CHUCK LEAVELL: On this episode of America's Forests, we travel to California.

We'll plant redwoods that one day might grow to be the tallest trees on the planet.

We'll meet survivors of wildfires rebuilding their communities.

We'll learn about different approaches to living with fire.

We'll turn wood chips into electricity.

Take a tour of the Fender Instrument Factory.

And, of course, we'll have a fun jam session.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Hi, I'm Chuck Leavell.

Y'know in addition to my beautiful family, there's two things in my life that I have a special interest in and love for; Music and Trees.

My wife Rose Lane and I own and manage our own forest land right here in Georgia, Charlane Plantation.

We grow Southern Yellow Pine as well as other species here.

And you know as I get to travel the world with The Rolling Stones or some of the other artists that I'm so privileged to work with, I get to meet all kind of folks that also have a passion and love for trees, forests, and the outdoors.

And now I get to share their stories with you.

So join me as we journey through America's Forests.

CHUCK LEAVELL: In November of 2018, this community and others nearby were nearly totally wiped out by one of the worst wildfires in California history - the Camp Fire.

CHUCK LEAVELL: The fire started by Camp Creek Road, most likely due to faulty equipment at an electrical tower.

Strong winds quickly spread the blaze until it engulfed more than 18,000 homes.

CHUCK LEAVELL: For Charles Brooks and his family, life changed forever that day.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Whoah, this is it, huh?

CHARLES BROOKS: Yep, this is the place.

CHUCK LEAVELL: So this was actually your plot of land, you and your wife and your kids?

CHARLES BROOKS: Yep.

You're walking right past where our house was, and then this is kind of our back lawn and play area for the family trampoline and a little standup swimming pool in the summertime.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Were you actually here when the fire was going or had you escaped?

CHARLES BROOKS: No, we were getting out of the house.

It started early in the morning.

I have a routine a couple of days a week of hiking in the canyon nearby.

And, while we were out there before the sun came up, we were all commenting about how this is really bad fire weather.

We can't believe how many pine needles fell out of the sky the night before and just how hot and dry and windy it was for the beginning of November.

Normally we've had a couple of rains by now.

And my oldest boy, he comes up about 7:15 in the morning, says, "Dad, I smell smoke."

CHUCK LEAVELL: What then, what did you do?

CHARLES BROOKS: I went over to my neighbor's house and said, "Hey, I think we need to start thinking about getting out of here."

We talked for just a minute and I turned around to leave his house, and that's when I heard it.

It was like this low rumble that sounds like thunder off in the distance that doesn't end.

And everything in my body said, "there's something wrong."

And like my hair stood up and then that's when a burning stick fell out of the sky and landed in front of my foot and I was like, "We're out of here."

CHUCK LEAVELL: Charles, his wife, and two children made it out safely.

But the toll on Paradise was devastating.

At least 85 people died and thousands became homeless.

California towns like Paradise aren't alone.

The entire state is confronting a new reality.

Climate change is creating warmer, drier conditions.

That increases the frequency and the intensity of wildfires.

Preventing tragedies like the Camp Fire is on everyone's mind here.

There is no single solution but many strategies -- each with their pluses and minuses.

One tactic is to create a fuel break.

Here on a stretch of highway north of Paradise, a team is thinning out trees on both sides of the road in order to help contain a future fire.

BEN ROWE: The Camp Fire, the fires of 2017 in Sonoma and Lake County, yeah, it changed everybody's perspective in California.

People have awakened and realized we have to start treating our forests and the vegetation to try to prevent these larger fires.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Hallelujah.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Unlike a firebreak that removes all vegetation, shaded fuel breaks leave some trees standing.

The idea is to slow down a wildfire, giving firefighters more time to respond.

SABRINA CANTU: I felt personally connected with all the fires that came through.

It was hard to watch something so close to home, affect everyone so deeply.

And if we would've been better taking care of the forest, that wouldn't have happened.

