Biochar production in northern New Mexico: Identifying challenges and opportunities

Thinning woody biomass to reduce wildfire risk has become a common forest management prescription throughout the Intermountain West. Converting the resulting slash into biochar, a carbon-rich soil amendment, could help mitigate some of the shortcomings of other fuel treatments, but land managers in the western United States have not widely adopted biochar, despite its potential benefits and new government incentives. Thus, we investigated the often under-studied sociocultural, economic, and biophysical barriers to biochar production and identified important factors to inform future outreach efforts that will help to expand biochar production from thinning slash in northern New Mexico. We distributed surveys and conducted interviews with land managers and personnel working in environment conservation organizations who work with land managers throughout northern New Mexico. We found that 65% of participants (n = 60) were familiar with biochar, and 13% already produced biochar. Participants identified improving soil and reducing forest fuel loads as the main benefits of biochar. The most prevalent barriers to adopting biochar were insufficient knowledge about biochar production and its application and concerns about production costs. Given land manager preferences, outreach efforts to encourage biochar adoption should focus on hands-on informational activities. Barriers and preferred outreach methods varied by participant race and familiarity with biochar. With appropriate training to empower land managers, biochar can provide environmental and community benefits by the sustainable conversion of forest residues into a soil enhancement product that would be beneficial to northern New Mexico's dry, high wildfire risk context.