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Sierra Economic Development District (SEDD), serving four counties in the Tahoe Basin region of California, has promoted economic development and natural resource protection through its support for sustainable wood business for the past 12 years. SEDD recognizes the potential for economic development and job creation related to woody biomass utilization, as well as the benefit for public health and safety.

Leaving small diameter trees, low brush and dead wood in place can provide fuel for wildfires that severely damage property, cause human and wildlife injury or death and degrade air and water quality. In addition, fires can impair or destroy agricultural and timber assets and recreational spaces.

Executive Director Betty Riley says, "Sawmills have closed across our region, and we don't have the infrastructure capacity to utilize the wood materials that are available. Our intent is to avoid catastrophic fires by establishing market-driven responses to wood utilization. Collaboratively, county supervisors have identified biomass utilization as the key strategy in accomplishing this."

Using about 20 percent of the organization's annual budget, SEDD has several initiatives promoting biomass utilization as a solution to having excess woody materials. SEDD is partnering with the California Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service Region 5 on a working group to identify and overcome barriers to market-driven projects. The organization is planning a forum in Fall 2006 to bring together various players and potential investors to discuss local biomass strategies. The region may develop a business incubation site and is looking into research and development related to biomass as an energy fuel.

Riley says, "The potential for jobs is real, so we're trying to demonstrate that the region is capable of developing a variety of industries," such as biomass electricity generation, ethanol production, and organics for pharmaceuticals or fragrances.

SEDD's work has had an impact on its region's business development. Riley says that much of the business creation has been by small entrepreneurs who employ four or five people, with a noticeable increase in the number of timber and landscaping operations doing fire fuels reduction for property owners. That kind of economic impact is significant, but difficult to measure. More quantifiable is the success the region has seen in a decrease of fire events, probably due in part to the work of the community-based fire safe councils SEDD created. The councils educate landowners about fire safety and use grant money to clear private ground.

Promoting sustainable business on a regional level is an important part of SEDD's work. Riley explains, "We have to be conscious and work from the perspective that what's good for the economy can also be good for the environment. These issues are bigger than any one entity can manage on their own. By working regionally, we see a balance between keeping jobs local and the larger-scale need to protect our forests."

The Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC) supports sustainable economic development in the city of Juneau and the Southeast Alaska region by administering the revolving loan fund and providing business counseling services. In addition, JEDC began the Alaska Salmon Byproduct Utilization Project in 2003 with $175,000 in funding from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and private sector sources. The Council partnered with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to research ways to minimize salmon waste volume.

As the EPA implemented 1996 Magnuson-Stevens Act, which required fisheries to use more of what they caught, it restricted the amount of offal that processors could dispose. In Alaska, the annual salmon catch averages about 67 million fish or 311 million pounds, which was valued at about $84 million in 2003. Only about half of each salmon enters the market destined for human consumption. The other half of the fish, including the head, bones and innards, is considered waste. In the past, much of the waste has been ground and dumped into the ocean. With restricted discharge permits, the industry had to find new uses of the salmon by-product to avoid low quality salmon being used in canned or frozen products sold to consumers.

With over 150 million pounds of salmon waste produced each year, opportunities for using salmon offal abound. JEDC has worked with local partners to develop operations producing fishmeal, fish oil for fuel and composted offal/sawdust mixtures used to improve soil characteristics. One of JEDC's client companies is Alaska Protein Recovery, which is in its fourth year of operation. The Development Council is also looking into new possibilities, such as feed for livestock and aquaculture, fertilizer, cosmetics and nutritional supplements.

Improving opportunities to use offal is important to the economy in Southeast Alaska because the salmon industry directly employs about 2,000 individuals and is a prime industry for the region. With decreasing values of salmon catches and increasingly strict disposal guidelines, JEDC's work to develop the new opportunities within the salmon industry has a major impact on the livelihood of regional residents and improved environmental quality.

Sierra Economic Development District 560 Wall St, Ste F Auburn, CA 95603 Tel: 530.823.4703 Fax: 530.823.4142 http://www.sedd.org/

Juneau Economic Development Council 612 W Willoughby Ave, Ste A Juneau, AL 99801 Tel: 907.463.3662 Fax: 907.463.3929 http://www.jedc.org/