State & Private Forestry
Forest Products Laboratory
The individual items included in the Review reflect the content and tone of the original articles. Inclusion of an item does not imply agreement nor endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of facts or opinions contained in any article. The Review does not evaluate the accuracy of the information reported.
USDA Forest Service
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The 1998 Chief's Honor Awards were announced on May 7 and the FPC&R; Technology Marketing Unit (TMU) is proud to announce that John "Rusty" Dramm, a forest products technologist in the TMU, was part of the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) team to win first place in the "One Time Special Projects and Campaigns" category. The award is for initiative in shifting research program direction to emphasize communication, collaboration, and support to National Forest land managers. Members of the team are Tom Hamilton, Ted Wegner, Sue LeVan, Dave Green, Russ Moody, and Rusty. Rusty and Tom Hamilton, FPL Director, will attend the awards ceremony in Washington, DC, on July 1.
Fund for Rural America Grants Announced - Grants from the Standard Grant and Rural Information Infrastructure Programs were announced April 27. This fund is a new competitive grants program offered by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Here are some of the funded proposals and the respective contacts:
For more information on the Fund for Rural America, CSREES, and grant awardees,
visit the Fund's Web site.
[Source: Dr. Sharon Friedman, Forest Biology Program Leader, USDA CSREES
NRE, Washington, DC]
The Inaugural Global Lumber & Panel Outlook Conference will be held August 31 to September 2 in Chicago. As a new, major event for the solid wood industry, this conference will feature top-level industry executives, analysts, and financiers who will cover many wood products markets, including logs, lumber, plywood, oriented strandboard, and medium-density fiberboard. A separate event will focus on global pulpwood supply and demand issues.
Some of the topics to be included are outlook for North American lumber markets;
changing trends in world wood products markets; recent timber supply develops;
development in non-North American fiber markets; overview of world supply,
demand, and trade in fiber; and North American regional softwood and hardwood
markets. For more information or to register for the conference, contact Joe
Palmer, Pulp & Paper Conferences at (415) 278-5372.
[Source: The Timber Producer, April 1998]
The 6th International Inorganic-Bonded Wood & Fiber Composite Materials Conference will be held September 27-30 in Sun Valley, ID. This conference series is designed to present current information on scientific, industrial, and marketing developments for mineral-bonded wood and fiber products; to provide a forum for exchanging ideas and sharing information; to provide an opportunity for networking; and to present developments in innovative composites that are not bonded with mineral binders. For more information, visit the Web site. For assistance or information about registration, contact Conferences and Events, University of Idaho: telephone (208) 885-6662, Fax (208) 885-0579, or e-mail . If you have questions about conference content, contact Prof. A. A. Moslemi, Conference Chairman, Department of Forest Products, University of Idaho, by phone (208) 885-6127, Fax (208) 885-6226, or e-mail .
Can Pallets Make High-Value Floors? - Phil Araman, Project Leader with the USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, has studied the feasibility of converting wood from used pallets into flooring. Araman has focused on portions of clear wood in dismantled pallets that may be turned into a higher value resource than mulch.
Araman estimated the number of southern yellow pine and oak deckboards available for recycling and the number of boards that have enough clear wood to be used as flooring. Some boards were processed into 3/8-inch (9.5-mm) strip flooring. It was estimated that unfinished flooring would be worth 53 cents per deckboard and finished flooring 92 cents per deckboard at the flooring producer level. The same deckboard would be worth 20 cents as a replacement deckboard and up to 2 cents as fuel.
For more information, visit the research work unit's
Web site.
[Source: Timber Processing, April 1998]
Pellet Stove Manufacturers Look to European Markets - The market for new pellet-burning stoves in the United States has recently declined in favor of gas-burning appliances. Now, after 15 years of experience in the United States, pellet stove manufacturers are looking to Europe. While the total sales are still miniscule, the market is clearly emerging and the opportunity is huge. Almost every stove manufacturer has sent samples to Europe or is in negotiations with European companies. According to Dr. Jerry Whitfield of Pyro Industries, "pellet fuel is available, is of suitable quality, and is economical compared to the higher price of energy in Europe. Programs to encourage the use of renewable fuels are in place in some countries and are being developed in others." Adapting units to supply this market is the next challenge.
Sweden is currently the market with the most potential. The government is
committed to shutting down all 12 nuclear reactors that currently supply most of
their energy. Twenty-four pellet mills have already been built, and efforts are
underway to produce more fuel in Sweden in 1998 than is produced in this way in
the remainder of all of North America. Unlike the domestic market, where
virtually all fuel is used for residential heating, the bulk of Swedish
production is used in industrial, cogeneration, power generation, and municipal
heating.
