Wood & Biomass Utilization

Advancing markets and innovation in wood products and biomass utilization that support forest restoration, wildfire risk reduction, and community resilience

What is the Wood & Biomass Utilization Program?

Scalable, sustainable markets for wood and biomass are needed to support forest management and restoration activities across all forest lands in California, Hawai’i, and the United States Affiliated Pacific Islands. The goal of the Region 5 Wood and Biomass Utilization Program is to help retain and expand competitive and resilient wood products markets to help accomplish forest restoration objectives, support local communities with jobs and economic value, and create useful products from woody material through grant funding, technical assistance, and collaborations with researchers, industry, state agencies, non-profits, and other partners.

Our Work

  • National Bioenergy Day 2022

    a group of people standing around outside an industrial facility

    On October 19th, over 20 people gathered in North Fork, California for a tour of North Fork Community Power, a community-scale bioenergy facility that expects to come online in 2023.

  • 2022 Funded Projects

    a log processing facility with conveyor belts and large machinery, mulch, and logs

    Since 2004, Region 5 has invested over $40 million in grants for wood and biomass utilization projects throughout California and Hawaii. In 2022, the region awarded $7.6 million to 21 projects through the Wood Innovations and Community Wood programs.

    Read the Press Release

  • Wood Processing Facilities Database

    map of wood processing facilities in California with a list of their names and status

    In partnership with UC Berkeley and CAL FIRE, we support the California Wood Processing and Bioenergy Facilities Database, which provides an up-to date information about existing wood processing facilities in California.

    Explore the Database

Partners

Wood and biomass utilization projects often need multiple sources of funding and support to succeed. Our partners have many useful resources to share including grant and loan funding opportunities, innovative research, and technical assistance on woody biomass utilization.

Resources

To keep you in the know, here are some resources about: