SACRAMENTO, CA (June 25, 2025) – Facing immense community opposition and financial uncertainty, Golden State Natural Resources (GSNR) today canceled plans to build two industrial-scale wood pellet plants, a historic victory for forests, the climate, and the residents of California.
A coalition of grassroots, national, and international groups fought the plans to build destructive wood pellet plants in the central Sierras in Tuolumne County and another in Northern California in Lassen County, as well as a storage and export terminal in Stockton, California.
Today, GSNR announced plans “to explore alternative approaches for implementing their project” at its board of directors meeting, effectively canceling plans to build the controversial wood pellet facilities and export terminal. The company cited:
- The amount of input received during the California Environmental Quality Act Process with the draft environmental impact report (DEIR), which reached 50,000 comments in opposition
- Current biomass market conditions, which have weakened after governments turned away from subsidizing the industry and accompanying facility closures
California communities in the impact zones of the proposed pellet facilities and the export terminal as well as campaigners have sounded the alarm on GSNR and its false solutions for over two years.
GSNR’s board voted on three options and chose to pursue wood chip production, which effectively means it will go back to the drawing board, recirculate a revised impact statement, and give the public another opportunity for comment.
Large-scale wood chip production could still irrevocably harm California forests, communities, and climate, and could increase air pollution, particularly around sensitive communities. For years, the biomass industry has deceived customers about their sourcing and climate impacts, destroyed forests, and polluted communities. At this time, it is apparent that GSNR’s wood pellet plans are shelved no matter what. The wood pellet biomass industry has been stopped from getting a foothold in California. As GSNR reimagines its product development from wood pellets for export to domestic wood chipping, the company’s history of shoddy public involvement provides strong warning to Californians.
The coalition will be waiting for GSNR to recirculate its DEIR and look forward to reviewing and commenting.
Here is what coalition members are saying:
Gloria Alonso Cruz, Environmental Justice Advocacy Coordinator with Little Manila Rising in Stockton: “There’s absolutely no room for false climate solutions at the only inland port in California’s Central Valley: Stockton. For generations, industrial activity and the ongoing failure to seek community input on environmental compliance have worsened socioenvironmental conditions for South Stocktonians. We’re the 35th asthma capital in the world! We see the cost of industrial pollution firsthand when our loved ones experience the devastating impacts of chronic respiratory conditions. With this announcement, vulnerable communities in South Stockton can breathe a sigh of relief knowing we’ve protected our community from GSNR. We remain committed to supporting and standing in solidarity with communities that could be impacted by GSNR’s shift. While our port missed this opportunity to say ‘no’ to this harmful project, we now turn our attention to its leadership—to demand commitment to development that values advocates’ input and does not threaten our community’s health.”
Megan Fiske, Environmental Advocate at Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch in Tuolumne County: “Rural communities like Tuolumne and Calaveras counties have made it clear they want businesses that support the local economy, not big boom and bust industrial pursuits like those posed by GSNR’s project. It is a shame so much time and taxpayer money was wasted waiting for GSNR to realize what rural Californians already know - big biomass is a boondoggle. Fire resiliency starts at home, and we could’ve spent millions of dollars far more effectively protecting homes and neighborhoods in our communities instead of ignoring the voice of the public and allowing GSNR to pursue this oversized, counterproductive business scheme. Yes, we need different forest management to protect our communities but it should be driven by the community, not corporate interests looking to make a profit off rural communities’ hardships.”
Shaye Wolf, Ph.D., Climate Science Director at the Center for Biological Diversity: “Stopping this dirty, dangerous wood pellet export project is a big victory for communities, the climate and our forests. Our forests shouldn’t be fed to the woodchipper for polluting biomass pellets shipped overseas. Unfortunately, the new proposal to sacrifice forests and communities to make dirty biomass products here in California is still bad for the climate, public health and wildlife. We’ll continue to fight to protect our forests from being industrialized for corporate profit.”
Matt Holmes, Project Director for Valley Improvement Projects: “California's Environmental justice communities are worried that GSNR will now seek allies among the tidal wave of new energy projects ravenously applying for federal and state carbon capture credits. Those carbon credits are predictably propping unnecessary industrial facilities promising unproven results, categorically increasing pollution almost exclusively in our most vulnerable communities.”
Nick Joslin, Policy and Advocacy Director, Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center: “We have watched for decades as the dirty biomass industry has been buoyed by taxpayer subsidies and then collapsed once this corporate welfare runs dry. We are not surprised to see GSNR pivot away from their colossal pellet scheme as planned that required subsidies at every step of the process and left our communities with more pollution, greater fire risk, and our forests ravaged by increased logging.”
Gary Hughes, Biofuelwatch, Americas Program Coordinator: “As Golden State Natural Resources pulls the plug on their poorly conceived proposal to bring global wood pellet industry villains like Drax to California, our organization Biofuelwatch celebrates the results of an amazing statewide, nationwide and worldwide campaign that has successfully put a spotlight on the threats that the dirty biomass energy sector represents to forest ecosystems and local communities."
