The Alaska Wood Utilization Research and Development Center (WUC)
was established "to unify and enhance opportunities for
economic assistance to workers, families, businesses, and communities
affected by the changing timber industry in Southeast Alaska"
(former Department of Agriculture Secretary, Dan Glickman).
WUC assists Alaskan forest products companies with developing methods and products that take advantage of the state's unique resources as well as finding means to be productive in the face of equally unique challenges.
Organizational Overview
Wood Utilization Center, established in 1999, is a part of the Pacific Northwest Research Station, which is located in Portland, Oregon. WUC is a team in the Human and Natural Resources Interactions program. HNRI's mission is to "improve our understanding of the social and economic values as input to and evaluation of resource management decisions."
Research Impacts
By conducting a broad spectrum of research in problems facing Alaska's forest-based industries, the center and its partners make the following impacts:
- Allow Alaska wood products manufacturers entry into new markets by providing funding and coordination to leverage new grading rules for Alaska lumber.
- Create new markets for low-grade hardwood logs by applying creative thinking and identifying major change in consumer preference for Alaska hardwoods.
- Initiate growth of value added production opportunities through improved dry kiln operations and secondary processing methods.
- Improve economically feasible biomass utilization systems using wood waste as fuel, by furnishing technical information.
- Expand manufacturing opportunities in communities embedded in the National Forest system through economic development assistance.
- Increase benefits from National Forest policies by providing specialized, technical assistance to Region 10 and other National Forest programs.
- Determined that data relating to lumber exports from Alaska were understated in previous reports due to transshipments, allowing future estimates of Alaska timber demand to be more accurate.
- Distribute requested research results to a broad audience. For example, in less than 3 weeks, over 15 copies of a journal article were mailed to answer requests from Korea to Turkey and throughout the United States.
- Identify significant economic trends in sawmill capacity and wood utilization. A recent survey found that the rate of decline in timber usage by southeast Alaska mills has diminished considerably.
- Examine the possibility of creating a formal wood products cluster initiative on the Tongass National Forest to fully meet the interests and needs of local, regional, national, and international markets.
- Test improved preservation techniques that will allow Alaska species to be used for railroad ties and fence post.
- Frequently share updates on research projects by distributing the Alaska Wood Tides newsletter to over 1700 addresses throughout Alaska, the lower 48 states, and Canada.
- Cooperate with multiple organizations to help the Alaska forest products industry, including Ketchikan Wood Technology Center, Juneau Economic Development Council, Alaska Energy Authority, and the University of Alaska, Cooperative Extension Service.