Using Waste Wood from Forest Health Projects

Eric Lassotovich with woody material placed in bioswale on his property, 1/23/23

In August 2023, the Eel River Recovery Project (ERRP) was awarded a CAL FIRE forest health grant funded through the California Cap and Trade fund. A year later, permits are being issued and work is about to begin on 1,019 acres of private land and also on the Cahto Tribe Rancheria. While the forest health project calls for piling and burning wood waste, ERRP is also trying to utilize woody materials from thinning in other ways, including rebuilding soil moisture and fertility. To demonstrate this concept, ERRP hosted a field trip to a parcel in the West Tenmile project area off Tenmile Creek Road on Saturday, September 14.

Eric Lassotovich is a contractor for ERRP under the Tenmile Creek Watershed Forest Health Project (TCWFHP). Eric has experimented with placement of woody material derived from fuel reduction activities on his property in natural depressions or bioswales in his forest, which does not require a permit. He used pieces of wood of different sizes to create structures that function like check dams, capturing water and eventually breaking down into rich, moist soil.

Eric also created mounds of small branches and twigs mixed with wood chips that run parallel the contour of the slope. Once they become saturated by rainfall, these “key-line” mounds become invaded with fungal mycelia, creating an ideal medium for native plants to colonize while slowing and spreading surface water. The fungal mycelia can then colonize the adjacent hill slopes, bringing with them moisture and nutrients that plants and trees can tap. Eric will also guide the placement of woody material in swales on his neighbor’s property.

TCWFHP intends to use traditional ecological knowledge as much as possible, with the ultimate objective of re-introducing “good fire” to the land. Historic land use, which included extensive logging and grazing, left a legacy of soil compaction that accelerates runoff and reduces infiltration into groundwater. The original hill slope hydrology was like a sponge, and we aim to start to rebuild that sponge using waste wood from forest thinning.  ERRP is exploring the use of larger woody material in stream systems and large gullies, to rebuild them.

The TCWFHP grant includes 24 clients, some of whom who own less than 10 acres. Such small parcel owners often find it difficult to access grants because they cost too much to administer and there are too few agency staff to meet the need. ERRP aggregated ten of these clients so that they can become a collective force for stewardship through on-going cooperative projects, including prescribed fire.