Wood Innovations Program

The Wood Innovations Program stimulates, expands, and supports U.S. wood products markets and wood energy markets to support the long-term management of National Forest System and other forest lands. Focus areas include mass timber, renewable wood energy, and technological development that supports hazardous fuel reduction and sustainable forest management.

If you are looking to get involved or have questions about the competitive grant programs, our team can help.

Wood for Good

Wood products stacked at a local mill

Wood is the only naturally renewable building material and when harvested from forests that are managed sustainably, as they are in the USA, forest products and markets can help protect and promote healthy forests, wildlife, and recreation opportunities by keeping forests as forests. Wood innovations program works to support not just public lands but all forested lands including state, private and tribal forests. Our work is often in rural areas where the forestry industry is a vital component of the local community and economy. Markets for forest products not only help lower the cost of forest management and support sustainable healthy forests but healthy forest communities.

Forest Management is made possible by Forest Product Markets

Mass Timber | Woody Biomass | Wood Energy | Biochar

Mass Timber

open area showcasing wood materials made of Mass Timber Mass Timber is a growing building technology that uses massive amounts of wood, assembled together in large panels, for it’s structural components and has all the design characteristics to be used in tall building construction. Since it is a naturally green, renewable resource it can help to lower greenohouse gas emissions in the building sector, since it’s embodied carbon is lower than traditional building materials like steel and concrete.

The wood innovations grant programs have supported projects and invested in the mass timber sector partnering with architects, engineers, universities, researchers, industry groups, and non-profits to promote and invest in this emerging industry. Learn more about Mass Timber.

Photo: The Waechter Architecture Commons features cross-laminated timber walls and decking, glue-lam beams, and durable concrete floors with radiant heating and cooling, and integrated power and data. Credit: Lara Swimmer.

Woody Biomass Utilization

Supporting markets for low value material supports hazardous fuels reduction, ecological restoration projects, and forest health. Utilizing wood waste, whether from the mill or forest, makes good business and environmental sense. We have invested in business that utilize lower value material and produce posts and poles, custom sawn lumber, firewood, beauty barks, and mulches.

The USDA Forest Service wood innovation program has funding opportunities to support businesses, industries, and technologies that utilize low value wood.

Log yard at WyEast, USDA Forest Service photo.

Wood Energy

Wood biomass energy can lower greenhouse gas emissions by replacing fossil fuel systems. In the Pacific Northwest most of the bioenergy systems are located at wood processing facilities that have a need to use their wood waste, converting that wood to energy is an economical and environmentally beneficial way to use wood to generate energy. Wood energy systems can support forest management by providing a market for lower value material, smaller trees, too often the woody debris from harvest operations are piled and burned on site.

The national wood innovations team has retained an expert team of consulting wood energy experts that can provide free, no-cost, detailed techo-economic assessments to recommend and explore low cost options for wood energy systems.

The community wood grant program has funding to support thermally led wood energy projects.

Wood Energy Technical Assistance Team

The Wood Energy Technical Assistance Team is part of the technical assistance provided by the USDA Forest Service through the Wood Education and Resource Center. The Team helps public and private sector facility owners evaluate and develop community-scale projects that use woody biomass for heat energy or for both heat and power throughout the United States. These renewable energy projects utilize local, sustainably harvested wood; wood residues; and wood wastes to offset the use of fossil fuels, saving owners money while reducing net greenhouse gas emissions and boosting local economies.

One of the key products that the Wood Energy Technical Assistance Team can provide is a business grade pre-feasibility study for organizations or businesses that need a high-level assessment of a proposed wood-to-energy project. A pre-feasibility study can be essential when seeking project financing or when applying for grant funding from programs such as the Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Funding Opportunity and Community Wood programs.

Wood Energy Technical Assistance Team Contact: Lew McCreery, Wood Energy Technical Assistance Team Leader, USDA Forest Service, lew.mccreery@usda.gov, 304-285-1538

Biochar

Biochar is a stable solid, rich in carbon that is made from organic waste material or biomass that is partially combusted in the presence of limited oxygen. It can be used to sequester carbon and improve water holding capacity on certain landscapes. It can be made from low value wood waste, and marketed as a soil amendment to increase crop yields and increase water holding potential. We are working with United States Biochar Initiative to promote and expand markets for biochar.

Competitive grant program

Do I qualify? How do I apply?

Our Pacific Northwest Wood Innovations Program is able to provide wood innovations grants through several different agency programs, and we can provide technical assistance to help work through a problem or help achieve a goal.

Find Grant Funding opportunities are posted on the national Forest Service Wood Innovations website.