Much of Northern California and Oregon are fire adapted ecosystems, meaning that fire is a natural part of the landscape. There are plants that require smoke an

Much of Northern California and Oregon are fire adapted ecosystems, meaning that fire is a natural part of the landscape. There are plants that require smoke and fire for their seeds to germinate, for example. Converting wood to biochar doesn’t address that. The bigger issue is that prescribed fire is comparatively much easier and cheaper. I’ve been on burns where we had a biochar kiln going, and were also burning piles. We easily burned dozens of piles in-place, and loaded maybe 6 into the kiln. We also had to set it up near a road, because it was heavy and needed a water truck nearby to extinguish the coals and make char. I’ve been doing prescribed fire for a couple years now and people OFTEN bring up biochar. My feeling is that sure, go for it. If you have the resources and time, awesome. But don’t stand in the way of people doing good work because you think there’s a better way to do it. There’s plenty of work for all of us.