PLACER, NEVADA, AND EL DORADO COUNTIES AWARDED INVESTMENT-GRADE BDO ZONE RATINGS
– Tahoe Central Sierra Biomass Pilot Project Establishes Northern California as Investment-Ready Bioeconomy Region –
March 31, 2026 – Ecostrat and the BDO Zone Initiative are pleased to announce that under the Tahoe Central Sierra Biomass Aggregation Pilot Project, Placer County, Nevada County, and El Dorado County have each been awarded investment-grade BDO Zone “A” Ratings for Woody Biomass, signaling exceptional regional readiness for bio-based manufacturing and long-term biomass utilization.
The ratings were conducted by Ecostrat under California’s Forest Residual Aggregation Market Enhancement (CalFRAME) program, funded by the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI), with participation from El Dorado County supported by a USDA Rural Business Development Grant.
After evaluating more than 75 technical and economic risk criteria, all three counties achieved an investment-grade BDO Zone “A” Rating. Collectively, the three BDO Zones represent over 273,800 bone dry tonnes per year of low-risk woody biomass supply, with up to three times that volume potentially available under higher-risk recovery scenarios. The region benefits from minimal competition from pulp and paper mills, strong community and political support for biomass utilization, and existing infrastructure and industrial sites well positioned for development, validating the Tahoe Central Sierra region as a premier location for new bio-based manufacturing investment.
A Region Defined by Forest Stewardship and Opportunity
For nearly two decades, the Tahoe Central Sierra region has led efforts in forest health and wildfire resilience, evolving from fuel reduction initiatives into a coordinated, multi-county strategy to turn forest restoration byproducts into economic opportunity. Today, the region is aligning forest management, biomass aggregation, and industrial development to build a sustainable bioeconomy, and reducing wildfire risk while attracting private investment to utilize excess forest material.
From Forest Risk to Economic Resilience
The Tahoe Central Sierra Biomass Aggregation Pilot Project addresses a long-standing barrier to biomass-based project development: long-term feedstock supply. Through CalFRAME, the region is advancing a brokerage model to aggregate forest residuals and connect suppliers with industrial users. Supported by BDO Zone “A” ratings, the three counties are sending a clear signal to outside investors:
The Tahoe Central Sierra region is open for bio-manufacturing investment.
Regional leaders see these ratings as a catalyst to scale forest health solutions, attract private capital, and integrate climate resilience, wildfire mitigation, watershed protection, and economic development into a unified regional strategy.
Click the following links to view and download the BDO Zone Ratings for Placer County, Nevada County, and El Dorado County, or visit www.bdozone.org.
BDO Zone project development support:
| Ryan Magwood Head of Business Development BDO Zone Initiative ryan@ecostrat.com 647-962-3286 Alex Keeble-Toll |
Greg Stanton Chief Administrative Office El Dorado County greg.stanton@edcgov.us 530-621-5159 Ava Westin |
About The BDO Zone Initiative
The Biofuel Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone Initiative certifies ‘regional readiness’ for bio-manufacturing, creates global connections and ignites an influx of new energy opportunities for farmers, economic developers, and rural businesses. A BDO Zone rating is an internationally recognized, standards-based technical risk assessment of a region’s feedstock, supply chain, and infrastructure risk with respect to the development potential for new biofuel plants. BDO Zone ratings are site location bullseyes for bio-project development. Investment grade ratings are force-multipliers for attracting new manufacturing plants to the areas where they are most likely to succeed, drive investment and create jobs.
For more information on the BDO Zone Initiative, contact info@bdozone.org. To view all BDO Zone ratings, visit www.bdozone.org. Visit the BDO Zone LinkedIn page for news and updates.
Ecostrat is the North American leader in biomass due diligence for biofuels, renewable chemicals, biogas, and bio-product project development and finance. Jordan Solomon (jordan.solomon@ecostrat.com) is Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative and President of Ecostrat (www.ecostrat.com).
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