An earth friendly company brings a green energy facility to New Mexico

By Sharon Villegas, on March 30th, 2011

Forest Energy Corporation announces plans to open a renewable energy fuel plant in Northern New Mexico. The plant which will operate under the name New Mexico Fuels will produce fuel, primarily for thermal energy, in the form of wood pellets. The company has entered into a long term lease for the old Duke City sawmill site just north of Espanola.  The drying system is in place on site and the balance of the modular plant will be delivered by mid-summer.   New Mexico Fuels, a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest Energy Corporation anticipates that the 40,000 ton per year plant will be in operation by late summer.   “With the increase in transportation costs in part due to rising diesel prices, we needed to provide additional production closer to our customers in Colorado and New Mexico in order to assure them with the best value,” Forest Energy Corporation President Rob Davis said. “Although the markets have been very slow to grow, the new facility has a strong base of existing customers and will provide potential for additional growth.” The wood pellets currently produced by Forest Energy at their Show Low, AZ plant are sold in big box stores such as Home Depot, Costco, Ace Hardware and Lowes as well as many independent hearth product dealers throughout the west and southwest; including California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.

The pellets will be created, in large part, from wood residue collected from forest restoration projects.    Pellets create a clean alternative energy source to tens of thousands of homes in the southwest and hundreds of thousands across the country. Renewable biomass thermal energy offers benefits for forest health management, local energy supply, fossil fuel conservation as well as carbon reduction and rural economic growth. Forest Energy Corporation is also a provider of biomass boiler systems for heating larger commercial and institutional buildings.

Forest Energy Corporation has been producing pellets and serving the southwest since 1992 with their Heat’rs, TerrAmigo and Greentree brands that will now be produced in New Mexico. For more information on Forest Energy Corporation, visit www.forestenergy.com.

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The White Mountain Stewardship Project provides healthy forests and greener lives

By Sharon Villegas, on October 7th, 2010

Greer, AZ - After Thinning Treatment

In 2004, partially as a result of the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski wildfire, the USDA Forest Service awarded Future Forest LLC with the White Mountain Stewardship Project (WMSP). The White Mountain Stewardship Project is the first 10-year contract of its kind in the nation. Its emphasis on large-scale forest restoration has resulted in healthier forests, protection for local communities, enhanced rural development, and the use of previously unmarketable small diameter trees.

Under the direction of the United States Forest Service, the White Mountain Stewardship Project has thinned more than 40,000 acres in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest since 2004, dramatically reducing the threat of fires. In addition, it aims to use all residual tree fiber, reducing the need for residual pile burning in the forest and its accompanying costs, and increasing local community jobs.

The White Mountain Stewardship project is attributed to an average of 319 jobs directly and indirectly (226 direct and 93 indirect), and contributing an estimated $40 million dollars to the local communities with investments, expenditures and tax revenues.  Along with these jobs, the wood residue collected during the thinning, is being used, in large part, for green products including for renewable energy in the form of electricity and thermal energy.

Forest Energy, located in Show Low, utilizes the chipped and dried wood to create thermal energy in the form of wood pellets which are sold in big box stores, such as Home Depots, Costco, Ace stores and Lowes as well as many independent hearth products dealers throughout the west and southwest; including California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. The wood pellets create a clean alternative energy source to tens of thousands of homes in the Southwest and hundreds of thousands across the country. The pellets are also being utilized by commercial buildings for heating, including the Eagar Town Hall which is heated by a boiler that uses only wood pellets.

 The Snowflake White Mountain Power Plant, located near Snowflake, Arizona, began providing clean power from organic waste back in 2008. This 24 MW biomass plant purchases the wood waste from the White Mountain Stewardship Project. The use of this wood along with local green waste sites and recycled paper sludge from an adjacent newsprint mill is used to generate enough electricity to power 24,000 homes. 

“This stewardship project is a win, win solution for everyone. We remove smaller diameter ponderosa pines which act as fuel for a wildfire and leave the larger trees giving them room to grow and thrive,” said Future Forest Partner Dwayne Walker. “So, in essence we are helping sustain a healthy forest and in the process, providing green products and supporting the economies of two of the poorest counties in Arizona.”

Many  other  green businesses utilize the wood residue from the White Mountain Stewardship Project,  including Reidhead Lumber who produces products that are incorporated in green building and High Country Green Waste who takes in the wood waste and turns it into mulch, just to name a few.

For more information on green businesses involved in the White Mountain Stewardship Project, visit the Northern Arizona Wood Products Association at www.nawpa.org. For more information about White Mountain Stewardship project visit www.futureforest.info or follow us at www.twitter.com/whitemtnsteward .

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