---------- Forwarded message ---------
From:
Jonathan Fink <jon...@pdx.edu>Date: Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 11:26 PM
Subject: Cascadia Wildfire Webinar panel on biochar, forest management and wildfire
To: PROJ-cascadia-wildfire-webinar-Group <
proj-cascadia-wild...@pdx.edu>
Hello Cascadia Wildfire Webinar participants,
This email repeats some information that many of you received in a calendar invitation yesterday about our upcoming Cascadia Wildfire Webinar on Wednesday January 15 (tomorrow) from 1-2 pm at this link:
https://pdx.zoom.us/j/86574942524:
"Biochar as a byproduct and potential feasibility driver of fire-focused forest management."
Because the Cascadia Wildfire working group has participants with highly varied backgrounds and expertise, many of you (Iike me) may have heard about biochar for years without knowing many details. By sequestering carbon for centuries while greatly enhancing soil fertility, biochar production is one of the most attractive steps society can take to address climate change. Biochar can be generated through pyrolysis at a wide range of scales, from industrial to backyard. Although the technology has been known for millennia, current research is investigating the details of how feedstock composition can influence the suitability of biochar as a supplement for different soil types in different geographic settings.
This week's panel of John Sessions and John Bailey from Oregon State University, Jeremy Fried from the U.S. Forest Service, and Kristin Trippe from the U.S. Agricultural Research Service will bring several different perspectives to a consideration of biochar's relationship to forest management. As many of you are aware, biochar production can reduce wildfire risk by expanding the forest area in which flammable vegetation removal is economically feasible, while sequestering carbon and enhancing forest resilience. By providing an agriculturally valuable soil supplement, biochar production can offer a financial incentive for large-scale forest thinning, with associated climate benefits. Although this potential has long been recognized, implementation at scale has been elusive. Our panel will address the key question of "Why aren't we doing this NOW?"
Please join us for a rare opportunity to explore how a relatively simple and ancient technology can have a major impact on forest management, wildfire mitigation and climate change. A recording of the session will be made available Thursday here.
Resource links:
-- Jonathan Fink
Professor of Geology
Portland State University
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