Local land management company Alpine Forestry believes their work extends beyond forest care and wildfire mitigation. It also means leaving a smaller footprint, which is why they’ve begun exploring possible green waste solutions.
And no, it’s not profitable — yet.
“It’s something we’re trying to build and it’s more of an initiative than it is a revenue stream,” said David Telian, co-founder of Alpine Forestry.
Experimenting with different ways of processing green waste — which is the leaves, branches and trees that are removed during their management projects — is a lot of extra work, he said.
In many cases, Alpine Forestry crews will pile these materials on-site to be burned during the fall and spring seasons, or buried to decompose into the soil. But when access allows, they’re trying to find other uses that could produce fewer or no emissions.
So, how many ways can wood be used? That’s what they’re trying to figure out, finding new life for the trees and branches that need to be removed for forest health and resident safety. There are whole logs saved to be dried and milled into lumber, others cut, dried and chopped into firewood, some unique pieces saved for possible art projects, smaller scraps processed in the chipper and others fired in a kiln to create biochar.
The goal is to keep all this material from landfills, Telian said.
“We know that there’s already landfill issues in Summit County. They have expiration dates. And adding food waste and green waste into landfills also releases methane gas over time,” he said. “We haven’t taken a load to the landfill all year. We’re processing 100% of our own.”
With the tools and the team, they’re self-imposed guinea pigs in developing processes and uses for green waste materials. But as wood piles of different shapes and sizes grow in their work yard, they’re always searching for community partnerships to provide new homes for their products.
Some materials, like biochar, have been given to farms in the area, Telian said.
Similar to charcoal, biochar is the result of burning down green waste into a long-lasting carbon source. This method burns the wood in an open, metal kiln which creates a limited oxygen environment, causing a process called pyrolysis, the thermochemical decomposition of the material. The end product is a carbon-rich soil additive.
Alpine Forestry has a biochar kiln on loan from Utah State University, originally designed by the school’s leading biochar expert Darren McAvoy.
During the spring and fall, they’re able to pile huge amounts of green waste into the kiln and burn it down to the char, a process that takes over 12 hours.
“We’ll get in, get it going right around 7 in the morning, get it ripping, and then we’ll be dumping it and quenching it around like 7 at night,” said Telian. “It’s a full day.”
Right now, their biochar output is low-grade, low-quality, he admitted, and a recent lab test on their char highlighted some areas of improvement. It’s still a way of returning carbon back to the soil, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere, so they’ve given their batches to farmers free of charge, hoping for feedback on its impact.
Along with biochar, firewood is a major operation for their crews, and they plan to make it available to the community.
With a wood splitter tool, they’ve collected a mountain of firewood that will be available for purchase in the fall, likely once the open fire ban is lifted. But they’re also working on a partnership to make the wood available to underserved communities in the area.
“There’s a federal grant opportunity out there right now to create what’s called a firewood bank. And that’s a company that’s taking in wood and processing it into firewood, and then able to either deliver it for free to an underserved population or community, or at a significantly reduced rate, subsidized by this big federal program,” Telian said.
Alpine Forestry is hoping to secure a nonprofit partner to be their sponsor, and they’re currently in talks with the Park City Community Foundation and the Christian Center of Park City.
“We’re really interested in it, and we also want it to become something that not only puts us on the map more locally, but is a way to give back to these communities,” he said.
With their chipper, they’ve produced three different quality of chips: exclusively hardwood chips, mixed chips and an almost-dirt scrap chip pile.
All their hardwood chips are sent to Brendan and Carly Coyle, a couple working to develop and open a cidery in the Kamas Valley.
“They’ve planted a couple thousand apple trees … and they only want hardwood chips,” Telian said. “They’re saving a ton of water if there’s chips underneath the trees (because) the soil holds the water longer.”
The one tool that would round out their work is a lumber mill, which would allow them to saw logs into uniform planks, Telian said.
“Between a biochar kiln, a chipper, a mill and a firewood processor, we’re ready to turn out a lot of different products from green waste,” he said.
Brainstorming ways to use their green waste also means thinking outside the box, and one use they’ve suggested is to build playgrounds out of cut logs.
“We’re meeting with a local school that might want (wood) to build a natural, creative play structure for kids, instead of just an Amazon play set,” Telian said, having already created one for a daycare in Jeremy Ranch.
Soon these reused products will be available on the Alpine Forestry website, alpineforestryutah.com, with sign-up options for wood chips, firewood, biochar, a saw log or even custom pieces for art projects and yard decoration.
“We’re looking for any possible use of green waste. So, when we’re on the side of the road trying to sell carved bears, you’ll have to honk your horn,” he said with a laugh.
