and diverse aspects of wood use. Research concentrates on pulp and paper products, housing and structural uses of wood, wood preservation, wood and fungi identification, and finishing and restoration of wood products.
- Forest Service Research and Development – Resource Valuation and Use Research - provides methods to identify and evaluate economically efficient management practices and strategies on public and private lands. Values for renewable resources and their uses are essential in resolving land use and resource allocation problems.
- Forest Service Technology and Development Program - aimed at applying technology and equipment to improve business practices and at keeping employees safe while working in a forest environment.
- Northeastern Area Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC)- facilitates interaction and information exchange with the forest products industry to enhance opportunities for sustained forest products production in the eastern hardwood forest region of the United States.
- Pacific Northwest Research Station Alaska Wood Utilization Research and Development Center - has a statewide mission to evaluate opportunities for the wood products community by working closely with business owners, forest managers, and other resource professionals in Alaska to identify the most important research and technology transfer needs.
- Pacific Northwest Research Station Ecologically Sustainable Production of Forest Resources - conducts research on characteristics of forest products and the analysis, design, and implementation of forest management activities.
- Southern Research Station Forest Operations Research – Biomass Research - researches topic areas related to: biomass harvesting systems; economic analysis; bundling; individual machines; proto-type machines; energy wood chipping systems; environmental considerations; short rotation woody crop production; and drying, storing, transporting and roll splitting.
- Southern Research Station: Short Rotation of Wood Crops - The Short Rotation Woody Crops Cooperative Research Program is working to identify appropriate cropping systems to provide feedstocks to meet industry requirements in a sustainable manner that will enhance environmental quality and promote renewable alternatives.
- State and Private Forestry, Technology Marketing Unit - provides technical assistance
for improving utilization and marketing of forest products.
- Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center - generates and integrates knowledge and information to provide credible prediction, early detection, and quantitative assessment of environmental threats in the western United States.
Interagency
Universities
- Colorado State University, Colorado State Utilization Colorado Wood Utilization & Marketing Program - an effort to conduct research and extension efforts that assist the Colorado forest products industry in meeting its needs in the areas of wood science, manufacturing, and marketing.
- Consortium for Research on Renewable Materials - provides a database of information for quantifying environmental impacts and economic costs of wood building materials through the stages of tree planting, growing, product manufacturing, building construction, and its operational use and demolition.
- Oregon State University, Oregon Wood Innovation Center - improves the competitiveness of Oregon’s wood products industry by fostering innovation in products, processes, and business systems.
- Oregon State University, Western Juniper Commercialization Project - a focus group to identify critical issues from a manufacturer's perspective, potential areas of cooperation, and who could consider working together with the Forest Service, and other government and non-profit economic development organizations.
- SunGrant Initiative - a concept to solve America's energy needs and revitalize rural communities with land-grant university research, education, and extension programs on renewable energy and biobased, non-food industries.
- University of Minnesota, Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering – integrate engineering, science, technology and management for sustainable use of renewable resources and enhancement of the environment.
- University of Washington, Forest Systems & Bio-Energy Program - focuses on integrating small-scale, mobile, wood biomass chemical conversion to liquid fuel systems with emerging technologies in the renewable-energy sector (hydrogen fuel cells).
- Washington State University, Wood Material and Engineering Laboratory - Washington State University's wood plastic composite website and blog center.
- FIA Biosum - explores the financial feasibility of landscape scale fuel treatments that reduce fire hazard, leave healthy and sustainable residual forests, and generate both wood products and sub-merchantable woody material suitable as feedstocks to biomass-to-energy generating stations.
- Coordinated Resource Offering Protocol (In progress)
- Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) National Program - reports on status and trends in forest area and location; in the species, size, and health of trees; in total tree growth, mortality, and removals by harvest; in wood production and utilization rates by various products; and in forest land ownership.
- Forest Products Measurement - coordinates biometric activities for the National Forests throughout the nation.
- Forest Vegetation Simulator - the USDA Forest Service's nationally supported framework for forest growth and yield modeling.
- My Fuel Treatment Planner - a user-friendly spreadsheet application that provides a way to think through options and questions and to calculate cost or net revenue of treatments and fuel surface loads following treatment.
- Using Financial Analysis to Assess the Feasibility of Implementation of Ecosystem Management - information about all aspects of operations involved in ecosystem management treatments needed to implement ecosystem management and to avoid the expense of preparing timber sales for which there are no buyers.
State Supply Links
General
- Climate Change Resource Center (CCRC) - a reference Web site for resource managers and decisionmakers who need information and tools to address climate change in planning and project implementation on lands in the West.
- Fuels for Schools- a venture between public schools, State Foresters, and Regional Foresters of the Forest Service to helps public schools retrofit their current fuel or gas heating system to small-scale biomass heating systems.
- Renewable Electric Plant Information System – provides information on renewable energy plants and installed capacity for energy planners, policy makers, and others interested in renewable energy.
Stewardship Contracting
- Forest Service Stewardship Contracting - includes natural resource management practices seeking to promote a closer working relationship with local communities in a broad range of activities that improve land conditions.
- Land Stewardship Demonstration Contracts, Region 1 - projects focused on achieving desired future resource conditions rather than meeting assigned output targets, and contribute to the development of sustainable rural communities.
Other Government
- Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration - provides policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses to promote sound policy-making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.
- Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory - the U.S. Department of Energy's premier laboratory for renewable energy research and development and a lead lab for energy efficiency R&D.
- Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Biomass Program - develops technology for conversion of biomass (plant-derived material) to valuable fuels, chemicals, materials and power, so as to reduce dependence on foreign oil and foster growth of biorefineries.
- Healthy Forests and Rangelands - provides fire, fuels, and land management information to government officials, land and fire management professionals, businesses, communities, and other interested organizations and individuals.
- Joint Fire Sciences Project - provides scientific information and support for fuel and fire management programs.
- USDA Energy - provides comprehensive information on energy-related programs, funding opportunities, and technical support across all USDA agencies and offices.
- American Council on Renewable Energy - works to bring all forms of renewable energy into the mainstream of America's economy and lifestyle.
- Biomass Energy Resource Center - an independent, non-profit organization established by public and private sector leaders to assist in the development of biomass energy projects. across the US and around the world.
- Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy - developing alternative economic models that include clean sources of energy such as wind power and biofuel that would spur rural development while working with landowners to form cooperatives that promote sustainable forest management.
- Center for Resourceful Building Technology - promotes environmentally responsible practices in construction.
- Community Forestry Resource Center - promotes responsible forest management by encouraging the long-term health and prosperity of small, privately-owned woodlots, their owners and their communities.
- Council of Energy Resource Tribes - founded by Indian Tribes to chart a new course of prudent development that would address Tribal priorities and values while contributing to a more secure energy future for all Americans.
- The Forest Guild - The Forest Guild includes field foresters and associated land stewards whose work is broadly acknowledged as providing tangible examples of sustainable forestry. The common bond of Guild members is a passion for forests and for land stewardship. The practice of conservation forestry and the promotion of a stewardship ethic are the heart and soul of the Guild.
- A Market-Based Approach to Community Wood Energy: An Opportunity for Consulting Foresters (PDF, 136 KB) - A report released (November 2008) by the Forest Guild identifies the benefits of community wood energy for rural communities and highlights the central role consulting foresters can play in successful projects. The report utilizes lessons learned from Forest Guild community wood energy pilot projects in Bristol, Vermont and the Mahoosuc Region of Maine and New Hampshire as well as from discussions with Forest Guild members. The report defines a role in these community projects for consulting foresters to develop local networks of family forest landowners to supply wood fuel that is Sustainable, Efficient, Local, and Fair (SELF). In addition to consulting foresters, this report may also be of interest to landowners, policy makers, and community activists.
- Biomass from Forests - The Forest Guild’s Research Program received a grant in September 2007 from the Joint Fire Sciences Program to undertake a year long investigation of biomass removal projects to uncover strategies and techniques that managers across the country are using to successfully implement ecologically sound biomass projects. The investigation will be based on case studies of actual, on-the-ground projects covering a broad range of project objectives, treatment techniques, and prescriptions.
- Forest Products Society - provides a variety of publications and conference opportunities for furthering member research and goals in order to support information exchange on the use of wood and wood-fiber resources.
- Sustainable Science – advances sustainable science through creating innovative, knowledge-based added-value applications for presently unused or misused natural resources.
- Timber Mart-South (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia) - compiles and publishes Timber Mart-South Quarterly Reports, a brief, quarterly report of the market for raw forest products in 11 southern states.
- U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities, Inc. - The U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities, Inc. (Endowment) is a newly organized not-for-profit corporation established at the request of the governments of the United States and Canada in accordance with the terms of the Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) between the two countries.
- Wallowa Resources (Oregon) - a non-profit group strives to balance Wallowa County’s (Washington) economic well-being and the proper use of its resources, preserving the area’s heritage of making a living from the land.
- Warm Springs Forest Products Industry (Oregon) - maximizes the value of the forest resource for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs through product sales and manufacturing.
- WoodFuel.com - aggregates quality WoodFuel from a growing network of suppliers and delivers this supply as a renewable energy resource to the fuel buying community.
- WWW Virtual Library: Forestry - an online directory for academic and educational links.
- California Association of Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Councils - provides leadership among trade associations, citizens groups, and government entities who share an interest in the proper development and use of the finite and regenerative resources within the RC&Ds of this Association.
- Colorado Biomass Information Clearinghouse – provides information on Colorado biomass resources, initiatives, reports, and industry contacts; biomass conferences and events; funding sources; legislation and policies; and local opportunities for buyers and sellers of biomass.
- Colorado Forest Products - marketing and utilitization of small-diameter wood products resulting from forest restoration and fuels reduction efforts in Colorado.
- Montana Biomass Energy Program - assists in commercial development of biomass, develops, demonstrates and brings to the marketplace new bioenergy technologies; and provides technical assistance, information development, and information to local business, government, and industry.
- Montana Community Development Center, Wood Utilization & Marketing Network - helps entrepreneurs develop new commercial uses for a growing supply of small diameter and underutilized timber.
- Montana Wood Products Association - voice for the wood products industry with the media, state government, legislature, and the public.
- New Mexico Biomass Information Clearinghouse – promotes the application of biomass energy resources in the state.
- Oregon Biomass Coordinating Group - coordinate agency roles in biomass market development and electricity generation detailed in Oregon’s Renewable Energy Action Plan.
- Oregon Department of Energy, Biomass Energy - ensures Oregon has an adequate supply of reliable and affordable energy and is safe from nuclear contamination, by helping Oregonians save energy, develop clean energy resources, promote renewable energy, and clean up nuclear waste.
- Oregon Small Woodlands Association - provides opportunity to family Forest land owners via networking, education, idea generation and advocacy.
- International Energy Agency - acts as energy policy advisor to 26 Member countries in their effort to ensure reliable, affordable, and clean energy for their citizens.
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