Mary Elizabeth, M.S., R.E.H.S., Delta-Sierra Group Conservation Chair, Sierra Club: “Having to learn more about biomass collection, pellet production, and international markets for a project that would increase harm to the Stockton community, I learned about how words can be twisted such as calling the project “Golden State Natural Resources Forest Resiliency Demonstration Project.” We hope that any revised draft environmental document will fully consider the greenhouse gas emissions (pollution) and harms to ecosystem resilience, along with more open collaboration to discuss local and regional efforts that will reduce wildfire impacts.”
Dan Howells, Climate Campaigns Director at Green America: “Californians exposed the false solutions of biomass and have hopefully put an end to the industry coming for our forests. Today’s announcement that GSNR is no longer considering biomass for export comes after tens of thousands of people told GSNR and Drax that California’s forests and communities are better off without industrial scale biomass destruction and the pollution that comes with it. Now, we need to ensure that California doesn’t pursue in-state biomass energy and instead pursues true renewable energy and wildfire mitigation for homes and communities.”
Maya Khosla, Sonoma County Climate Activist Network (SOCOCAN!): “We have objected to the GSNR project from its inception and our voices have been heard. Using wood from forests as source material for bioenergy or biofuels is the dirtiest form of energy. Using forest wood also results in the opposite of forest resiliency – dried-out soils and depleted forests – creates massive emissions from the processing, transportation and smokestacks, leads to health and safety risks to communities near and far. The emissions from extractions far exceed wildfire emissions (by a factor of 5 or more) and include greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are not being counted as emissions. Inevitably, the emissions worsen the climate crisis and create conditions for even worse wildfires. To deal with the emissions, industries are now proposing to pump the carbon dioxide underground, a process called “carbon capture and storage” (CCS), which is potentially dangerous, has resulted in serious accidents and injuries, and comes with no guarantee that the carbon dioxide will remain underground. The efficacy of CCS has been questioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and others. We need to move away from bioenergy and biofuels.”
Esther Mburu, Carbon Policy Analyst, Restore the Delta: "The Delta begins in the Sierra Nevada forests, and what happens upstream directly affects water quality downstream. We're relieved that the export terminal appears to be off the table, but shipping wood pellets overseas was never about clean energy. It was about propping up dirty coal plants abroad while degrading the watershed that feeds California's water supply. As GSNR considers domestic alternatives, we'll continue advocating for real solutions that protect both our interconnected waterways and the communities that depend on them."
Mary Booth, Director, Partnership for Policy Integrity: “Scientists and advocates keep trying to explain to policymakers that burning trees isn’t going to help the climate. Advocates will continue fight this multi-million-dollar climate con in its new incarnation.”
Rita Vaughan Frost, Forest Advocate at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): “We spelled out the writing on the wall: GSNR’s biomass boondoggle is not welcome in California communities. Californians raised their voices to show they want real clean energy and real solutions to wildfires, not to see their forests ransacked, and communities poisoned just to export climate-busting wood pellets overseas. As GSNR reinvents itself, NRDC remains steadfast in our commitment to stand by communities that have won this hard-fought victory over the wood pellet biomass industry. While they may be donning the new clothes of wood chip production, we are ready to analyze the climate, forest, and community impacts of this newest iteration."
# # #
Little Manila Rising (LMR) serves the South Stockton community, developing equitable solutions to the effects of historical marginalization, institutionalized racism, and harmful public policy. LMR offers a wide spectrum of programs that address education, environment, redevelopment, and public health. LMR values all people’s unique and diverse experiences and wishes to see the residents of South Stockton enjoy healthy, prosperous lives.
Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch (EPFW) works to protect, promote, and restore heathy forests and watersheds to maintain the quality of life in the Sierra Nevada. Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch supports responsible forest management and logging methods.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Valley Improvement Projects (VIP) strives to reach-out to low-income and working class communities, communities of color, immigrants, Spanish-speakers, LGBTQ community, religious minorities, indigenous communities, youth, elders, people with disabilities, houseless community, and many others who carry the extra burdens of our society.
Since 1988, the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center has played a pivotal role in preserving the integrity of Mount Shasta and its surroundings. Our bioregional perspective encompasses not only natural interconnected systems but also their cultural layers that constitute the human relationship to the land. We work through public education, science-based public policy and advocacy, legal challenges, restoration, watershed monitoring, forest stewardship, building partnerships and alliances, and engaging the local community to connect with and protect our bioregion."
Biofuelwatch provides information and undertakes advocacy and campaigning in relation to the climate, biodiversity, land and human rights and public health impacts of large-scale industrial bioenergy. We are a small team of staff and volunteers based in Europe and the USA.
The Delta-Sierra Group of the Mother Lode Chapter is a regional unit of the Sierra Club that organizes outdoor activities and focuses attention on environmental issues. We all agree to practice the Sierra Club motto that you should "Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet."
Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems.
SOCOCAN (www.SonomaCountyCan.ORG), is an umbrella for 50 organizations and 300 individuals.
Restore the Delta works in the areas of public education, program and policy development, and outreach so that all Californians recognize the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta as part of California’s natural heritage, deserving of restoration. We interface with local, state and federal agencies to advance this vision.
The Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) uses data-driven advocacy and litigation to fight for forests, communities, and the climate.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).
