CLT manufacturer Vaagen Timbers is partnering with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources on a forest health initiative to cultivate local economic benefits while also reducing wildfires and the damage they cause, as the Softwood Lumber Board reports.
Under the initiative, the Department of Natural Resources removes small-diameter, diseased, and dying trees and underbrush from publicly owned land, which firms like Vaagen then use to manufacture CLT and other wood products, sustaining jobs and helping to meet growing market demand. Vaagen, based in Colville, Washington, currently has the capacity to produce approximately 2 million square feet of three-ply CLT annually and sources about half of its wood from public lands under the program.
The program is also delivering the fire-management impact sought by the state, with the number of acres burned annually declining as acres thinned goes up. According to Hilary Franz, the state’s commissioner of public lands, the forest health initiative is creating “a huge environmental and economic win that we often don’t see enough of.”
CLT manufacturer Vaagen Timbers is partnering with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources on a forest health initiative to cultivate local economic benefits while also reducing wildfires and the damage they cause.
