Abstract:
Utilizing woody biomass from public lands may help reduce agency costs, enhance community
wildfire protection, and create employment and economic activity. Yet communities adjacent to
public land often lack the business capacity to harvest and utilize biomass. Businesses face
challenges such as limited access to capital and markets, technical assistance, and inconsistent material
supply. From 2005–2010, the USDA Forest Service’s Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program provided
resources to address these barriers. We evaluated the impacts of this program on business capacity in
eastern Oregon.