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In the Winter of 2021-2022 PINA trained small crews in Oregon to add biochar production to conventional forest thinning practices through the use of simple portable kilns. This easy-to-replicate method creates increased soil health and carbon sequestration, in addition to the standard goal of a healthier forest safe from wildfire.

Once this restoration work is done, the treated forests are again able to be periodically burned, resuming the traditional techniques used by indigenous peoples, and specifically by the Takelma and the neighboring tribes on the land where the pilot project took place. We hope this combination of techniques can create an emerging new wildlands biochar industry to add a financial stimulus to perform Fire Ecology Restoration across the West.