[Source: Hearth & Home, May 1998]
Impact of NAFTA on U.S. Forest Products Trade With Canada and Mexico - According to Julie Lyke, policy analyst with the USDA Forest Service/International Forestry, a review of the trade data for 1989 to 1995 indicates that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has had little impact. However, U.S. forest products exports to Mexico have declined and imports have grown by more than 40% in value terms since 1993. In addition, the United States is now importing a smaller share of wood products relative to paper products and exporting more pulp and less wood to Mexico than it did in 1993. The Mexican economic crises of 1994 and 1995 and associated devaluation of the peso have probably had a much greater effect on forest products trade between the United States and Mexico than NAFTA has had. Gradual recovery of the Mexican economy in the next 3 to 5 years should increase demand for U.S. exports, especially since Mexico's ability to supply its own needs will probably continue to be restricted by limited timber availability.
A growing Canadian economy should create additional opportunities for U.S.
forest products exports to Canada. Canadian demand for U.S. solid wood products
is highest in the furniture, hardwood veneer, fabricated members, and milling
industries, which seek high-quality hardwood logs and lumber.
[Source: Forest Prod. J. 48(1): 23-28, January 1998]
Wisconsin Imposes Fines for Failure to Meet Recycling Quotas - Twenty-four Wisconsin newspapers and printers have incurred fines from the State for falling a few points short of using 35% recycled fibers. These levied fines, ranging from $38 to $13,670, make Wisconsin the first state to enforce its recycled-content mandate on newsprint. According to surveys by State Recycling Laws Update of Riverdale, MD, 12 states have such mandates while 13 more have voluntary agreements. Although most State laws have so many exemptions for "availability" and "price" that the mandates have little teeth, 13 of the fined Wisconsin publishers discovered that their State's bite is as bad as its bark--all were denied exceptions.
Wisconsin is not the only State that is getting hard-nosed on paper recycling. Members of the California Integrated Waste Management Board in Sacramento are wringing their hands over how best to ensure timely submission of annual recycled newsprint use reports. Last year, 51 of the 195 companies required to submit these reports filed them at least 45 days late. The Board is considering assessing civil penalties of up to $1,000 for each violation, after providing notice to the delinquent company and conducting a formal public hearing. With recycled content averaging 25% nationwise, publishers have been hard-pressed to meet California's stiff 40%-by-1998 mandate, a goal which is also law in Arizona, Connecticut, and Missouri.
Newspapers remain the single largest category of material collected in
residential recycling programs. After recycling, Americans still trashed
4.38 million tons of old newsprint (ONP) in 1996. Despite the content mandates,
the market for ONP decreased to $0 to $25 per ton in 1996 before increasing to
$20 to $40 per ton last year.
[Source: World Wastes, January 1998]
Environmental Impact of Paper and Wood Industries, from production through consumption and recycling, is the topic of a recently released special issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology. This peer-reviewed international journal is published quarterly by MIT Press for Yale University, with headquarters at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
This issue includes an analysis of the dynamics of production growth, waste paper utilization, and technological advances needed to accomplish the goals set out by the American Forest & Paper Association's Agenda 2020 for recycling, energy efficiency, and biomass use. Another article addresses the appropriate stage of paper and wood production (forest management, manufacturing, consumption, or waste management) where greater productivity could potentially relieve pressures to harvest more forests. For further information about this special issue, visit the journal's Web site or call (203) 432-6949.
The 13-State Western Regional Biomass Energy Program will fund 19
biomass-to-energy projects in 10 states for a total of $1 million. Two of these
projects could include wood waste. One involves a group of local organizations
who will design an effort to utilize forest waste being removed from the Lake
Tahoe region to produce electricity at a power plant in Loyalton, CA. Sierra
Pacific Power Company would then sell the power to others as electricity
produced from renewable resources or "green" power. Grant funding would be for
$74,963, with matching funds of $151,240. The other project will partially
finance design changes in technology that produces liquid alcohol fuel by
converting various wastes to gas as an intermediate product. This would entail
a grant of $72,340 and $91,427 in matching funds.
[Source: Western Biomass Quarterly, May 1998]
New West Virginia Pellet Plant in Production - At a stockholders' meeting, Lignetics announced the startup of a new pellet plant in West Virginia. This makes Lignetics the largest producer of wood pellet fuel in the United States, with a combined three-plant production capacity of 200,000 tons/year, more than three times the amount of the industry's second largest U.S. producer.
