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Colorado Tree Farmers are a network of land- owners that share forestry resources.

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Landowners who become certified Tree Farmers in 2009 will receive the Colorado Tree Farmers forest management manual, Saving Your Forest.

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Save Your Forest, Save the World!
by Wes Rutt

In recent months, President Bush, Governor Ritter and many others have expressed the need to promote renewable energy. Various sources of renewable energy are being suggested including solar, wind, geothermal, corn and other biomass. Each of these sources has advantages in different situations and all of them will probably find a place within Colorado's renewable energy efforts.

In Colorado, however, there is an abundant and almost entirely untapped energy resource the use of which could not only provide many of the advantages that the other sources provide, but could also improve the safety and health of thousands of Colorado residents and enhance tourism at the same time.

I'm talking about the use of forest biomass. Every year thousands of tons of wood are amassed from wildfire mitigation efforts, Mountain Pine Beetle infestation control, or blow downs, etc. Much of this wood has little commercial value. However, if it is not removed from the forest it increases the risk of destructive, life-threatening, and enormously expensive wildfires, and provides a breeding ground for even more destructive insect infestations. Plus dead trees are an eyesore that visitors to our state find unappealing. So, every year around this time, the US Forest Service, State Forest Service and numerous private forest landowners pile up tons of potentially useful fuel and burn it in open fires. This not only wastes a potential energy source, it pollutes our air creating a health hazard.

On the other hand, Boulder County and a few other counties and local municipalities have recognized that the technology exists to use forest biomass as a clean, economical, and locally renewable fuel to heat public buildings. Boulder Parks and Open Space has already built a facility that uses fuel in the form of wood chips produced from forest waste amassed during wildfire mitigation work on their open space property. see: Biomass Tour This is not new and untested technology. School districts, counties and municipalities around the country have been using forest biomass successfully for some years, see The Best Thing to do with Colorado's Greatest Natural Resource - Burn It?

But clean, economical heating of public buildings isn't the only productive use for forest biomass. In addition, there is a huge effort underway to develop cellulosic ethanol. It is estimated that by 2012 Colorado universities in collaboration with the NREL will have developed a commercially viable way to produce ethanol from cellulose. When cellulose becomes a viable source for ethanol there will be an enormous demand for it and, as mentioned, Colorado, using sustainable forestry practices, has an abundant, renewable source that is presently going to waste.

As with solar, wind or any alternative energy source, it is useless to have it unless a reliable, efficient and economical infrastructure to supply it to the public is available. The Colorado State Tree Farm Committee is currently working with potential suppliers of forest biomass throughout the state to organize such an infrastructure but they need your help.

If you are a forest landowner, if you're involved in municipal, county or state government, or if you are a businessman trying to reduce your energy costs, you could play a meaningful role in reducing global warming, reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy, and reducing the danger of devastating wildfire, while you improve the health and long term sustainability of one of our greatest natural resources. If you think that is worth a little of your time and energy, please write wes@treefarmer.com for specific details.

Thanks for your time,
Wes Rutt
Forest Biomass Chair, Colorado State Tree Farm Committee


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