State Foresters view forests as a strategic national resource of vital importance to meeting the nation’s economic, environmental, and energy needs. Biomass from the nation’s public and private forests can and must be part of any solution to meeting the nation’s renewable energy goals, particularly in regions where solar, wind, and other renewable resources are less prevalent.

As natural resource professionals and directors of forestry agencies in all U.S. states and territories, State Foresters have a special responsibility and commitment to ensuring the sustainability of the forest resource. NASF members approved the policy statement, "Forest Biomass Supply, Sustainability and Carbon Policy," by resolution in September 2010 to inform, demonstrate and justify the important and strategic role the nation's forests can play in meeting national goals for renewable energy and fuels development. 

NASF Recommendations for Renewable Energy-Related Legislation and Regulations

Significant potential exists for the expansion of renewable energy from the combustion of forest biomass. This expansion will only occur if federal renewable energy policies are structured in a way to encourage the sustainable use of forest biomass now and into the future. To that end, NASF offers the following recommendations as Congress and the Administration consider legislation and regulations addressing the role of forest biomass in meeting renewable energy mandates:

Greenhouse Gases and Wood-based Bioenergy Development

• Congress and EPA should rely on an accounting framework for carbon emissions that monitors forest carbon stocks at the regional or national level. This is consistent with current reporting obligations of the U.S. under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• Further investments should be made in the USDA Forest Service-Forest Inventory and Analysis program in order to provide accurate monitoring of potential impacts on the nation's carbon stocks through the use of forest biomass for energy.

Forest Biomass Supplies

• Woody biomass including (but not limited to) logging residues, residues from forest or manufacturing operations, byproducts of fuels reduction and forest health and restoration treatments, clean construction debris, urban wood waste, byproducts of land clearing (e.g., for utility right-of-ways, roads) and debris from landscaping firms should all be considered as eligible materials for renewable energy incentives and renewable electricity credits (RECs) under a federal RES.
• Thermal energy and energy produced through CHP technologies should be eligible for renewable energy incentives and RECs in a federal renewable electricity standard.
• RECs or other incentives should be awarded for the electrical equivalent amount of thermal energy generated in CHP applications and should be set in a way that maintains a level playing field between existing and new bioenergy facilities.
• In areas with sustainable supplies of biomass and no realistic CHP opportunities, incentives should recognize and encourage use of biomass for the most efficient use.
• The existing forest products industry should receive equal treatment for utilizing biomass to produce renewable energy. RECs and other incentives should be available to all qualifying facilities regardless of products produced.
• Congress should allow the issuance of renewable electricity credits (RECs) and credits for renewable fuels production (RFS RINs) from biomass sourced from federal lands that are harvested consistent with federal law and each national forest's land and resource management plan.

• Congress and/or the Administration should provide a reliable supply of biomass by addressing contractual barriers (i.e. cancellation ceiling requirements) which limit the use of long-term stewardship contracts on federal lands.

Forest Sustainability and Biomass Harvests

• Renewable energy legislation should allow biomass from private forests that are managed consistent with a Forest Stewardship Plan or equivalent approved by the State Forester to be considered an eligible feedstock for renewable energy incentives and RECs.
• The responsibility for assuring that procurement practices are consistent with the legal and regulatory framework of the applicable state should reside with bioenergy facilities (and not individual landowners and other suppliers of biomass).
• Federal policy should affirm the leadership role of State Foresters in protecting and managing nonfederal forests and commit federal funding to support new responsibilities assumed by state forestry agencies that involve ensuring the sustainability of biomass harvests.

Meeting the nation's renewable energy goals will require significant contributions from all renewable energy sources including wind, solar, biomass and other renewables from all regions of the country. Burning wood, plants and other organic material already constitutes 50% of all renewable energy produced in the United States, yet biomass-particularly from the nation's forests-can contribute significantly more. It is essential for Congress and the Administration to demonstrate their commitment to domestic energy production, green job creation, and national security by sending clear signals regarding the significant role forest biomass can play in meeting the nation's renewable energy goals.

 Forest Biomass Supply, Sustainability and Carbon Policy statement

25x'25 Alliance

The goal of the 25x'25 Alliance is for America's farms, ranches and forests to provide 25 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States by the year 2025. The 25x'25 Wood-to-Energy Work Group developed working recommendations for use in informing policy makers on key issues surrounding the use of wood for renewable energy. The recommednations in the group's "National Wood-to-Energy Roadmap" target issues including insuring sustainability, increasing supplies of wood, a simple scientific biomass definition, and the need for accurate data.

25x'25 National Wood-to-Energy Roadmap

Issues in the Forest

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities and the National Association of State Foresters have a shared interest in advancing sustainable forestry in the U.S. This brief is intended to inform public dialogue on sustainable markets and forests:

Issues in the Forest: Torrefaction, A Woody Biomass Companion to Coal