Forest Products Week: Wood Innovations

It’s finally autumn. It is cool outside. As you curl up in a cocoon of soft blankets next to a crackling fireplace, a wave of gentle heat caresses you as you ponder the fact that the burning firewood is doing so much more than warming your weary bones and comforting your soul. 

After all, nothing is cozier than a fire fueled by wood harvested from a local national forest. As a versatile, durable, and cost-effective renewable resource, wood can be used for so much more than burning for warmth and comfort. Harvesting wood sustainably can support communities and boost economies while directly benefitting forests and the ecosystems that they support.

For nearly 120 years, United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service scientists have developed new and innovative products that creatively use wood for construction, furniture production, consumer products, energy, as well as the automotive, aerospace, electronics, and medical device industries. The USDA invests in these products by supporting local communities through wood innovations, community wood, and wood products infrastructure grants programs.

These programs, which launched in 2015, aim to support American forests by creating and expanding sustainable wood products and wood energy markets. At the same time, the grants from these programs help restore healthy forests, reduce wildfire risk, protect communities, create jobs, and advance development and modernization throughout the wood products industry.

“We have over 50 grants that are active right now across Regions 1 and 4,” Northern and Intermountain Regions Wood Innovations Regional Program Lead Julie Kies said. “We also provide technical assistance in different ways through other experts that we know or internally. We do a lot of networking and connecting with people to help them develop projects.”

This year, the Intermountain Region invested more than $3.8 million in wood innovation program grants to seven organizations in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. These grants helped purchase new and advanced equipment for timber processing and support product development and testing for modern construction materials. A list of grant recipients and projects is available at this link.

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Local Forest Products Industries Support Forest Health and Local Communities

In Kamas, Utah, Blazzard Lumber Company received $203,565 to purchase a firewood processor, package saw, and material-handling equipment for low-grade material for firewood. The company was founded in the early 1940s and continues to be family owned and operated, handling the entire operational process year-round. Over the next 80 years, while many local operators closed, Blazzard Lumber Company persisted, specializing in making 7/8” resaw board that is used for siding and trim.

“The demand for this product remained high, although the quality of our lumber has been compromised because of the beetle infestation and the dead and dying timber,” Jackie Blazzard, secretary of Blazzard Lumber Company, said.

Blazzard Lumber also operates a logging crew that primarily cuts dead and downed trees from the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest, which helps to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Because of this, the Blazzard family had to get creative and look for other ways to market their lower grade wood. They connected with the USDA Forest Service and Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands to explore different programs that could help them deal with the amount of fuelwood on both National Forest System and state lands that they cut.  From there, they applied for a wood innovations grant to get the necessary equipment needed to take on such a task.

 Blazzard's new firewood processor and palletizer now gives them an opportunity to utilize this dead and downed wood and make it into a product that people can use to heat their homes.  When his logging and sawmill crew is shut down for whatever reason, they can now run the firewood processor, keeping their people employed in rural Utah.       

“The funds received from this grant, along with our portion, helped us purchase a firewood processor that we can use to help market the massive amounts of fuelwood we are bringing into our mill,” Blazzard said. “We have also purchased a palletizer to help package the firewood. The palletizer has just recently been delivered, so we have yet to get it set up for production. We hope to accomplish this goal when we finish up our logging process for the season.” 

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In Afton, Wyoming, Western Wyoming Timber received $25,443 to purchase a firewood processor. The company performs a variety of jobs from large timber sales, fire mitigation and fuel reduction, to delivery of log products and firewood. Like Blazzard Lumber, Western Wyoming Timber heard about the Wood Innovations Program from a local USDA employee. 

“[The Wood Innovations Program] is tremendous in providing equipment and supplies needed to utilize a larger variety of all forest products as well as offering a better price for the consumer,” Managing Member of Western Wyoming Timber Services McKay Erickson said. “The grant allowed us to use typical waste products that we normally would not be able to compete in.” 

 Removing this kind of wood thins overcrowded, dense tree stands that would otherwise compete for water and nutrients, become more prone to beetle infestation and catastrophic wildfire, and die.   If the broken or unsuitable wood is left unused, it would otherwise be left in the forest, placed on a slash pile to be burned, or worst, become fuel for a potential wildfire. 

In Gardnerville, Nevada, the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California used a $1 million grant to purchase an industrial grade firewood processer and a range of heavy equipment to expand their firewood processing and delivery program to help heat tribal members’ homes throughout the state.  The Washoe Tribe has produced 2,200 cords of firewood with this equipment and their personnel; creating rural jobs that reduce fuel loading in nearby national forests and help provide heat for hundreds of homes.

In Malad City, Idaho, Burbridge Custom Timbers received $300,000 to purchase a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) cutting machine, which operates using pre-programmed software and codes to perform exact movements and tasks to cut wood, to optimize production of timber frames.

Timber framing is a construction method that uses large wooden beams and posts to build a structure, with the timbers joined together without nails or metal fasteners. It is a traditional building method that was used around the world until the early 20th century.

"It’s a dying art. Not a lot of people are doing it or want to," Athon Burbridge said. "People think that they have to maintain the wood, but wood can be around for years if you take care of it."

Like many small forest product businesses, Burbridge Custom Timbers also struggles with obtaining materials due to rising costs. However, with their new CNC machine, Burbridge is excited. 

“It’s pretty fancy and allows us to probably quadruple the work we do.  We actually need more workers to handle the output of this monster machine,” Burbridge said. “It’s allowed us to grow in ways we didn’t think possible."

Be Part of the Solution

The USDA Forest Service announced it is making up to $34 million in funding available to support innovation and jobs in the forestry sector while supporting healthy forest landscapes. for fiscal year 2025. Eligible grant recipients include for-profit entities, state and local governments, tribes, school districts, community-based non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, and special purpose districts.  For those interested in applying, Kies and Clark encourage potential applicants to reach out to wood innovations program staff as soon as possible. 

“The application process doesn’t have to be overwhelming,” said Kies.  “I would encourage those who are interested in applying to give us a call. We're happy to help people through this process.” 

“That’s the best thing they can do,” Clark agreed. “We are really familiar with all of the steps. The ones who call us are more successful in being awarded the grant.”

For more information about the program, please visit the Wood Innovations Program webpage.