Encroaching woody brush on rangelands in the Southwestern U.S. has resulted in the degradation of more than 100 million acres, impacting local hydrology, biodiversity, and agricultural productivity. The removal of woody brush on these historic grasslands helps increase grazing potential and reduces risk of catastrophic fire while enhancing soils, water resources, and habitat. It also produces a scalable, sustainable source of conservation biomass.
From 2010 – 2016, The Earth Partners enrolled over 700,000 acres across Texas and New Mexico into a brush management program for large-scale production of wood pellets as feedstock for renewable energy plants. We identified economically feasible areas of infested brush — considering density, accessibility, property size, and proximity to transportation infrastructure. This material was tested and processed in European power plants, where conservation biomass received preferred sustainability status compared to conventional biomass feedstocks.
The below video describes this brush clearing program The Earth Partners created: