Alder bush farms could help create biomass to burn for energy and save the province's forests from clear cutting, a forester from England says.

Linda Mallet, a forester in England's Sherwood Forest — best known as the home of the legendary Robin Hood — said her idea to create alder bush farms could help fix forests, improve the value of farm land, and produce energy from biomass.

Ancient woodlands are still standing in Nottinghamshire, she said, because of generations of selective cutting, and a practice called coppicing.

Coppicing means cutting a bit, then letting it grow back before cutting some more wood.

Mallett, who lives part of the year on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore, said in modern day terms, coppicing also means using a fast growing tree, such as alder, to cut every few years to make fuel chips.

"If you look in the fields of Nottinghamshire, Sherwood Forest, there are biomass fields, as well, feeding our power stations," she said Thursday.

Mallett said she's concerned about plans by Nova Scotia Power to use biomass for fuel because it could lead to clear cutting.

Biomass, which includes wood shavings and junk logs, is a key part of the province's plan to reduce its dependence on coal.

Mallett said she sees potential in thousands of acres of marginal farmland, contaminated land and industrial land that surround airports or other sites.

"That's what they're doing in the U.K. — they are using marginal land," Mallett said. "This is why I was hoping this kind of idea of short rotation coppice would then enable people to leave the forests alone, so that we could start growing our veteran trees for the future."

The idea is to grow vast tracts of alders in rows, and harvest sections so there's always more growing, Mallett said.

That would produce a constant fuel supply, protect higher value forest and improve thousands of acres of marginal land.

Nova Scotia Power and NewPage Port Hawkesbury reached an agreement in April to develop a $200-million facility to generate electricity by burning biomass.

They are planning a 60-megawatt biomass project that could produce three per cent of the province's electricity to supply 50,000 homes.

It also promises to create an additional 150 jobs in the woods of northern Nova Scotia.

NewPage already burns bark and junk logs to produce energy at its pulp and paper operation in Cape Breton. If this project proceeds, the company will use "stem wood," which means tree stumps, tops and branches will be left on the forest floor to restore nutrients to the soil.