For release: Immediate (June 13, 2003)
Media Contact: George Couch, (608) 231-9295
Email: gcouch@fs.fed.us
Forest Products Laboratory unit honored for helping rural, forest-dependent communities revitalize their economies.
MADISON, Wis., June 13, 2003 -- During the past decade, people in many rural communities in the Western United States suffered severe economic consequences as local sawmills and other forest-related businesses closed, largely as a result of forest-management policies that greatly reduced the amount of timber harvested from national forests. To assist these recently impoverished communities, the Technology Marketing Unit of the USDA Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) has sought to help their residents find and develop alternative businesses.
This month, the FPL's Technology Marketing Unit (TMU) was named by Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman to receive the U.S. Department of Agriculture Honor Award for "enhancing the capacity of all rural residents, communities and businesses to prosper." The award will be presented in a Washington ceremony today (June 13).
The award to the TMU recognizes the unit's accomplishments in providing technical assistance to a number of rural communities such as Hayfork, Calif.; Enterprise, Ore.; Darby, Mont.; Cameron, Ariz.; and Mountainair, N.M.
The TMU provides a range of technical assistance, such as helping identify new business opportunities or finding sources of funding for new forest-related ventures. For example, they provided technical advice to enable one community to expand its small businesses to include wood flooring and furniture products. They helped another community save money through converting a school heating system from propane to wood chips from a forest-restoration project.
FPL's TMU is headed by Susan LeVan-Green, program manager, and includes: Rick Bergman, chemical engineer; Rusty Dramm, forest products technologist; Gerry Jackson, marketing specialist; Mark Knaebe, wood technologist; Jean Livingston, communications specialist; Adele Olstad, visual information specialist; Kathleen Walker, program assistant; and Forest Service retiree John Zerbe.
In addition to the FPL's TMU, an FPL economist, Henry Spelter, was selected to receive the USDA award for his work dealing with timber supplies, prices and disputes over subsidies.
The USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory, located in Madison, Wis., was established in 1910 with the mission of conserving and extending America's wood resources. Today, its research scientists explore ways to promote healthy forests and clean water, and improve papermaking and recycling processes. Through FPL's Advanced Housing Research Center, researchers also evaluate homebuilding technologies, designs and materials.