Welcome to the latest edition of the Forest Business Network (FBN) Newsletter.
A massive shout-out to my friends and colleagues — Naresh Khanal, Woodam Chung, John Hogland, Yong Chen, and Andres Susaeta — for their phenomenal new study published in Trees, Forests and People.
If you are in the US mass timber sector, this is required reading. The research highlights a game-changing feedstock alternative: utilizing small-diameter Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine harvested directly from wildfire fuel reduction treatments.
By converting traditionally unmerchantable 4-to-9-inch logs into structural mass timber, we can offset the heavy costs of forest restoration, reduce wildfire hazards, and revitalize rural mill economies. This is exactly the kind of supply-chain innovation our industry needs to scale sustainably!
Speaking of scaling up: Registration for the 2027 International Mass Timber Conference & Expo officially opens on August 25.
Read the full study here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719326002700?via%3Dihub
Best ~ CCR
C. Craig Rawlings, President & CEO, FBN - Chairman, International Mass Timber Conference