Philip Mitchell

The U.S. Forest Service estimates that over 130 million acres of forests are located in U.S cities and towns. From a wood products industry perspective, urban woods only play a minor role and the available resource is not recognized by its optimal ecologic and economic value. The most common end-of-life solutions for urban trees are mulching and in many cases landfilling. However, in recent years, the use of urban wood for furniture and interior design have increased, mostly by efforts of local companies. The popularity of urban wood products is a result of highly variable wood characteristics and a high degree in custom fabrication. However, both aspects create challenges along the chains of processing and production. The goal of this project is to create more capability and confidence in urban wood utilization among companies and consumers. The project aims at achieving the highest and best use for each tree with benefits to local communities. NC Wood Products Extension, with a long history of industry education and support, proposes the development of educational modules as part of an outreach initiative with a special focus on drying. Outreach includes on-site workshops, online videos, and experimental kits to educate about moisture-related properties of urban woods.

This project will host the National Firewood Business Workshop (NFBW) at three regional locations as a two-day event that offers the split firewood industry educational and networking opportunities. A focus area of the NFBW is to promote the use of forest materials whose removal improves forest health and reduces fire danger on both public and private lands. The workshops will assist with promoting fire resilient landscapes and promoting a safe wildfire response by providing potential markets and options for removal of hazardous trees (fuel) through a thriving firewood industry. This event has been supported by the WERC in the past, with two events held in WV, one each in NY, MD and NC. The NFBW is the only national educational and networking event for the split firewood industry and has been well supported by the firewood and forest products industry. The workshop is a two-day event that offers classroom discussions of the business aspects of the firewood industry in addition to outdoor demonstrations of firewood processing, kiln drying and packaging equipment. This project funds the NFBW for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2020 this project funds a workshop at the WERC for small firewood and sawmill businesses that focuses on assisting existing and potential owners of small firewood and sawmill businesses information on equipment, business management and marketing. The workshop also attracts public and nonprofit supporters of the forest products industry, such as state and USFS employees, state forest associations, consulting foresters, economic development and cooperative extension employees. The goal is to support successful small businesses involving firewood and sawmill operations. This workshop will take place at the WERC in Princeton, WV.

Proposed development of CLT panel systems in the US has focused on large lumber gluing and layup systems, presses and CNC machining centers that require high equipment and facility costs approaching $30 million. The result of such high investment requirements is that few US CLT operations exist and none are currently in operation in the US South. This project will develop an alternative strategy able to produce 80% of the output of a large size CLT panel plant at 2% of the investment cost. It is possible to quickly develop a forest products industry niche for CLT panels using existing equipment resources once used by the casegoods furniture industry by using a small size batch process format. These presses are capable of manufacturing 4������������������x8������������������ panels for residental homes, pressing multiple CLT panels per batch press cycle. These Residential CLT panels (RCLT) can be used for walls, floors, and roof decking for use by general contractors with the support of knowledgeable architects and organizations like the APA. The National Forest System has excess low quality materials that need to be removed to improve forest health, reduce fire danger and assist the local economy. These lower grade materials are plentiful and are suitable for residential CLTs. Material for RCLTs could include Southern yellow pine and the mixed hardwood species that can also be processed into veneers for hardwood plywood. An objective of this project is to evaluate suitable species for lumber and plywood RCLT for use in building residential homes. This project will demonstrate a manufacturing system by making samples of RCLTs in several existing furniture cold presses, pressing a stack of several RCLTs in batches. The project includes the development of joinery types to connect the panels for assembly. The goal is to successfully manufacture RCLT panels that pass the APA PRG 320 Standard using the two lumber grades approved by the APA (#2 yellow pine for faces and #3 for the core and cross bands) and hardwood veneers using this low capital approach.

This project will host the National Firewood Business Workshop (NFBW) at three regional locations as a two-day event that offers the split firewood industry educational and networking opportunities. A focus area of the NFBW is to promote the use of forest materials whose removal improves forest health and reduces fire danger on both public and private lands. The workshops will assist with promoting fire resilient landscapes and promoting a safe wildfire response by providing potential markets and options for removal of hazardous trees (fuel) through a thriving firewood industry. This event has been supported by the WERC in the past, with two events held in WV, one each in NY, MD and NC. The NFBW is the only national educational and networking event for the split firewood industry and has been well supported by the firewood and forest products industry. The workshop is a two-day event that offers classroom discussions of the business aspects of the firewood industry in addition to outdoor demonstrations of firewood processing, kiln drying and packaging equipment. This project funds the NFBW for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2020 this project funds a workshop at the WERC for small firewood and sawmill businesses that focuses on assisting existing and potential owners of small firewood and sawmill businesses information on equipment, business management and marketing. The workshop also attracts public and nonprofit supporters of the forest products industry, such as state and USFS employees, state forest associations, consulting foresters, economic development and cooperative extension employees. The goal is to support successful small businesses involving firewood and sawmill operations. This workshop will take place at the WERC in Princeton, WV.

This project will review the processing of firewood logs into split wood and kiln dried firewood products in an effort to better understand the processing parameters related to operating a successful firewood processing business. An earlier US Forest Service project in 1980 reviewed the processing parameters at three firewood processing operations and found that understanding the balance of productive and non-productive time offered opportunities for improving the production, sales and profitability of a firewood processing operation. This review will seek out approximately a dozen firewood processing operations and time review approximately one hundred firewood logs at each operation in terms of their productive and non-productive processing times. The productive times include loading, positioning, sawing and splitting time. Non-productive time would include delays, waits, jambs, breakdowns, etc. Results will be analyzed and charted to provide information on productivity versus species, log sizes, equipment types, horsepower, splitting wedges configuration and material handling methods. The review will also collect information beyond the sawing and splitting of firewood to include dry kiln and packing productivity equipment choices. The review will contact firewood processing operations in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to participate. Effort will be made to use a variety of clients in terms of business size, wood species, and equipment types, and value added operations like kiln drying and packaging. Time review information taken using the digital camera will be analyzed for a breakdown of productive and non-productive times. This information will be presented in charts and tables for a better understanding of how the business choices affects productivity. A review results presentation will be at the WERC National Firewood Workshop to present the results and a project document will be created. Firewood businesses are important in both urban and rural areas to consume low grade hardwood logs that are not suitable for upper grade and lower grade lumber products.

The main goal of this survey is to assess the production of primary forest product mills during the 2017 calendar year. One goal of this project is to eliminate mill non-responses. This is a key issue in setting an accurate baseline prior to anticipated future program changes. In order to complete the TPO process in a timely manner NC State will need to provide monthly status updates to the NCFS. The overall goal is to complete the 2017 TPO survey by the end of the 2018 calendar year. Completed mill survey reports should be provided to the NCFS. The NCFS will verify reported data and send all completed survey forms to the USFS FIA unit in Knoxville by the end of the 2018 calendar year. North Carolina will survey approximately 185 primary processors for the 2017 TPO cycle.

This project uses the WERC facility in Princeton, WV as well as other sites to host four workshops that support the utilization of a wide range of hardwood materials to produce value added products. These workshops target a wide range of processing businesses ranging from small local sawmills and firewood processors to large volume producers of value added products like cabinets, furniture and millwork. We will be offering these workshops to business and industry professionals and the public from all thirty-five states east of the Great Plains that are served by the WERC. Some of these workshops will include demonstrations of equipment provided by participants or vendors. The four workshop topics will include: 1) operating a small sawmill and firewood businesses; 2) use of wood for upholstery furniture frames; 3) applying automation techniques for making cabinets, furniture and millwork; 4) proper processing methods to saw, dry and process thick wooden slabs. These workshops will offer support for the full utilization of forest harvests that include lower grades and minor species of hardwoods in an effort to improve the knowledge of their processing into higher valued products. Improving the utilization of these less desirable species and quality offers businesses opportunities for greater sales and profitability, as well as higher rates of removal due the utilization for better markets. Fire protection efforts will be discussed at these workshops in terms of the benefits of full utilization of forest material and thinnings and other harvests by supporting markets that include lower grade materials and minor hardwood species. Handout materials from these workshops will be posted on the North Carolina State University Wood Products Extension website https://outreach.cnr.ncsu.edu/ncwood.

This subcontract covers the work by Harry W. Watt, Wood Products Specialist at North Carolina State University to take a leading role in the development of the project workshop on June 20th and 21st, 2018 National Firewood Workshop under the leadership of the host, Michigan State University. This grant will also provide follow up activities after the workshop.

The goal of this (3) year proposal is to develop manufacturing capacity and innovative wood based energy markets that 1) promote forest ecosystem restoration and reduce hazardous fuels, 2) improve forest health on both private and public forest lands, and 3) promote economic and environmental health of communities. This proposal will look at the economics of energy markets for the Appalachian region by analyzing the impacts of a theoretically operating domestic pellet mill, identifying facilities and sectors that would benefit from using wood energy in the form of cost savings, and gathering data from harvesting sites to develop a business case for logging companies considering investing in equipment necessary to supply wood energy markets. We expect to develop wood supply markets for low value wood through education and outreach and technical assistance. To accomplish this, production forestry- landowners (both private and public), loggers, and industry- along with policy and decision makers must have appropriate information concerning the value added potential of these materials as well as a clear understanding of the benefits brought by expanding the sustainable management and utilization strategies practiced on our forest lands. This project will assess what woody biomass markets are feasible for a challenging political and geographic region where supply chains and harvesting methods differ greatly from the Coastal and Piedmont Plains in the Southeastern U.S.

This project focuses on both supply and demand to increase the volume of locally and regionally made wood products sold to local school districts and governments. An outreach effort to manufacturers will include hosting local workshops where the public furniture market is explained to manufacturers, including information on how to enter this market with products that are currently being purchased as well as offering products that replace metal and plastic furnishings. These manufacturers will gain a better understanding of the market and will be able to grow sales and employment by entering this market. The outreach effort to purchasing departments in schools, local governments and the state purchasing and contracting office will include assisting them in better understanding wooden furniture and how new technologies and construction methods can make wooden furniture a better choice over metal and plastic furniture. The purchasing departments will be better able to construct bids that NC wood furniture manufacturers can produce. Benefits include growth in sales, profitability and employment for local wood processors who can supply the public furniture market. Demand and market access will improve for forest landowners, loggers and primary wood mills. Schools and local governments will benefit by working with local manufacturers to customize product offerings to better match needs.