“Wood Bioenergy, Forest Supplies, and Timberland Ownership: What We Got Right (and Wrong)”

A Virtual Talk by Brooks Mendell

Brooks Mendell portrait

Brooks Mendell, coauthor of Wood for Bioenergy and founder of Forisk Consulting, will deliver a virtual talk as part of the Forest History Society’s virtual lecture series. The talk “Wood Bioenergy, Forest Supplies, and Timberland Ownership: What We Got Right (and Wrong)” will be at 2 PM EDT on July 22, 2021, and will be streamed live on Zoom. The event is free but registration is required. Click here or on the button above to register.

In 2012, the Forest History Society published Wood for Bioenergy: Forests as a Resource for Biomass and Biofuels, which was coauthored with Amanda Lang. In this presentation, Brooks will revisit the historical context and assumptions associated with wood bioenergy projects and policies, forest supplies and timberland ownership in the United States over the past several decades. His analysis addresses our general ability in forestry to assess future conditions by comparing what we thought would happen in forest industry markets with respect to wood use for energy as compared to the current reality. In addition, he draws on examples for the evolution of forest supplies and timberland ownership in the U.S. over the past 50 years.

A Fulbright Scholar in Uruguay, Brooks Mendell’s forestry-related books include Loving Trees is Not Enough, Forest Finance Simplified, and Aunt Fanny Learns Forestry. In addition to his book Wood for Bioenergy, FHS also published his article “From Cigar Tax to Timberland Trusts: A Short History of Timber REITs and TIMOs” in the 2016 issue of Forest History Today. An inductee in the Georgia Foresters Hall of Fame and a former FHS Board Member, he earned BS and MS degrees at MIT, an MBA at the University of California at Berkeley, and a PhD in Forest Finance at the University of Georgia. He is the president and CEO of Forisk Consulting.

Funding for this lecture is provided by the Forest History Society's Lynn W. Day Endowment.