Industry Round Table
Regional roundtables surfaced the key issues surrounding active forest management for wildfire mitigation and the opportunities and the challenges of the local industries.
The USDA Forest Service’s 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy requires millions of tons of biomass to be removed from western forests to reduce risk from fire to communities and infrastructure. Private sector partners, local and state governments, and cross industry sector representatives met at industry roundtables that identified five cross-cutting themes that affect all regions. The key topics ranged from long-term revolutionary changes in Federal investing and procedures to new market development for under-used biomass to deep dives in procurement and contracting. Additionally, a National Forest Industry Roundtable included participants from public and private sector and identified national level themes such as subsidies, authorities, and policy development. Further policy analysis and discussion of the findings from the National roundtable is needed to assess current policy and the instruments needed to affect change.
Resources for the Future, in partnership with the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) and the USDA Forest Service held a National Roundtable in Washington, DC on September 6, 2023. The National Roundtable brings together innovators in the use of woody material, the bioeconomy, conversion technologies, transportation, and energy sectors, to look beyond current capacity and industry capability. The National Roundtable was the culminating event of a series of Regional roundtables held by the Endowment, which emphasized high-risk landscapes as defined by the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. Tribal partners also convened at a tribal-specific roundtable.
These regional roundtables surfaced the key issues surrounding active forest management for wildfire mitigation and the opportunities and the challenges of the local industries. In addition to a presentation of the regional roundtable’s findings, the National Roundtable heard a brief overview of the current state of forest land use and forest product markets. Leaders asked each participant to provide a brief statement on why they agreed to participate in the National Roundtable, with the intention of understanding the various perspectives in the room. The project drew participants from the public and private sectors to form a small group focused on the topic. Participants went into table-top breakout groups of five to six individuals and addressed the following questions through a facilitated discussion. Participants presented the major discussion points from each table in Plenary, after which a full group discussion occurred.
Objectives
Leaders asked roundtable participants the following questions:
- How might the Forest Service and USDA and your organization/sector work together to grow markets and market potential?
- What examples of innovation and needed R&D do you know of but need to be scaled?
- What is the underlying barrier?
Expected Results
A report summarizing the findings from each roundtable is available here. Five dominant themes emerged from the roundtables:
- Road infrastructure Improvement
- Certainty, trust, and credibility
- Workforce development
- New use and market development for under-utilized biomass
- National policy
Geographies and High-Risk Landscapes to be Addressed
A national-level project emphasizing work in high-risk landscapes.
People
Principal Investigators
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Person
William A. Martin, PhD
Assistant Directorhttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/william.martin2 -
Person
Cynthia West
Emeritus Station Directorhttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/cynthia.west