NORTH BEND - Whether it piles up in your backyard or at logging sites, biomass - the branches and slash left behind when cutting trees - is often burned or tossed away into landfills. Rather than continue to allow this potential fuel source to go to waste, the Coquille Indian Tribe has kicked off a study to determine whether a biomass-fueled power plant could be built to provide energy to the county.

Tribal Planner Jack Lenox said the project could mean a great deal for the area, including new jobs, economic development, an alternative to fossil-based energy, a reduction of wood waste in landfills, as well as a reduction of highly flammable slash in local forests.

“One of the things we are interested in is our environment. There's all this debris out there that's underutilized and is disposed of as waste and there's lots of it in the region,” Lenox said. “This facility would be using fuels and this would create jobs.”

A meeting to discuss a preliminary feasibility study for siting a biomass utilization facility in the area and to gain input from the public, will be held from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13 at The Mill-Casino Hotel. Tribal representatives will present the study plan, answer questions and solicit input from those who attend.

Lenox said the study has been under way for about a month and is being conducted by TSS Consultants, a renewable energy, natural resource management and financial consulting firm out of Rancho Cordova, Calif. He said the consultants will provide potential sites for a facility, as well as determine whether it will be economically viable and good for the community. The study is expected to be completed within six months.

Lenox noted that he does not know whether the tribe will commit to such a project. However, the tribe is interested in the use of biomass, including creating a steam power plant and creating biofuels, such as biodiesel and ethanol.

“It all depends on what our consultants come up with. But it would probably primarily be a power generation plant for electricity,” Lenox said, explaining that energy from such a plant could be sold to a power company. “It's a very, very clean burn. It's not noticeable when it burns, but it gives off a great deal of heat.”

The planner said the tribe is very focused on creating environmentally friendly alternatives.

“That's just part of our cultural heritage,” Lenox said. “We want to be good stewards of the environment we live in.”

The idea to tap into biomass as a form of fuel came after the tribe's executive director, George Smith, attended a meeting concerning biomass utilization projects on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon. Lenox said Smith was inspired by the information he learned there, and then contacted TSS to do a little brainstorming.

“We certainly are looking at it from all sides,” Lenox said. “I would hope that everyone would be open minded about it. I guess we'll see.”

The meeting will be held in the Salmon Room at The Mill Casino-Hotel, 3201 Tremont Ave., in North Bend. For more information, those interested can call Michelle Ramey at (541) 756-0904.