That's what we're out here doing.

I mean there's so much fuel that's around the forest right now.

And logging, that's what takes care of it.

So there is no fuel for the fires.

CHUCK LEAVELL: After the big logs are removed, the final step is grinding up the remaining twigs and branches.

On my tree farm in Georgia, we also put in fuel breaks.

Knowing how important they are, I wanted to help the effort here.

ZANE PETERSON: So this is a masticator and basically what it does is chews up all the small material that we can't pick up with our skidders or our loader so we'll chew it up and incorporate it into the soil and go from there.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Alright.

Let's go.

Let's mount up.

I feel like I'm getting into a space capsule here, man.

You gonna send me to Mars with this thing?

ZANE PETERSON: Maybe so.

[closes door] CHUCK LEAVELL: Alright, Zane.

You ready?

Well, let me get this puppy going.

CHUCK LEAVELL: The masticator achieves two goals.

The chopped up material is less flammable and it provides nutrients to make the remaining trees healthier.

CHUCK LEAVELL: How was I?

ZANE PETERSON: You're pretty good, Chuck.

Maybe you need a job.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Ok, put me to work, baby.

Put me to work.

CHUCK LEAVELL: No one expects that fuel breaks alone can solve the problem of catastrophic wildfires.

So another tactic being used is fighting fire with fire.

It's called ecological forestry.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Under very careful conditions, a highly-trained crew sets a small fire that takes out the smaller trees and shrubs leaving the larger trees unharmed.

In fact, some tree species, like the lodgepole pine and sequoia, need fire to germinate.

EDWARD SMITH: Ecological forestry is a new discipline.

It's really been developed over the last 10 to 15 years.

And it's really trying to emulate or imitate what happened here naturally before when lightning and Native Americans were lighting fires.

The vast body of science is really indicating that by combining thinning with prescribed burning, we can improve the conditions of these forests.

JEFFREY BROWN: So we just burned here, which is great, and I'm standing next to what we really like, these bigger trees.

And if you look really closely at this tree, you'll notice that it has really thick bark.

So this is one of the species of trees that's designed or has evolved to survive fire.

And they can survive well with low intensity fire, which is what we've created here with this prescribed burn.

GREG LOWDERMILK: The environment is kind of asking us to put a little bit of fire back into it.

It's a delicate dance for us in the way that our society has grown and evolved, and we have to be specific in where we implement it.

And we're also working very diligently to build the public trust and the public confidence that we're capable of reintroducing it in a controlled fashion.

CHUCK LEAVELL: With prescribed burns, the fear is that something could go wrong and the fire could get out of hand.

But doing nothing puts communities in greater danger.

JEFFREY BROWN: So a lot of people will say, well, this is the Forest Service's problem, and it's not, this is our problem.

It's our part of the world.

We are dependent on these forests for a lot of things, including if you're a Californian, the water that comes out of your faucet and about 60 to 70% of California's water comes from these forests.

And so, none of us has the resources to deal with this, hell, we hardly have the problem as a collective to deal with this.

But it's something that we need to come together to manage.

CHUCK LEAVELL: In California, a debate is raging about how to live with wildfires and whether houses at the edge of the forest even make sense.

But Charles Brooks and others believe that you can rebuild wisely with multiple fire protection measures in place.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Well, you have been, a proponent to rebuild this community.

I know a lot of people have left this community and said, "I've had enough, not going to come back."

CHARLES BROOKS: My wife and I talked about it.

We're both kind of long-term planners.

And we said, "Well, we're going to rebuild our house."

I'm confident we'll come back.

Nature's already come back.

We're a year after the fire and there's green and ton of deer, ton of animals.

And so you can tell nature's coming back.

CHUCK LEAVELL: It can be resilient.

It can be resilient.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Resilience of nature and people -- the way forward in California will be to bring the two in harmony -- understanding that the forest needs fire and we need the forest.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Welcome to Redwood Country.

The Redwood tree is a symbol of Northern California, and what amazes me is that these trees behind me are genetically identical to their parents, to their grandparents, even their great-grandparents, and going back tens of thousands of years.

That's what I call a great lineage.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Coastal redwoods are truly wonders of nature.

They are the tallest tree species in the world - reaching higher than 350 feet.

They are also amongst the oldest - living 1200 years or more.

And they are specialists - growing only where the fog is thick.

ELICIA GOLDSWORTHY: Redwoods are limited to central California up to Southern Oregon.

The real limiting factor is the coastal fog belt.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Elicia Goldsworthy is a silviculturist.

Her job is to manage the health of this redwood stand.

ELICIA GOLSWORTHY: Redwood is really amazing.

It can take water in at night and it can take water in during the day and it almost has no dormancy season, so it's always growing.

CHUCK LEAVELL: On most summer mornings, this part of northern California is shrouded in mist rising from the ocean.

This time of year, there is almost no rainfall so water from fog plays a vital role for the redwoods.

Fog provides three things -- it makes the soil wetter, it decreases the rate of evaporation and it adds moisture that the redwoods take in through their needles.

All that water allows the redwoods to become towering giants, capable of growing more than 3 feet in a year.

ELICIA GOLSWORTHY: Redwood is an incredibly thrifty species.

It grows so incredibly fast.

Some of the highest rates of volume production of any species, the commercial timber species.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Beginning in the 1850s, commercial interests almost wiped out all of the California redwood forests.

Men who came west for the Gold Rush stayed to become lumbermen, fueling the explosion of cities like San Francisco.

Like so much of our nation's forests, much of the redwoods were clear-cut.

Centuries-old trees fell to axes and saws in an instant.

In 1918, conservationists began ringing alarm bells.

They formed a Save The Redwoods League, marking the beginning of an effort to preserve what little was left of these ancient forests.

CHUCK LEAVELL: In the late 1980s, controversy flared again.

Activists protested cutting the remaining old-growth.

Some occupied tree canopies for months, chained themselves to trunks and blocked logging trucks.

The conflict ended when the government purchased more than 7000 acres for a new reserve.

Since then, timber companies have committed to leaving all old-growth stands intact and have moved to a new way of logging redwoods.

That new approach is to remove only a handful of trees, leaving behind a better habitat for those that remain.

ELICIA GOLSWORTHY: We thin so that we can maintain the health and productivity of our redwood trees.

We don't want our trees slowing down and being susceptible to disease or insect attacks.

We also want to maintain a good rate of growth.

CHUCK LEAVELL: So basically we're talking about bigger, stronger, faster after a thinning like this?

ELICIA GOLSWORTHY: That's correct.

CHUCK LEAVELL: After thinning, timber companies are taking another step to make the redwood forests healthier.

They are replanting.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Alright, one of my favorite things to do.

Let's go plant some trees.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Private landowners have pledged to plant 5 new trees for every one they cut down.

The goal is to keep these forests here forever.

MATTHEW MATTIODA: Forestry is a long-term business.

We're going for the long game.

And so we're not looking one or two years, we're looking generations down the road.

So, we have what was given to us and we want to make sure we leave it in as good or better condition than we received it in.

GARY RYNEARSON: You know, everybody uses the term sustainability and sustainable and I think it gets a little overused.

We like the term perpetual.

We're standing in a third-growth forest.

And so rather than sustainable, if you think about these forests as perpetual.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Love it.

I like that word perpetual.

That's fantastic.

CHUCK LEAVELL: My wife Rose Lane and I will never give up our Georgia Pines, but we have to admit these California redwoods have gotten under our skin.

CHUCK LEAVELL: 900 years old.

ROSE LANE LEAVELL: And the sun is shining through the woods.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?

ROSE LANE LEAVELL: Gorgeous!

CHUCK LEAVELL: I feel optimistic knowing that Californians are committed to preserving the redwoods.

