The team behind Circle Forestry and its sister company, Circle Soil, based in Park City, is on a mission to revolutionize forest management and ignite consumer awareness around soil health, even within the confines of their own homes.
Their approach centers around a pivotal concept: transforming forest waste into biochar, a potent soil amendment, and presenting a fresh perspective on wildfire mitigation alongside soil restoration.
At the core of their operations is a small, mobile kiln known as the Ring of Fire kiln. This innovative apparatus is designed to convert excess bio materials like wood and manure into carbon-rich biochar, which is gaining traction for its environmental benefits.
According to founder Alan Spadafora, a veteran in forest management and a former member of the Alpine Forestry team, his inspiration arises from a genuine desire to elevate practices in the industry.
While traditional pile burning has been a commonplace method for disposing of forest waste, Spadafora argues for an alternative to this approach, particularly near roads or trails.
“If it’s close enough to a trail or close enough to a road,” he explains, “We can show up with our kilns and turn it all into char instead of letting all that carbon get released back into the atmosphere.”
However, the creation of biochar is not without its challenges, primarily due to the necessary quenching phase to prevent complete combustion.
In many forest management scenarios, water resources may not always be available, making conventional pile burning the go-to method.
Yet Spadafora points out the health impacts associated with this practice, particularly during the smoldering phase when hazardous emissions, such as PM2.5, are released.
“Emissions from pile burning, especially PM2.5, which is the most hazardous to human health, happen when the firefighters have left the burn.
That’s the smoldering phase,” he notes, emphasizing the potential health risks of traditional practices.
Despite pile burning being sometimes deemed acceptable in comparison to the smoke produced by high-intensity fires, Spadafora insists that the biochar process offers a cleaner, safer option.
“This process is a much cleaner burn,” he asserts.
“It ignites many volatile gases released during burning, like nitrous oxide, methane, and CO2.
There’s significantly less smoke impact to the community.
So especially in areas near homes or trails, why not turn it into char?”
By facilitating the production of biochar in forest management practices, Spadafora believes it contributes to restoring the carbon cycle that has been disrupted by fire suppression efforts in Western communities.
“I have loved what we’re doing in forestry,” he shares, “and I love that these steps are being taken to right what we’ve done wrong in the past with forest management.”
He highlights the importance of addressing the excess green waste generated from tree projects and wildfire mitigation efforts, which often ends up in landfills.
Biochar is celebrated for its ability to enhance soil moisture and structure—an essential factor as Western forests grapple with prolonged drought conditions.
“Our forests are drier than they’ve ever been because we don’t have that carbon in the soil to increase the moisture content,” Spadafora states.
The Ring of Fire kilns used by Circle Forestry are compact enough to fit in the back of an off-road vehicle and produce lower levels of particulate pollution compared to traditional sources.
The strategy is to apply the biochar on-site, allowing it to benefit the soil much like a natural fire would.
“We’re stopping combustion before it reaches the final stage and capturing it to stabilize the carbon,” Spadafora explains.
“It’s a partial restoration of a fire cycle, but in a safe and managed way.”
With Circle Forestry focused on wildland fire mitigation and biochar production, Spadafora has also launched Circle Soil to foster public awareness and provide biochar-infused products to consumers.
His realization that individuals generally lack knowledge about biochar motivated him to develop consumer-friendly products.
“What I realized was that nobody knows what biochar is,” Spadafora says candidly.
The solution? A packaged, all-purpose potting mix enhanced with active biochar.
Currently available, this soil mix features charged biochar, enriched with volcanic minerals, compost from a central Utah turkey farm, coconut coir, worm castings, and expanded shale from Rockport.
“All ingredients are sourced locally,” Spadafora confirms, adding to the initiative’s commitment to local economy support.
Biochar itself primarily functions like a sponge at the microscopic level, capable of storing essential minerals and water or absorbing harmful substances.
However, when used on a smaller scale, such as in residential gardening, it requires charging—loading it with beneficial minerals—so as to provide nutrients rather than deplete them from plants.
Circle Soil collaborated with soil scientist Johnny Campbell, who has experience in formulating such mixes, to ensure the products were effective.
Describing biochar as a powerful enhancement for water retention and disease resistance in gardening, Campbell remarked, “It creates a higher-quality mix that retains water and nutrients better, preventing excess moisture that leads to disease and pest issues.
This ultimately helps prevent people from having to restart their plants.”
The biochar industry is experiencing rapid growth, with increasing interest fueled by carbon credit markets and a heightened focus on soil health.
According to John Webster, a biochar expert and head of GoBiochar in Salt Lake City, there has been an explosive rise in awareness.
“In a room of 1,000 people six years ago, maybe one person would know what biochar is,” Webster reflects.
“Now, the industry is evolving from a collective of enthusiasts to a legitimate marketplace.”
Webster likens the current trend to the transition from AOL to the internet, with Spadafora comparing biochar’s growing awareness to the craft brewing movement.
“Twenty years ago, no one knew what a hop was until Sam Adams started talking about it,” he explains.
“Now, hops are the logos of countless microbreweries across the nation.
That’s exactly the trajectory biochar is on.”
Community awareness is starting to build as well, with homeowners associations expressing interest in how green waste can be converted to biochar instead of merely being chipped or discarded.
“Residents are voicing their concerns, saying, ‘I don’t like them just chipping it; it seems like a waste,’” Webster reports.
“Now they’re inquiring about biochar, and it’s a receptive audience.”
This burgeoning interest has enabled Circle Forestry to hold demonstrations of their Ring of Fire kiln, such as one conducted for the Pinebrook community in June.
Spadafora hopes that more homeowners will favor the use of kilns over traditional waste disposal methods.
Beyond the environmental implications and economic benefits, Spadafora views this work as deeply personal.
“I love being in the forest.
I love being in the woods.
I love burning.
I love fire,” he expresses passionately.
“But we can do it better, and we should.”
Both Spadafora and Webster emphasize that biochar production can bring a healing aspect to workers extending years of service in wildfire response efforts.
“Firefighters who have devoted their time to battling fires often experience despair,” Webster notes.
“If we can encourage them to engage in something that fosters healing, it can make a tangible difference.”
Looking to the future, the Circle team anticipates that their biochar projects will participate in carbon credit programs, allowing larger companies to offset their carbon footprints through purchases.
Webster mentions his work in applying the necessary funding to deliver tangible products from these financial mechanisms.
Reflecting on the journey of establishing two businesses simultaneously, Spadafora shares his excitement as he notes the welcoming nature of the biochar community.
With ongoing forestry projects and a clear vision in mind, his aim is to gradually reshape perceptions regarding land management in the Wasatch Back region.
“I want to change their thinking into, ‘Oh, they’re making biochar.
They’re putting carbon back into the forest,’” Spadafora articulates.
“I want to redefine the narrative surrounding all this vital work.”
image source from：parkrecord
