Wildfire Smoke Stinks.
Join KCT in Saving Our Summers.

As temperatures start to rise, the sunshine returns, and the grey haze rolls over the PNW, we know where it’s coming from. Not industrial smog or our normal heavy rain, but the lingering wake of wildfires. The distinct smell and dust reaching anything and everything around it. Smoke isn't just weather anymore—it's a symptom.

Every year, wildfire-prone wood piles up across our region with nowhere good to go, leaving it to get burned in the open or left to rot. Neither is good. That's exactly how wildfire risks compounds, year after year, while the soil beneath it all keeps losing the structure that once held water and carbon together.

Biochar is a simple intervention that turns a costly problem into a clear community solution with powerful co-benefits.

Saving Our Summers (SOS) is Kulshan Carbon Trust's 2026 campaign to change our fiery fate, turning a recurring wildfire crisis into cleaner air, healthier soils, and climate resilience for years to come.

A Simple Idea: Controlled Burns > Uncontrolled Burns

We’ve known for a long time that wildfires play a crucial role in ecological systems, with indigenous burn practices spanning time immemorial. When we block these natural processes from occurring, the system overloads, negative effects compound and we race against the clock to prevent catastrophe. Mother Nature always wins, so the key is to steward our landscapes in a way that works with nature, rather than against it. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Our Land Stewards Network connects farmers, foresters, and orchardists across Western Washington, each running a flame-cap kiln that converts hazardous woody waste into biochar—allowing for the permanent removal of carbon from the atmosphere, cutting wildfire fuel loads, and rebuilding soil health, all in one act.

One burn. Three wins:

Less fuel on the land
Carbon drawn down from the air
Richer soil for the farms that feed our region

This is a community-first climate solution you can see and touch. KCT provides the training, kiln access, permitting support, and carbon verification that no single practitioner could access alone.

Why This Matters, Right Now

With recent smoke scares and a high wildfire forecast, this work is more important than ever. From human health concerns due to highly concentrated particle pollution driven by wildfire smoke, to ecological concerns surrounding the enormous volume of CO2 produced from wildfires emission, wildfires are one of the largest issues facing Washington State.

Wildfires in one Washington county emitted 1.54 million tons of CO₂ in 2023 alone. 1

Biochar burns can help to prevent part of the problem, each biochar burn mitigates ~4.5 tons of woody fuel that would otherwise sit as fire risk or get pile-burned in the open. This fixes the carbon sequestered by plants during their lifetimes and locks it away for centuries when applied to soil, one of Earth’s natural carbon sinks. From greater water and nutrient retention to building a home for beneficial microbes, biochar truly is the gift that keeps giving!

Portable biochar systems cut greenhouse-gas impact by ~1.9–2.8 tons of CO2 per ton versus pile-burning the same material 2

How You Can Help:

Give at whatever level fits you: from Concerned Citizen ($5) to Biochar Champion ($10,000), every tier moves this forward. Every gift helps to Save Our Summers.

$50 supports community outreach and education at local events.
$200 covers a demonstration site assessment, ensuring a safe, successful burn.
$1,000 funds a community biochar demonstration here in NW Washington.
Any amount moves us towards our campaign goal – gifts are matched, so yours goes further!

Saving Our Summers Fundraising Campaign

Turning Wildfire Woes into Biochar Benefits