Nonprofit finds hope against wildfires with unexpected ally: charcoal

Photo: Tom McCoy, cofounder of C6 Forest to Farm, with sawmill dust that the nonprofit is using as feedstock to start up its pyrolyzer.  Tim Matsui / InvestigateWest. Article by Mandy Godwin. Grist – September 17, 2021.

To capture carbon and jumpstart forest thinning, Methow Valley couple – and Washington taxpayers – bet on biochar.

“We don’t live in the Methow anymore,” says Gina McCoy. “We live in Mordor.”

By the last week of July, there were fires burning on both sides of the Methow River. Air quality was bad enough to make the national news. In better times, Central Washington’s Methow Valley is a destination for world-class climbing, hiking and skiing. It’s remote. It’s beautiful. But like much of the West, it’s increasingly aflame. […]

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