Forest and Bioeconomy Research

$2,200,000 the first year is to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota for academic and applied research through MnDRIVE at the Natural Resources Research Institute to develop and demonstrate technologies that enhance the long-term health of Minnesota's forests, extend the viability of current forest-based industries, and accelerate emerging industry opportunities. Of this amount, $500,000 is to support development of a forest optimization tool for Minnesota forest resources, $800,000 is for maintenance and expansion of the Natural Resource Atlas to statewide coverage, $400,000 is to the Minnesota Forest Resource Council for continued advancement of biochar development and application to forest health, and $500,000 is to advance emerging Minnesota technologies to produce clean syngas to drive high-value markets for forest biomass feedstocks.