It's simply amazing to walk under these colossal, ancient trees.

And it's a joy to know that wise decisions today mean they will still be here hundreds of years in the future.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Here's an equation you probably haven't thought of.

Wood = Electricity.

It's called biomass and it's a form of energy that is both renewable and carbon-neutral.

CHUCK LEAVELL: So, what exactly is biomass?

Well, the best way to understand is to get a tour of a facility like this one, run by Sierra Pacific Industries.

This mill turns raw logs into lumber used in construction.

But instead of throwing the waste chips away, they transform it into fuel.

SHANE YOUNG: What you see here, we got chips coming out.

This is what we call Hog Fuel.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Shane Young is the plant manager.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Well, Shane, what's fascinating to me is that you're milling lumber to make houses and offices and renovations and whatnot, And then, of course, this fuel that creates how much electricity?

SHANE YOUNG: This plant can produce 30 Megawatts of power which is enough to power 30,000 homes here in California.

CHUCK LEAVELL: 30,000 homes!

SHANE YOUNG: That's right.

CHUCK LEAVELL: That's just fantastic.

And nothing goes to waste, right?

SHANE YOUNG: Nothing goes to waste, everything from the tree creating lumber and fiber products is 100% used and 100% renewable.

CHUCK LEAVELL: You gotta love that, man.

CHUCK LEAVELL: The chips are loaded onto a massive conveyer belt that brings them up to the burner.

SHANE YOUNG: If you look inside here CHUCK LEAVELL: Oh yeah!

Wow!

Awwww, look at that!

Now what's the temperature in that box?

SHANE YOUNG: 982 degrees.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Whoo, that's hot baby!

SHANE YOUNG: It's hot in there.

CHUCK LEAVELL: We climbed up to the command center at the heart of the facility.

I'll have to tell Rose Lane I got my steps in for the day!

CHUCK LEAVELL: Wow, that was quite a trek to the top of the facility, man.

SHANE YOUNG: That's a workout.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Wow, Shane, this is like NASA Control Center here.

Tell me what we're looking at with these monitors.

SHANE YOUNG: All these monitors are controlling the entire operation of the facility-- everything from the water pressure, steam pressure, and then of course the turbine generator that is monitoring our power.

SHANE YOUNG: This is our firebox right here.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Looks like it's popping, baby.

SHANE YOUNG: She's cooking good.

And what we're looking for is a nice straight line, which you see there.

And that s what we're looking for in this boiler, is good combustion.

We want all the fuel to be burnt.

And what comes out of it is a very minimal amount of what we call "fly ash."

CHUCK LEAVELL: But biomass has its detractors -- those who are concerned about the amount of carbon dioxide emitted when the wood waste is burned.

SHANE YOUNG: We have to report that to the EPA and Air Quality on a monthly basis.

That is very important for what we do.

This is a very efficient burning boiler, probably one of the more efficient burning boilers in the country.

And one of the cleanest burning boilers in the country from an emissions standpoint.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Across California, there are currently about 22 biomass facilities, including this one owned by the Humboldt Redwood Company.

This plant generates electricity for the mill and also for the local community.

JOHN ANDERSEN: When comparing wood to coal and natural gas, you're looking at using a product that is far more renewable.

We got to dig coal out of the ground and use it.

we can grow in 60 years in the tree, turn those into forest products that also store carbon and then the waste from those we can use for renewable energy.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Here in California, advocates say that biomass energy has another advantage.

The state has many forests that have been hit by drought, which are a major wildfire hazard.

Those dead trees can be put to positive use -- to generate electricity.

JOHN ANDERSEN: Wood has so many good qualities.

It's here locally.

It's abundant.

It is renewable and we can use this in perpetuity as long as we keep managing the forest the way we are.

to produce 24/7 renewable energy.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Across the country, communities are moving away from fossil fuels and towards renewable resources -- like the sun, wind, and trees.

Done right, electricity from wood can play a major role in our sustainable future.

