U.P. BioFuel Road Shows Planned

Residents from Gogebic, Iron, and Ontonagon Counties can attend the county-wide U.P. BioFuel Road Show being held in coming weeks.

In June, the Western Upper Peninsula Planning & Development Region (WUPPDR) hosted a region-wide UP BioFuel workshop at Michigan Technological University; however, WUPPDR also understands that traveling to Houghton may not have been feasible for all interested landowners in the area.

Landowners with 20 or more acres of land who were unable to attend the region-wide workshop or would like to learn more, are encouraged to attend.

Speakers at this workshop will include Kim Stoker, Executive Director of WUPPDR and Roger Woods from the Michigan Tech School of Business and Economics. Woods will speak on the development of a biofuel cooperative and the creation of a cooperative strategy, while Stoker will focus on landowner participation.

• The Gogebic County Road Show will take place on August 7 from 4:30-6:00 p.m. CST in the Gogebic County Circuit Court Room.
• The Iron County Road Show will follow on August 13 from 4:30-6:00 p.m. CST in the Iron County Board of Commissioners Room.
• The Ontonagon County Road Show will take place on August 15 from 5:30-7:00 EST in the Ontonagon County Circuit Court Room.

To further encourage landowner participation, WUPPDR has hired a forestry technician to conduct a free land consultation with interested landowners. The site visit will include an assessment of the land, which will help generate a cost estimate to clear, plant, and maintain the land for biofuel crops. Landowners interested in the consultation are encouraged to sign up at www.upbiofuel.com and will be assisted on a first-come, first-serve basis until the end of August.

Landowners interested in watching presentations from the first workshop or learning more about the UP BioFuel initiative are encouraged to visit www.upbiofuel.com.