Mast Reforestation

Market position

Mast positions itself as North America's leading post-wildfire reforestation company and an operational leader in terrestrial storage of biomass, stating MT1 is the first project to combine engineered carbon removal through burned biomass burial with post-wildfire reforestation and, per CDR.fyi, on track to be one of the largest deliveries of vintage 2025 TSB removal credits. It says it grows the majority of seedlings for California and manages the majority of seed for landowners across the 11 western states, and operates the largest privately held tree seed bank in the western U.S. (Silvaseed) and the largest independent container reforestation nursery in California (Cal Forest). It was named to the 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 list.

Mast pairs durable engineered carbon removal with ecological restoration on the same landscape, using credit revenue to fund reforestation in high-severity burn areas that are financially and ecologically marginal. It cites biomass burial as sequestering up to twice as much carbon from source biomass as biochar, which loses 50% or more of carbon during pyrolysis, and points to a BeZero 'A'pre rating placing MT1 in the top 8% of non-nature-based projects globally versus BeZero ex-post ratings. Vertical integration across seed banking, nursery production and field operations, and credits that can be generated and retired within a year, are also cited as differentiators. CNBC noted plans to diversify into other revenue sources such as serving real estate businesses that want healthy forests around their properties.

Technology

Mast's current core technology is terrestrial storage of biomass: geotechnically designed, anoxic burial chambers that hold unmerchantable fire-killed logs and are capped and continuously monitored for greenhouse gas emissions, designed to prevent decomposition for at least 100 years, with research and modeling cited as indicating preservation up to 3,000 years. Credit volume and integrity are verified through wood composition analysis, weight records and third-party MRV under Puro.earth, with long-term monitoring funded by an independent endowment. Earlier technology included custom heavy-lift drone swarms (up to 115 lbs gross weight, operated in groups of 3–5 beyond visual line of sight under FAA waivers) and seed 'pucks' containing native seed, nutrients, moisture-retaining materials and predator-deterrent coatings, plus remote charging infrastructure; five patents resulted from this work. The company also operates the largest seed bank in the western United States and commercial container, paper pot and bare-root seedling production.

Go-to-market

Mast works directly with landowners and partners with consulting foresters for restoration projects, sells carbon credits directly to corporate buyers and through marketplaces including CEEZER and Cloverly, and sells seed and seedlings through its Silvaseed and Cal Forest nurseries with defined ordering deadlines (seed sourcing orders by June 30, sow orders by November 15). It also partners with project co-developer Ecotrust Forest Management, uses third-party ratings and registries (Puro.earth, BeZero) as validation, runs press site tours at projects and nurseries, and publishes documentary films and project progression media.

Corporate and institutional carbon credit buyers (past and announced buyers include Shopify, TIME CO2, Royal Bank of Canada, Bain & Company, BMO and Cnaught); private landowners and ranch owners with wildfire-damaged property; consulting foresters; private timber companies, non-industrial private landowners and public agencies purchasing seed and seedlings.

Geography

Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with nurseries in Roy, Washington (Silvaseed) and Etna, California (Cal Forest). Project and restoration work spans California, Montana and Oregon, with carbon-financed reforestation across the U.S. and Canada and stated coverage of seed management across the 11 western states; early drone seeding pilots included British Columbia.

History

Founded in 2015 as DroneSeed, the company prototyped heavy-lift drone swarms, secured precedent-setting FAA waivers and five patents, and ran early aerial seeding pilots including work with a Washington tribal nation, the Tṣideldel and Tl'etinqox First Nations in British Columbia, and Henry Creek in Oregon, where it later hand-planted more than 160,000 seedlings across roughly 300 acres. Recognizing a native seed supply shortfall, it acquired the Silvaseed Company (founded 1871) in 2021, and in March 2023 acquired Cal Forest Nurseries and Siskiyou Seed, an Oregon regional seed hub. It has specialized in carbon-financed reforestation in the U.S. and Canada since 2020, with buyers including Shopify and TIME CO2. Rebranded as Mast Reforestation, the company raised a $25 million Series B in February 2025 to expand into biomass burial, completed burial at its MT1 project in Montana in September 2025, and subsequently sold and delivered MT1 credits to buyers including Royal Bank of Canada, Bain & Company, BMO and Cnaught.

Risks & controversies

The company operates in the voluntary carbon market, which CNBC noted faces criticism over loose definitions, greenwashing scrutiny and debate over whether offsets substitute for emissions reduction; credit purchases declined year over year in 2022 and supply was roughly flat. Mast's earlier drone-seeding approach produced patchy, site-dependent survival rates, with high-severity fires burning soil deeper than expected and wildlife predation reducing outcomes, leading the company to shift strategy. Regional constraints include limited mills that accept burned trees and mill closures in Montana, and insufficient government or philanthropic funding for reforestation.