Optimize Availability of Biomass for Electricity and Heating within Sustainable Limits (AFW Action 2.2)

Develop and maintain the policies and infrastructure necessary to sustainably manage the state's forests as an essential carbon sink, for energy and timber supply, for its recreational value, and for the provision of irreplaceable ecosystem services. The forest industry has long been one of the cornerstones of New Hampshire's economy. Relatively new end-uses, such as the production of electricity from wood chips and the production of wood pellets for heating residential and public buildings, are providing the need for low-grade wood and improved logging infrastructure. It is important to note, the biomass stock necessary to support a growing demand is not unlimited and intact tracts of forest are better able to sustain biological diversity and play a role in the provision of ecosystem goods and services such as water supply. Planners, loggers, timber owners, investors, government officials and regulators, and consumers need a strong understanding of sustainable forest management principles as well as the underlying state of the forests, including growing conditions, soil productivity, tree species composition, and forest age, to make good decisions about the efficient use of the available resource for traditional and new forest products in order to sustainably manage this critical economic and ecological resource.