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Marginal lands constitute the primary land base available for development of both grass and short-rotation woody perennial bioenergy crops in NY and the Northeast. Use of marginal lands for bioenergy can help defuse food vs. fuel competition for prime farmland, provide regionally-distributed sources of energy products, and can prevent reversion of idle lands to scrub. “Marginal” (a term whose meaning varies regionally) in NY commonly means seasonally wet, poorly drained, and sometimes susceptible to drought in summer. Perennial crops that require minimal soil disturbance once established are a good match for these soils. Unfortunately, the research base on bioenergy grass production and impacts on these soils is very thin, especially for NY and the Northeast. Our goal is to carry out research on marginal soils, assessing crops yields as well as soil and emission impacts for both switchgrass and reed canarygrass.