Lignetics also reported that their natural wood Pres-to-Logs, used in fireplaces
or stoves, meet or exceed the new Washington emission standards for wood burning
with emissions of 2.9 g/kg.
[Source: Hearth & Home, March 1998]
Pallet Recycler Fails in Jobs Venture - Big City Forest (BCF), a pallet recycling business, was originally established as a nonprofit business and then became a for-profit entity. Its parent, South Bronx 2000 Local Development Corp., is a nonprofit operation designed to make life better in New York's Bronx through a wide range of initiatives. BCF made flooring, butcher block dining room tables, benches, bookcases, and planters. However, it was unable to compete profitably with other pallet recyclers.
While BCF never turned a profit, its reclaimed wood products were in high demand
from corporations that wanted conversation-piece conference tables, bookstore
chains that wanted environmentally friendly shelves, and ice cream shops in
search of a wood paneling to complement Ben & Jerry's. BCF even contributed
products to a $200,000 "American Green Dream House," which was built primarily
from recycled materials and was awarded during the first America Recycles Day
last December.
[Source: Timber Processing, April 1998]
Timber Decks on Steel Beams Need Protection From Deicing Salt - Wood decks on weathering steel beams in some bridges have encountered problems. An impermeable membrane must be placed under the asphalt surface of the deck to protect the steel beams from excessive corrosion. These beams are made from weathering steel which develops a fine, impermeable, tight-grained surface rust that protects the steel from further corrosion. This type of steel is designed to be used unpainted in a low to moderate corrosive environment.
In a county in northern New York, a number of bridges with CCA (chromated copper arsenate)-treated nail-laminated timber decks on steel beams have shown intensive rusting of girders in a construction alternative that did not include an impervious membrane between the deck and the asphalt surfacing. Because water-carrying dissolved road salt can easily pass through asphalt surfaces, the salt-laden water either passes directly through the timber decking onto the steel beams or is absorbed by the timber decking to be released by the next rainfall onto the steel beams. In some bridges, a guardrail-to-guardrail membrane partially protects the interior beams. However, it is believed that the salt-laden water penetrated the timber decking at the ends of the membrane and, through wicking, the water found its way to some of the interior beams.
When weathering steel is used in a corrosive environment, it rusts much more quickly than in other environments and the surface rust loses its adhesion to the underlying steel. The rust flakes off and continually re-exposes the underlying steel. Uncoated weathering steel is not appropriate in a salt-containing, severely corrosive environment.
This problem would have been less severe if the wood had been treated with an oilborne preservative such as creosote or pentachlorophenol. The oil carrier aids in sealing the wood from moisture intrusion and helps prevent moisture loss shrinkage (which opens cracks). The oil in creosote or an oilborne pentachlorophenol treatment coats the adjoining steel elements and deters corrosion.
Road deicing salt must be kept away from steel elements, regardless of whether
the deck material is timber, concrete, steel, or plastic. Water should be
channeled away from and off bridge decks as quickly as possible by an adequate
crown or super elevation. An impervious paving membrane is mandatory. It
should extend to the edge of the bridge and wrap around the edge of the deck to
form a drip edge. Runoff water can then drip off the bridge and not run onto
parts of the timber deck or the exterior beams. The membrane should either
extend beyond the ends of the bridge into the approach fills or wrap over the
ends of the bridge so that runoff water does not flow onto the beam-bearing
seats. The deck should also overhang the exterior beams by a distance that
maximizes the design efficiency of the deck (about 2 ft (0.6 m)). This helps to
keep salt-laden runoff away from the exterior beams. In addition, because wood
(particularly wood treated with waterborne preservatives) tends to absorb and
retain water, and because untreated and treated wood have a slightly corrosive
effect, timber decks and steel beams should be physically separated by a
material such as tar paper, paint, or galvanizing.
[Source: Crossings, February 1998]
"Wild Species as Commodities: Managing Markets and Ecosystems for Systainability",
by Curtis H. Freese, was published in March by Island Press (ISBN:
1-55963-571-1) and is available in paperback for $29.95. According to the
publisher, this book presents a balanced, scientifically rigorous consideration
of the link between the commercial consumptive use of wild species and
biodiversity conservation. The outgrowth of a 4-year World Wildlife Fund study,
the book is both a synthesis of findings and a practical guide. Topics examined
include the economics of wild species use, social and institutional frameworks,
ecological impacts, conservation benefits of wild species use, and management
principles and guidelines. Curtis Freese is an independent consultant in
biodiversity and wildlands research and conservation, based in Boseman, MT.
