Great minds (air)burn alike: In-woods biochar production continues to draw a varied crowd of practitioners

On a cold, overcast day on the Umpqua National Forest, dozens of individuals gathered in the forest around the CharBoss® to watch a slash pile transform into biochar. As the CharBoss® burned through its work, the crowd learned about biochar from Debbie Page-Dumroese, senior soil scientist with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, and Jim Archuleta, former Forest Service forester and one of the key creators behind the CharBoss®.

Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service photo by Natalie Cooper

The Rocky Mountain Research Station together with the Umpqua National Forest hosted the CharBoss® demonstration in Oregon in December 2023. Representatives from federal, state, and local organizations came to see the CharBoss® in action.

The CharBoss® is an in-woods machine that burns unmerchantable woody biomass to convert it into biochar. Air Burners, Inc., a private company based in Florida, worked closely with Forest Service scientists and managers to design and manufacture the CharBoss®, under a USDA Cooperative Research and Development Agreement and a patent. The team gave on-site demonstrations of the CharBoss® in Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, and Oregon during the past year.

At each of these demonstrations, practitioners from different areas of expertise come together to learn more about biochar. Private developers, researchers, Congressional staffers, Tribal members, and other federal agency representatives have all gathered to see the CharBoss® in action and discuss how biochar can benefit the work they do. The demonstration on the Umpqua was no exception.

Biochar can be used to improve soil health and soil water holding capacity, remediate pollutants, and even store carbon. Making biochar instead of burning slash created from fuels reduction projects is a viable and important alternative.   With its various uses and benefits, there is something for everyone when incorporating biochar into forest management activities.