Researchers from Michigan State and Michigan Technological universities are seeking to ensure a steady and sustainable supply of material for the state's first wood-based ethanol plant.

Funding comes from a $2 million grant the Michigan Economic Development Corp. made in 2008 to Lebanon, N.H.-based Mascoma Corp.

Mascoma and Marquette-based J.M. Longyear LLC formed Frontier Renewable Resources to operate the plant planned for Chippewa County's Kinross Township. It's about 15 miles southwest of Sault Ste. Marie in the eastern Upper Peninsula.

Michigan State forest biomass coordinator Raymond Miller says a goal is to make sure the material used to supply the plant is harvested in an efficient and renewable way.