[Source: NTFP Biocultural Digest 2(19), April 1998]
Inside-Out Beams From Small-Diameter Appalachian Hardwood Logs - To produce a higher valued product from small-diameter hardwood trees, David W. Patterson and Xiaolin Xie investigated the technical feasibility of producing inside-out (ISO) structural beams from small-diameter yellow-poplar, red maple, and red oak logs. The objectives of the study were to determine if it was technically feasible to produce the ISO beams and, if so, to determine how the physical and mechanical properties of the these beams compare to the properties of solid-sawn (solid) beams cut from the same material.
The beams were made by slabbing the four sides of a small-diameter hardwood log, removing the corners, quartering the resultant cant, turning the quarters inside out, and gluing them together in the green condition. To ensure smooth airflow through the center hole of the beams, the researchers decided to machine the corners to a standard size (3/4 in. (19 mm) from corner). The researchers theorized that by turning the quarters inside out, growth and drying stresses would work against themselves and the final beam would remain straight. Also, they decided that it would be best if the quarters could be glued while still green and before all the stresses had developed.
One meaningful result of this study was the difference in drying times between ISO and solid beams. Yellow-poplar ISO and solid beams dried to 12% moisture content in 21 days. Maple ISO beams also dried in 21 days, but maple solid beams required 35 days. The different in drying time was even greater for oak beams--ISO beams dried in 35 days and solid beams in 105 days. This would indicate that the hole in the center of the ISO beams reduced the drying time by 40% for maple and 67% for oak.
An anticipated result in turning the beams inside out was that the growth stresses and drying stresses would act against themselves and the beam remain straight. The warp data indicate that the ISO beams did not remain perfectly straight, but they did not warp as much as the solid beams. Another effect of drying stresses is the crack that appears when the drying stresses exceed the strength of the wood. This effect is prominent when the pith is contained in the wood member, such as in solid beams. Yellow-poplar ISO beams had no cracks or checks. For a few maple ISO beams that had some pith in a quarter rather than on the corners, a 4- to 6-inch- (102- to 152-mm-) long check appeared on the surface nearest the pith. All the solid beams had cracks. Some were severe, exceeding 1/4-inch (6.4-mm) in width at the surface and extending along the full length and to the center of the beam. A typical crack was approximately 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) wide and extended to the pith.
The researchers had anticipated that the mechanical properties of the ISO beams would be adversely affected by moving the pith and juvenile wood to the outside of the beam where the greatest stress is generated. The results of the study indicated no statistically significant difference between the mechanical properties of ISO and solid beams.
The center hole provided the ISO beams with two advantages over the solid-sawn
beams: improved treatability and reduction in drying time and costs.
[Source: Forest Prod. J. (48)1: 76-80, January 1998]
A Soy-Based Adhesive that can fingerjoint wet or dry wood has been in commercial use for several months. The adhesive also has phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde components. It has been certified by the Western Wood Products Association at Willamina Lumber Company's Oregon mill for manufacturing "vertical use only" fingerjointed studs using Douglas-fir or hemlock green lumber shorts. The mill has conducted demonstrations for the industry to show how the fingerjoint process works. Cost of the mixed glue, which includes all products used, is $1.20/lb in Oregon, not including freight.
For several years, the United Soybean Board has been funding research projects
to develop soy-based adhesives to bond fingerjointed wood, laminated veneer
lumber, medium-density fiberboard, plywood, oriented strandboard, and other
engineered wood products.
[Source: Bill Williams, Agribusiness Division, Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.,
Kansas City, MO]
A Hardwood Dry Kiln Operator's Short Course will be held September 15-18 at Haywood Community College in Clyde, NC. Conducted by North Carolina State University, Wood Products Extension, and sponsored by the Southeastern Dry Kiln Club, the course is designed to teach participants how to operate a kiln on a daily basis including sample selection and preparation, schedule selection, kiln monitoring, equalizing, and conditioning. Participants will not only hear the theory of dry kiln operation, they will aso gain hands-on experience in drying a kiln load of lumber. For more information, contact Joe Denig, North Carolina State University, by phone (919) 515-5582 or Fax (919) 515-8739.
Contents
Forest Products Laboratory |
Forest Service |
USDA
Please send any questions or comments to
TMU/fpl@fs.fed.us.
Contact-Name: Adele Olstad
Contact-Phone: 608/231-9329
Document-Date: 1998 June 18
Abstract: May 1998 Issue of FPC&R; Review