Biochar offers new path for Helene recovery

Hurricane Helene left western North Carolina with a massive debris challenge: hundreds of thousands of acres of damaged forests, blocked waterways, flooded farms, and a timber market already weakened by the closure of regional paper mills.

Now, researchers, foresters, farmers, and entrepreneurs are exploring whether the same trees that became a hazard can become a resource.

Biochar is a carbon-rich soil amendment created by heating woody biomass in low-oxygen conditions. It is emerging as one possible tool in the region’s recovery. Supporters say the technology sits at the intersection of food, power, and life: improving agricultural soils, reducing wildfire risks, creating new markets for forest products, and providing an alternative use for storm debris.

But forestry officials caution that biochar is not a single solution to western North Carolina’s timber challenges. Instead, they describe it as one piece of a broader effort to rebuild a sustainable forest economy after Helene and years of market disruption.

A forest industry already under strain

The need for new markets began before Hurricane Helene.

Melissa Patton told members of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) resilience subcommittee that the closure of the Canton paper mill and other regional facilities reshaped the timber economy. She is the executive director of Carolina Land and Lakes Resource Conservation and Development and was appointed to the subcommittee by Gov. Josh Stein in February.

“We had two mills in South Carolina as well as the Canton mill in western North Carolina that have both closed,” Patton said at the group’s May 21 meeting. “The Canton mill, obviously being in western North Carolina, had a big effect on our markets, specifically the pulpwood market.”

She said those closures affected suppliers throughout the region.

“There are at least four to five other mills that were providing product to Canton,” Patton said. “So that severely reduced those other mills.”

Before Helene, the industry was already dealing with reduced demand for smaller diameter wood.

“We’re dealing with that small diameter wood issue before Helene ever came in,” Patton said. “And then with Helene here, that flooded the remainder of the market to the large diameter trees.”

The storm created another problem: an enormous supply of damaged timber and wood waste.

“There is a tremendous amount of wood out there and available,” Patton said. “It’s really devastated or changed the way these markets have been historically.”

Turning debris into a resource

Biochar production converts wood and other organic material into a stable, carbon-rich product rather than allowing it to decay, burn, or occupy limited landfill space.

The USDA Forest Service described biochar in a statement as a potential recovery tool because it can improve soil structure, increase water retention, support nutrient cycling, and help restore damaged farmland.

“Biochar represents a turning point in how we manage forest debris,” said Tara Keyser, a silviculturist with the National Forests in North Carolina. “It’s a solution that addresses environmental challenges while creating opportunities for our communities.”

The Forest Service, through its Southern Research Station, has partnered with researchers, landowners, and universities to test how biochar can be used in forest restoration and agriculture.

The work includes studying whether biochar can improve conditions for oak regeneration, restore soils affected by flooding, and create new markets for wood products.

Western North Carolina production expands

Several biochar operations and pilot projects are now underway across the mountains.

One of the region’s greatest efforts is centered in Haywood County, where storm debris is processed using industrial equipment.

The machine converts woody material into biochar while reducing the volume of debris requiring disposal.

John Fletcher, owner of Suncrest Mulch, said the project represents a new way to view storm waste.

“It’s about turning waste into a resource,” Fletcher said. “Biochar not only supports healthier forests but also creates a product that benefits local businesses and landowners. I’m excited to see where this can go.”

The operation grew out of changes in the regional timber economy. After the Canton paper mill closed in 2023, Fletcher converted his former chip mill into a mulch operation and later became involved in biochar research and demonstration projects.

Federal researchers are also testing mobile production equipment, including units such as the CharBoss, designed to move into damaged forests and process woody material closer to where it is removed.

The goal is to reduce wildfire fuel while creating a usable agricultural product.

Public funding supports pilot programs

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) awarded $1 million to the Southwestern North Carolina Resource Conservation & Development Council to pilot mobile equipment capable of converting Hurricane Helene debris into biochar for use on flood-damaged farmland.

The project is part of a larger $3 million DEQ investment supporting debris cleanup, watershed restoration, and agricultural recovery in Haywood County.

DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson said the projects address multiple recovery challenges.

“The Pigeon River watershed in Haywood County suffered devastating damage during Hurricane Helene,” Wilson said in a statement. “These state grants to local partners will help communities become more resilient to future storms by removing dangerous debris from streams, restoring healthy stream banks through planting of native plants, reducing wildfire risks, improving soil health on farmland, and reducing demand on scarce landfill space.”

From industrial sites to local farms

While industrial biochar operations handle large volumes of storm debris, smaller community-based programs are also expanding access to the technology.

Regional organizations, including Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, have supported kiln loan programs that allow farmers and landowners to produce biochar at smaller scales in Watauga, Ashe, Caldwell, Burke, and Wilkes counties.

These programs provide access to equipment without requiring individuals to purchase their own machines. Supporters say these programs allow rural communities to participate in recovery while improving their own land.

New markets and new questions

Chris Sigmon, a GROW NC member, Yancey County planner and director of the county’s Long Term Recovery Group, said private investment is also beginning to develop around biochar.

Sigmon identified Blair Sheppard, former dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and founder of Duke Corporate Education, as a partner in biochar development efforts. He said Sheppard has purchased one biochar machine and ordered another.

“He envisions future industry around biochar as a source for the pulpwood,” Sigmon said. “So far the testing that’s been done here on the farms using biochar and using combinations of biochar and regrind has been highly successful,” he said.

Researchers at North Carolina State University and other institutions continue evaluating biochar’s long-term economic and environmental potential. The challenge remains scale.

Patton emphasized that no single product can absorb the region’s entire supply of damaged wood.

“Biochar, I will say, will not solve all the problems with the waste wood in western North Carolina,” she said. “There’s still so much for potential businesses to come to western North Carolina and utilize this wood.”

Experts say biochar represents both a recovery tool and an economic experiment for the region: whether a disaster-generated waste stream can become a foundation for healthier soils, safer forests, and new rural industries.

“Biochar offers new path for Helene recovery” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.