The Spel’kúmtn Community Forest (SCF) is piloting a new technology with the potential to change how post-harvest forest waste is managed in the Pemberton Valley.
The community forest has brought in a mobile carbonizer from SkyTech Yarding to process woody debris left over from timber harvests, known as slash piles, in the Miller Creek area. The machine converts biomass into biochar—a valuable soil product—and is touted as a cleaner, more climate-conscious alternative to conventional open-pile burning.
“Anyone in forestry is feeling the same challenges,” said Andrea Blaikie, manager of the community forest. “The idea of waste management post-harvest is one of those challenges. Ideally, we’d love to stop thinking of these piles as waste, and instead as material that could be of use.”
During a harvest, non-usable wood like branches, tree tops and non-merchantable logs are piled up for later disposal. Conventional slash pile burning is a go-to method of disposing of that residual biomass, but it comes with downsides: planet-warming carbon emissions and smoke that impacts nearby communities’ air quality and health. But leaving slash piles unmanaged can also serve as good fuel for wildfires.
So, Canada burns a lot of those piles. A 2023 estimate generated by the Canadian Forest Service suggests slash pile burning in clearcut harvesting operations contributed an average of five megatons of CO₂ emissions, annually, between 2002 and 2021. That’s roughly equivalent to the yearly emissions of 1.1 million gasoline-powered cars, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Forestry outfits generally have 30 months to safely dispose of slash piles, which can prove difficult given the time needed for the piles to dry out and B.C.’s increasingly long wildfire seasons.
“Not only is it challenging with the weather to burn piles—because they often have to sit for years before there’s a safe window—but it also creates a lot of smoke,” said Blaikie. “The goal of trying to reduce smoke to local communities is a real priority.”
Enter: the carbonizer
The carbonizer offers a different approach to biomass disposal. The Tigercat Carbonizer 6040 being used in Miller Creek burns biomass in a low-oxygen environment, producing significantly less smoke and yielding biochar—a charcoal-like, carbon-rich material that can enhance soil health and sequester carbon long-term Earlier this year, SCF partnered with Skytech Yarding in Squamish to bring a carbonizer to their tenure—a goal of the forestry outfit since harvest started in Miller Creek last year.
The carbonzier can be used during periods when conventional burning would not be permitted, as it emits few sparks or embers, allowing for longer windows of opportunity for managing post-harvest material. Use of the carbonizer is regulated through Ministry of Forests, BC Wildfire Service, and Ministry of Environment policies and permitting systems that ensure safe and effective operations.
The project hasn’t come cheap. Blaikie noted that “the funding streams don’t really align with the carbonizer. It’s a new enough technology that it doesn’t line up directly.” As a result, Spel’kúmtn’s board decided to fund the project out-of-pocket after record-breaking profits in 2024.
“This was a board decision to say, ‘sometimes we need to take the lead. Even if the funding isn’t there yet, or the market isn’t there for the biochar, someone’s got to create those opportunities,’” she said.
The end product—biochar—has promise. It can be used to improve soil water retention, nutrient availability and carbon storage. Blaikie hopes the biochar can eventually become part of a local circular economy.
“In a community that has tons of agriculture, it would be a great piece of the circular economy to bring biochar to local farms,” she said. For now, the team is in discussions with UBC to use the biochar as part of a research project.
Interest in carbonizers is growing in other jurisdictions. Similar machines have been trialled in the Squamish Community Forest and in UBC research forests. Programs in California and Washington are exploring biochar as a tool for wildfire risk reduction and carbon sequestration.
Using the carbonizer
The carbonizer is mobile. And SCF’s network of forestry roads means the device can be used across the tenure. In the Miller plot, slash piles were intentionally located near residences to prioritize smoke and wildfire mitigation for nearby communities.
“We were going to target those lowest piles first,” Blaikie explained. “Just to get those fuels out of the way before another summer passed.”
Unfortunately, weather has already thrown a wrench into the project. After just a day and a half of successful use, operations were paused due to dry, hot conditions. The endeavour has been on hold for about two weeks now.
“Even though the carbonizer can be used in hotter, drier conditions than open burning, it didn’t feel worth the potential risk,” said Blaikie. “We’re now waiting on rain before it can be safely restarted.”
Once the weather turns, they’ll have to apply for a BC Wildfire Service exemption now that Category 2 and 3 burn restrictions have gone up. Blaikie’s confident the carbonizer is eligible for the exemption.
Blaikie noted that “fire-fighting resources are on-site during carbonizer use, in this case, a skipper-mounted water tank with [a] water delivery system.”
Pending favourable weather, operations are expected to resume later this summer. The community forest will assess the project’s success based on how many community-adjacent piles they can process. If the pilot is deemed viable, they’ll seek to expand the technology’s use throughout the valley.
“We’re really looking to pilot this in the area so we can build some momentum for future use—for the larger benefit,” Blaikie said
As the carbonizer continues to be used more, Blaikie is confident more opportunities for funding and uses for biochar will emerge.
“I think across the industry and across funders, there is an understanding that slash piles are a problem that needs to be addressed. So I think the motivation is there,” she told Pique. “And I think price-wise, the more [the carbonizer] gets used and the more biochar we create, the more markets are created, giving us the chance to be able to sell the biochar off.”
