In past columns I have written
about new National Forest policies and fuels reduction strategies near forest communities,
including local fire safe councils. A reliable and consistent stream of small diameter
logs or other product from these activities could provide an opportunity for new
businesses. Sue Levan from the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) spoke about the
possibilities at a recent Happy Camp forum.
Levan started by talking about what a small diameter tree is. Her
definition is that it is one inch smaller than trees that can be used in the local sawmill
– typically under eight inches. The cost to harvest small trees is high and the value
of the raw material is lost through gathering and transportation costs. Adding value to
these trees before they are shipped out of a community makes them more merchantable and
affordable to transport. She recommends looking for markets first, then working backward
to determine the commercial products that can best be produced locally.
Special small log saw mill processors can take logs down to six
inches. There are also portable chipper-canter
mills. Some products that have been made with this technology and “suppressed growth”
Douglas Fir include flooring, siding, finger-jointed studs and glue-laminated timber.
Roundwood under eight inches in diameter has produced a variety of
products – furniture, poles, posts, guardrails, highway sign posts and fences. A
relatively new use is the creation of roundwood “structural elements” for use as
studs and trusses. A four inch diameter piece of roundwood is stronger than a milled 2X4
stud. With unique metal connectors, roundwood has successfully been used to produce prefab
kiosks, pavilions, gazebos, picnic shelters, interpretive centers and greenhouses where
they can be assembled on site, disassembled and moved to another site. (I understand that
a demonstration project of this type of structure is being planned for Greenhorn Park in
Yreka.)
Larger uses have included the construction of a 165 foot pedestrian
suspension bridge and a library building in Darby Montana, (also using blue stain
ponderosa pine on the ceiling.) The FPL is working on tables to assess material strength
for acceptance by Building Departments.
Chps and strands can be used for pulp, landscaping, and wood
composites, such as oriented strand board. They can be mixed with plastics or concrete for
materials with molding, acoustic or other unique characteristics. Shavings, small pieces
and sawdust have been used for particle board, animal bedding, erosion control and
molding. Composites with wood and plastic have been used to create shingles, house siding,
automobile parts, highway signs and playground paving mix. Junipers and recycled milk
bottles have been used to create water filtration devices with an affinity for attracting
heavy metals.
Of course, chips or palletized small wood material can also be used
as biomass fuel to drive turbines to produce energy or create heat. (More on the recent
Scott River Watershed Council forum organized by Ric Costales in a future column.)
Levan identified barriers to success as: poor marketing; not using
the right equipment; lack of reliable stream of raw material; and not enough high value
material.
Once the many problems associated with gathering a reliable supply of
materials at a feasible cost are worked out, the next step to creating an infrastructure
for value added products might be a sorting facility. This would provide a source of
appropriate material. Then further value could
be added by milling, chipping, shredding and pelletizing the material for further value to
be added by local small wood-products enterprises.
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/tmu/
http://www.bitterrootrcd.org/bitterrootvalley-main.html
***
Have you bought your tickets for Happy Camp’s Rollin on the
River motorcycle event July 3-5 http://www.happycampriverrun.com/ or the
Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival, July 17-18 at the Etna City Park? http://www.scottvalley.org/SVbluegrass.htm |
