Patrick Shannon, Sustainable Northwest Program Associate, and I traveled to Glenwood, WA recently for a meeting with Mount Adams Resource Stewards (MARS). They've been doing some really interesting work related to creating local markets for low value forest materials, including small diameter logs and woody biomass residuals from forest restoration. 

Jay McLaughlin, executive director of MARS and partner of Sustainable Northwest, gave us a tour of the small wood utilization incubator log-yard. This project began with a feasibility study and business plan in 2006, and went online in 2008.

In the past year, the site generated a $60K increase in value to a WA Department of Natural Resources timber sale, and supported more than two full-time equivalent jobs. MARS estimates that at full capacity, the log-yard could support 10-12 employees. Currently, they are supplying wood to the post and pole and firewood markets, but hope to expand into other markets soon. 

There are certainly challenges to reaching this size and developing new products, but it is exciting to see first hand a solution that generates local revenue while encouraging forest stewardship. 

Firewood is one of the markets the wood utilization center serves