A 20-member working group released a report on February 11, 2008 that identifies a potential supply of up to 850 million cubic feet of wood byproducts and 8 million tons of biomass from 2.4-million acres of forest in northern Arizona. This is the first document to provide detailed information about the amount and type of wood supply that could be available from thinning Arizona’s ponderosa pine forests.

Forest thinning can promote ecosystem health and reduce the risk of unnaturally severe wildfire. The resultant wood and biomass can be used for commercial uses, such as firewood, poles, lumber, and mulch, thereby reducing thinning treatment costs and providing economic opportunities.

The group that convened to create the Wood Supply Analysis report included environmental non-governmental organizations, private forest industries, local government, the Ecological Restoration Institute, and state and federal land and resource management agencies. During the course of seven workshops sponsored by Northern Arizona University’s Forest Ecosystem Restoration Analysis (ForestERA), geographic and spatial data were used to examine potential treatment scenarios for the area of primarily national forest lands from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, across the Mogollon Plateau, to the Arizona-New Mexico state line. The group reached a consensus that 41 percent of the area studied contained available wood and biomass resources. They also agreed that 26 percent of the area was not appropriate for thinning. There was a high level of agreement, but not consensus, that the remaining 33 percent of the forest could produce some wood byproducts and biomass from mechanical thinning treatments.

The results of this study will be used to assist in the development of multi-year forest stewardship contracts to new commercial interests, and to supply wood fiber to existing local wood product businesses.

"The wood supply analysis was a precedent-setting exercise that brought together a broad group of stakeholders to determine the amount of wood that should be made available through mechanical thinning. The business sector has repeatedly stated that assurance of wood supply from federal lands is a necessary prerequisite before private investors will commit to creating wood-based industries. By determining how much supply is available from good restoration treatments first, this project sets the stage for an appropriate level of private business activity that will serve forest management, not determine it."
- Diane Vosick, Associate Director, ERI

The Woody Supply Analysis report is available online. An executive summary of the report is available online.