policy of the cellulosic part of the Energy Bill, and so we’re working hard to try and get that turned around a bit.” At public meetings, KL Process President Dave Litzen has said the biomass in the Black Hills National Forest slash piles could produce 30 million gallons of ethanol. It’s difficult to find anyone who is opposed to using federal forest biomass for energy. Representatives from the South Dakota Chapter of the Sierra Club have said that the national Sierra Club and the local chapter don’t oppose using wood waste from the national forests for energy. However, they don’t want the Black Hills National Forest to be used a as a fuel farm; any biomass gathered for alternative fuel should be done within the existing forest management plan. Headquartered in Rapid City, the Black Hills Forest Resource Association is a nonprofit membership-supported organization devoted to improving forest management, decision-making and policies on the Black Hills National Forest. BHFRA members support protecting the Black Hills’ forest environment while maintaining its relationship with dependent communities and economies. BHFRA Director Tom Troxel says the association supports HersethSandlin’s bill. “When the loggers are logging, they bring the trees into the landing where the tops and limbs are cut off,” he says. “And so we have these great big piles at every landing. For the most part they are just burned and there’s nobody that wants them left in the woods. The wildlife biologists don’t want those piles left at the landings. If those [slash piles] were all left in the woods, it would be a fire hazard and really, anything that we can do now that would encourage any sort of utilization of that is common sense. If we can utilize it rather than burn it, then I think it benefits all around.” As more companies around the country research the use of wood waste as an economical alternative fuel source, Troxel says he would like to see federal policy support for that. “I’d like to see
federal energy policy such that it would encourage use of these piles,” he says. “It’s an economic benefit and it fits into the whole energy independence a lot of folks are thinking about for the United States. If there’s a way that we can produce this energy here at home with our own resources, that’s a plus.” Troxel says for the foreseeable future there is energy potential from the biomass supply in the Black Hills National Forest. “I think there’s going to be an ongoing and continuous need for forest manage-
ment in the Black Hills,” he says. ”What I foresee for management strategies and logging systems is that there will be slash piles for a long time into the future that will be available for some sort of utilization.” BIO Hope Deutscher is the Biomass Magazine online editor. Reach her at hdeutscher @bbibiofuels.com or (701) 373-0636.
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