Here is a complete set of the presentations (in PDF format) from the Biomass Symposium held March 1.

"BioEnergy Opportunities" Mark Knaebe: Forest Products Technologist, US Forest Service Technology Marketing Unit, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin

"Bio-Methanol: How Montana's Energy Choices can Help Mitigate Global Climate Change and Produce Jobs" Kristiina Vogt: Professor of Ecosystem Management and co-coordinator of Forest Systems and Bio-Energy Program, University of Washington

"Woody Waste to Power Project" Dr Robert Topping: Director of the Western Energy Training Center, College of Eastern Utah

"Energy Security and Clean Development for Montana and the Nation" Kevin Furey: Energy Development Officer, Energy Infrastructure Promotion and Development Office, Montana Department of Commerce.

"From Forest to Market: Slash Utilization Processes On-Site" Pine Oil, Pellets, and Pyrolysis: Alarick Reibold: Research Engineer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northern Arizona University

"Plasma-Conversion Technology - an Overview" (PDF) Jay Toups: Staff Researcher, Writer and Webmaster, Big Sky Coalition

"What About the Air Quality in Ravalli County" Lee Jordan: Director, Ravalli County Environmental Health

"Local Success Stories"

"Fuel for Schools" Tom Coston: Bitter Root RC&D

"From Manure to Methane" Dan Huls: Huls Dairy

"25x25, America's Energy Future" Bill Carlson: Principal of Carlson Small Power Consultants, Chairman of the USA Biomass Power Producers Alliance and Board, Member of the 25X25 Organization

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5 Myths about Forests and Wildfires

Myth #1: We have to live with catastrophic wildfire. No, we don’t. Managing our forests to reduce fuel loads can make them safe again. Catastrophic wildfire was not a frequent occurrence in Montana's historic forests; it need not be frequent today.

Myth #2: Fire is natural and good. There is a world of difference between the low-intensity fires that shaped Montana’s landscape for thousands of years and the mega-fires that now devastate thousands of acres at a time. Low-level fires cleared the forest floor of debris and regenerated forests. But we have suppressed natural fire for more than 100 years. Wildfires can now feast on unnatural fuel loads, decimate wildlife, sterilize soils and erase forests from the landscape for centuries.

Myth #3: Today’s forests are natural forests. Research and photographic evidence show that Montana's modern forests are vastly different from historic Montana forests. Today’s forests are far thicker than their historic predecessors, densely packed with up to 10 times as many trees. Forests have become dangerously overgrown, much to the detriment of wildlife and biodiversity.

Myth #4: Escalating firefighting costs are inevitable. It’s true that average firefighting costs have increased by more than $100 million per year since the early 1990s, but the trend does not have to continue. Spending a fraction of what we spend on fighting fires to manage forests so there are fewer dangerous fires in the first place could save taxpayers millions.

Myth #5: Commercial logging denudes hillsides and kills wildlife. Private forestland owners have proven that modern forest management can provide habitat for diverse wildlife and sustain forests for generations. The most productive forestland in Montana is privately owned, and research confirms that wildlife and fisheries flourish on managed lands.

Do you have a Forest Myth to contribute? Send it along!