Sustainable woody bioenergy: a new organizational foundation for forestry in the intermountain west

Abstract

The intermountain west region is experiencing a foundational change in the way it approaches forestry. Sustainable woody bioenergy is playing a central role in the reshaping as old organizing approaches no longer work. The lens in which we view forestry is moving from one dominated by government control, timber and a strong private industry to one with a mix of private sector and civic sector entities stepping up to meet declining public sector capacities and investments. A “sweet spot” is forming around collaborative community-scaled woody bioenergy which enables agreement between communities, industry, stakeholders and government. Public policy intervention is needed and single policy tool solutions will not be able to navigate these multi-variable fields. Successful sustainable woody bioenergy development will require a system and combination of new and existing tools. This paper explores many of these tools by integrating perspectives from around the intermountain west to form a regional outlook.