[ELECTRIC GUITAR RIFF] CHUCK LEAVELL: Can you imagine musical instruments without wood?

Just about every musical instrument needs wood to make its sound, especially guitars.

And today we're here at the incredible Fender Guitar company.

We're going to talk about how they get the wood that makes their guitars, where it comes from, we're also going to look at the craftsmanship involved, AND, we're going to have a fun little jam session with my good friend, Brian Ray, who plays guitar with - wait for it - Paul McCartney.

Let's go have some fun.

JAM SESSION CHUCK LEAVELL: You must own probably, what, 30-40 Fender instruments?

BRIAN RAY: Probably, easily.

I probably have a total of around 90 guitars and at least 30 of those are Fenders.

Basses as well because, as you know, I play bass a lot of the time with Paul McCartey, so you've got to have the right gear.

CHUCK LEAVELL: That "right gear" comes from an unlikely inventor - Leo Fender, a radio repair guy who burst on the scene in 1946.

JUSTIN NORVELL: And it was kind of a zeitgeist moment.

It was right when the rock and roll revolution was starting to happen, so ... CHUCK LEAVELL: Good timing, right?

JUSTIN NORVELL: Exactly!

Music Break JUSTIN NORVELL: Leo was much more like a Henry Ford style person.

He used to say, if I have $100 to make something, I'll make spend $98 making it work and $2 making it pretty.

So it was all about making tools for people to be able to use.

You could turn them up, you could play them louder, which changed music forever.

JAM SESSION CHUCK LEAVELL: Electricity may have transformed guitars and basses but the heart of each instrument is still wood.

I got the inside scoop from Mike Born, Director of Wood Technology.

CHUCK LEAVELL: I know that you personally have a passion for sustainability, that you want to make sure that any wood you use to make these instruments are coming from a sustainable source.

MIKE BORN: Absolutely.

For a lot of reasons.

Besides the fact that I'm very much a conservationist, right?

At heart I'm a wood guy.

So I like to see that whole chain of custody, from the tree through the government auctions, through the manufacturing the product is held to what we expect.

If you don't have that, it really doesn't belong in a guitar.

JAM SESSION CHUCK LEAVELL: Fender uses wood from all over the world - from Africa to Asia and even our own backyards here at home.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Look at this, this is, like, before it all gets painted up and the pickups go in and everything.

MIKE BORN: So, this is a perfect example of something that we work on in sustainability, Chuck.

I'm glad you picked this one up in particular.

Cause this actually comes from urban trees.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Oh really?

MIKE BORN: There's about 4 billion board feet of trees that go inininininery.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Wow!

MIKE BORN: Our thought is, there's got to be some of that you can make an electric guitar out of.

So we're just experimenting with it now.

But it seems like it's going to have a place in the Fender library of guitars in the future.

And you might see something that came out of your front yard one day.

CHUCK LEAVELL: This thing isn't quite ready, Mike, but, you know, when it is, I'll be ready for it, baby!

MIKE BORN: I'm not certain that's your instrument, Chuck!

LAUGHTER CHUCK LEAVELL: Yeah, on second thought, I'd better stick with the piano!

CHUCK LEAVELL: Mike, I can't thank you enough for taking us through this incredible process.

We're kind of at the final assembly line here, right?

MIKE BORN: This is where it all comes together in its final package before some lucky person gets to get this.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Ah, look at that.

Can I put this one in the case?

MIKE BORN: Absolutely, it's ready to go.

So imagine someday when you're on stage playing with the guy playing this guitar.

CHUCK LEAVELL: Oh man.

I can't wait.

Here we go.

Lock 'er up.

I might just have to take this one home.

MIKE BORN: Uh, Chuck?

Chuck?

CHUCK!?

CHUCK LEAVELL: Thanks so much for watching.

And I hope you'll join us on the next episode of America's Forests, with me, Chuck Leavell.

In the meantime, enjoy the woods, and enjoy the music.