Contact Info
Will Donahoo
Adelante Consulting, Inc.
Phone: (505) 340-8353
Email: wdonahoo@adelanteconsulting.com
Mark Hatzenbuhler
Public Works Director
Phone: ( 505) 771-8500
Email: mhatzenbuhler@sandovalcountynm.gov
About the Project
The Sandoval County Public Works Department has been awarded a 2017 Wood Innovations Grant of $249,989 by the U.S. Forest Service. The grant will create an initiative that will address one of the major economic impediments to northern New Mexico’s forest restoration projects and will create an estimated 900 new jobs in the County’s urbanized and rural areas.
By utilizing the grant money, and the matching funds from Sandoval County and its 14 regional supporters, the initiative will create a project that will convert low value/no value woody biomass from a waste, to a raw wood product used to fuel the production of marketable products. The total investment of grant and match funds for this initiative is $551,165.
Phase 1: Regional Biomass Working Group
The County has entered into a contract for $117,932 with Adelante Consulting, Inc. to serve as the coordinator of the biomass utilization project. Adelante’s first task is to convene a Regional Biomass Working Group, to include representatives from the Rio Grande Water Fund, Southwest Jemez Mountains Landscape Restoration Project, East Mountains Restoration Partnership Project, Valles Caldera National Reserve Landscape Restoration & Stewardship Plan, New Mexico’s wood products industries, private and government managers of forested lands, economic development groups/developers, investors, NGOs, and the public.
The purpose of this group is threefold: to provide industry with information for long-term business planning; cultivate communication and relationship-building to foster collaboration and entrepreneurialism; and obtain real-world input on all applied research (e.g., feedstock, co-benefits, & economic analyses, market demand and value).
Get Involved
Anyone interested in actively participating in the working group or receiving periodic project updates, should contact Will Donahoo at wdonahoo@adelanteconsulting.com.