APRIL, 2021
NC URBAN WOOD BULLETIN
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Welcome to our Bulletin!
Welcome back to our quarterly series of email bulletins to keep you informed about current topics and events in the North Carolina urban wood industry. We hope to facilitate networking among municipalities, arborists, sawmills, suppliers, manufacturers, design professionals, and others interested in increasing the amount of wood that can be reclaimed, processed, and sold in NC and beyond. Be on the lookout for future bulletin issues in 2021 as we develop a more comprehensive network for the communication of information regarding developments within the urban wood utilization industry. We welcome your ideas for future topics.
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Previous issues of the NC Urban Wood Bulletin can be found on our web page HERE. |
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ESTABLISHING AN URBAN WOOD USE PROGRAM |
This NEW brochure illustrates how communities can convert urban waste wood from a liability to an asset.
Topics discussed:
- WHAT and WHY of urban wood use programs
- Economic and environmental benefits of urban wood utilization
- Steps and resources needed to establish a program
- Market opportunities for urban wood materials
Download this great resource HERE!
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NC STATE UNIVERSITY WOOD PRODUCTS SURVEY
NC State Wood Products Extension has partnered with Deadwood Revival Design and the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo under the Urban & Community Forestry: California Climate Investment Grant. Within this project, Wood Products Extension will offer a series of Urban Wood Drying workshops and other educational opportunities.
To learn about your biggest challenges and to ensure that we offer a comprehensive curriculum that addresses your needs, Wood Products Extension is currently conducting a short survey. It doesn’t matter if you have a running business or just decided to become part of the urban wood movement. Your responses to this survey and the lessons we will teach will help everyone develop the skills needed for a successful urban wood drying operation!
To access the survey please click here. |
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ASHEVILLE ARBORISTS
Asheville, NC
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URBAN WOOD COLLABORATION IN ASHEVILLE |
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Buncombe County, NC often finds itself described among those in the arboriculture industry as "tree rich". Urban trees are plentiful in heavily-forested Western North Carolina. Commercial tree care companies, such as Asheville Arborists, are kept quite busy with tree work throughout the residential and commercial areas. As for what to do with the trees taken down due to development, tree health, storm damage, etc., Asheville Arborists' owner Nich Maidment says it often becomes a decision driven by limited space.
Much of Asheville Arborists' lower end-value removed wood is chipped. Some of the chipped debris is delivered to gardens; however, much of it needs to be disposed of elsewhere. Due to increased development in the Asheville area, tree removal has created an excess amount of by-product. Many of the debris processing yards in the region are full, and companies frequently resort to transporting chipped wood to Georgia. Transportation costs for "waste wood" can become exorbitant, which ultimately must be passed down to to the consumer of the tree care and removal services.
This is where Robert Carran and his small lumber business, Sun Dried Lumber, comes in. Carran caters to higher-end furniture makers with his small-volume lumber production. Through an agreement with Maidment, he keeps his portable sawmill, solar kiln, and air-dry lumber areas on Asheville Arborists' 1/4-acre lot. The high end-value logs from trees removed by Asheville Arborists are given to Carran, who shares the same space and eliminates the need for transporting the logs to another location. Carran mills and dries the lumber and sells the slabs, returning a portion of sales back to Maidment.
This informal agreement makes it possible for an arborist and a miller to maintain their role in the urban wood chain. Lower costs make for less need for removed urban trees to result in wood waste, and an overall carbon footprint is reduced as well. With the building boom in the Asheville area, demand for quantities of lumber from unique species has increased. Urban wood has the potential to fill that need.
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UPCOMING URBAN WOOD EVENTS |
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WOOD DRYING TECHNIQUES FOR SMALL SCALE PRODUCERS
Presenter: Brian Bond, Ph.D.
Department of Sustainable Biomaterials at Virginia Tech
April 21st - Drying Options for Small Operators
This session will focus on the different types of dry kilns available for smaller operations. We’ll present information on how each type differs in how they work, their advantages, and disadvantages. Discussion will include the setting of pitch in pine and meeting the requirements for wood phytosanitation.
April 28th - Getting the Most from your Small Drying Operation
This session will focus on some of the important aspects of getting the highest quality out of your drying operation and maintaining moisture content after drying. Specifically, we’ll cover stacking and warp prevention, stain prevention, limiting your moisture content variation and proper storage conditions for dried lumber.
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The NC Urban Wood Group is hard at work organizing some spring and fall events! Stay tuned for an announcement soon of an upcoming webinar in the coming months, followed by potentially in-person networking events and live workshops in the fall. See you then! |
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RECORDED URBAN WOOD WORKSHOPS |
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First Steps for Municipal Urban Wood Programs
Presenter: Matthew Staudenmaier, Forestry Supervisor, City of Eau Claire, WI
This presentation by an experienced municipal forester provides a general overview of the specific steps taken to develop a thriving municipal urban wood program for a small city in Wisconsin, followed by a discussion of how this strategy can be adapted to other communities who are exploring the initiation of a similar program.
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Vacuum Kiln & Sawmill Technology Demonstration
Presenter: Avery Earwood, Wild Edge Woodcraft, Rougemont, NC
A narrated demonstration of the sawmill and vacuum kiln utilized to process urban wood into usable lumber. Avery Earwood, owner of Wild Edge Woodcraft, demonstrates his Timber Harvester bandsaw and unique iDRY Plus vacuum kiln as he discusses his role in the NC urban wood processing industry from tree removal to finished “live edge” furniture.
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PARTNER ONLINE WORKSHOP RECORDINGS OF INTEREST:
National Urban Wood Academy
Urban Wood Network
November 20, 2020
Helping Municipalities Develop Urban Wood Management Programs
Virginia Urban Wood Group
December 15, 2020
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ABOUT THE NC URBAN WOOD GROUP |
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The NC Urban Wood Group’s purpose is to develop and promote connections between stakeholders and provide up-to-date information and resources on urban wood utilization in NC. As partners, we work towards developing and improving a market for all participants, which results in products that divert removed urban wood from landfills into the hands of consumers. |
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Stay in touch! Please send us your thoughts and suggestions for future bulletin topics. We welcome your articles and updates!
Contact Mindy Hidenfelter
urbanwoodnc@gmail.com
P: 252.253.3891
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Funding for this project was provided in part through an Urban & Community Forestry Grant from the North Carolina Forest Service, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service, Southern Region. |
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The NC Urban Wood Group is a proud member of: |
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