Plumas County in California has been issued an 'A' rating under the BDO Zone Initiative, certifying 255,000 bone dry tons per year of low-risk woody biomass within a 75-mile radius of Taylorsville and opening the region to new biomass markets and forest restoration investment.
The rating, issued by Ecostrat and the BDO Zone Initiative alongside local partners Plumas Corp and Plumas County Fire Safe Council, denotes high prospective viability of feedstock supply and infrastructure and low default risk. The county's forest resources and ongoing wildfire mitigation programmes have generated significant volumes of underused pulpwood and forest residues from management activities that are currently piled, burned or left onsite.
The region offers an established logging, grinding and hauling network capable of supporting large-scale biomass recovery, alongside the Crescent Mills Industrial Site, which benefits from heavy industrial zoning, direct rail access and an on-site PG&E substation with three-phase power.
Jordan Solomon, chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative, said the combination of feedstock scale and rail-connected industrial assets 'creates a perfect environment for future investment'.
GiaNina Martynn, executive director of Plumas Corporation, said the rating would attract 'long-awaited attention of biobased companies to our region', enabling partners to increase the scale of forest health, watershed restoration and fuel reduction projects.
Darrell Webster, firewood processing project manager at Plumas County Fire Safe Council, said the rating was 'an opportunity to turn a long-standing challenge into something productive', supporting wildfire mitigation and rural economic development alongside responsible biomass utilisation.
California county awarded ‘A’ rating for woody biomass feedstock supply
