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Aiding
ecosystem treatments of dense small diameter stands on the Shasta-Trinity
National Forest
 Issues:
Closure of older mills in some
rural communities, e.g., Hayfork, California, has removed the
primary source of family wage jobs.
Resource managers on the Shasta Trinity and other National Forests
are seeking assistance in designing financially viable density
management treatments for small diameter (4-9 inches dbh) softwood
stands.
Objectives:
Support community forestry by
identifying high value products that can be manufactured from
small-diameter timber.
Help resource managers understand the cost of treatments in small
diameter stands and the value of the wood removed.
Technical Focus:
Approximately 400 trees will
be harvested and sawn into lumber using an ``Economizer"
portable sawmill. Sawing efficiency, lumber grade yield, alternative
drying techniques, pulp yield, and pulp quality will be tested.
A portion of the lumber will be evaluated for use as high value
moulding and millwork. The remaining lumber will be tested for
a wide range of structural applications. Thermo-mechanical and
kraft pulp quality and yields will also be measur ed.
Expected Outcomes:
The resulting data will be used to
develop a Northern California variant of the Financial Evaluation
of Ecosystem Management Activities (FEEMA) software to help northern California and southern
Oregon resource manages design financially viable treatments for
small-diameter stands.
Entrepreneurs from the Hayfork community will identify high value
products that can be manufactured from small diameter using local
skills and labor.
Community industries will use the resulting raw material to create
family wage jobs and provide revenue to offset costs of forest
management treatments.
Collaborators: Hayfork District, Shasta-Trinity National
Forest; Watershed Research & Training Center, Hayfork, CA;
Jefferson State Forest Products, Hayfork, CA; ALAMCO Wood Products,
Inc; Albert Lea, MN; Western Wood Products Association, Portland,
OR; Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USDA Forest Products
Laboratory, PNW Research Station.
Contact: PNW Eini
Lowell 503-808-2072, FPL Dave Green 608-321-9592, Gary Myers
608-231-9425.
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