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In This Issue
2012 WERC Competitive Grants Program
Forest Service Report Documents Environmental Benefits of Wood as a Green Building Material
WERC Project Highlights
Workshops and Webinars
Archived Webinars
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Other Items of Interest
Update on Wood Markets
Hardwood Checkoff Program
Softwood Lumber Checkoff Program
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Payments to Producers in 41 States to Expand the Production
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Wood Education and Resource Center
 
Wood Education and
Resource Center
homeNovember 4, 2011
2012 WERC Competitive Grants Program

Due to the uncertainty of the Federal budget, no decision has been made regarding the annual competitive grants program. Please check our Web site periodically.

 

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Forest Service Report Documents Environmental Benefits of Wood as a Green Building Material

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack urges U.S. builders to give priority to using wood in green buildings. For more details, see the press release.

 

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WERC Project Highlights

The Carbon Impacts of Wood Products project was completed through a grant given to the Tennessee Forest Products Center, University of Tennessee (Award Number 2010-DG-087). The project used existing life cycle analysis datasets to determine the carbon impacts of a range of wood products. A project Webinar was also conducted, which can be viewed hereFor additional information, contact Adam Taylor at 865-946-1125.

 

The Thermally-Modified Eastern Hardwoods as High-Tech Fenestration and Exterior Shuttering project was recently completed through a grant to the Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota-Duluth (Award number 2009-DG-090). The study focused on the performance results of thermally modified yellow-poplar and basswood for potential use in window and shutter applications. Study details are included in the final report and the Winter 2011 issue of the NRRI NowFor additional information, contact Pat Donahue at 218-720-2705.

 

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Workshops and Webinars
 

Visit the WERC training Web page or WERC Webcast archive

 

Workshop: New Profitable Business Strategies That Pay for Valued-Added Wood Products Manufacturers - Cabinets, Furniture, Millwork

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Location: WERC facility, Princeton, WV 

This workshop is for small woodshops that are looking for new profitable business strategies that will lead to business success in the current challenging economic times. For additional information, contact Harry Watt at 704-880-5034, or click here.

 

Sponsors include North Carolina State University, Woodshop News, and WERC.

 

Workshop: Profitably Drying Small

Quantities of Lumber

Wednesday & Thursday, November 9 & 10, 2011

Location: WERC facility, Princeton, WV

 

This workshop is intended for portable sawmill owners, specialty lumber producers, cabinet shops, and woodworking shops that wish to learn how to effectively dry their lumber. For additional information, contact Harry Watt at 704-880-5034, or click here.

 

Sponsors include North Carolina State University, Woodshop News, and WERC.

 

 

Webinar:  Regional Perspectives on

Biomass Energy: The West

Thursday, November 10, 2011

(4:00 pm ET/1:00 pm PT)

This webinar is the second of a three-part mini-series highlighting biomass heating in different regions of the country. Log-on and hear from three speakers as they provide a current overview of biomass heating in the West, discuss barriers and opportunities for market development and examine successful policies that promote biomass use in the West. Advanced registration is required, click here to sign-up. 

 

Sponsors include the Biomass Thermal Energy Council and WERC.

 

Workshop: Upholstery Frame Workshop

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Location: Hickory, NC

 

This workshop is for designers and makers of upholstery furniture frames. The primary activity is a tour of a veneer and plywood manufacturer (Moncure Plywood Company south of Raleigh) that is supplying the type of plywood used to manufacture upholstery furniture frames. Plant tour participants will watch soft hardwoods such as sweet gum and yellow-poplar be peeled, veneer dried, and then processed into the dried veneers that get glue and are then pressed into plywood. This factory makes seven thicknesses of plywood that is primarily used to make furniture frames. For additional information, contact Harry Watt at 704-880-5034, or click here.

 

Sponsors include North Carolina State University and WERC.

 

Workshop: Municipal Managers Urban Timber Harvesting for Hardwood Lumber Utilization and Recovery (M2UTiH2LzR) Training

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Location: Rantoul Recreation Building, 100 East Flessner Avenue, Rantoul, IL

 

This 1-day training session for municipal forest managers will show how to obtain the highest possible use for the wood generated from urban and suburban tree removals. This training deals with management issues, including removal contracts and other considerations, lumber quality, and markets for logs and lumber. A morning of classroom instruction is followed by hands-on afternoon sessions covering log and standing tree grading, whole log removals, sawmill demonstrations, milling information, and insight into the lumber produced by urban trees.

 

6.75 CEUs are available for arborists. Lunch will be provided. A free copy of the CD, Lumber from Hardwood Trees, is included with registration. Register online

RegistrationID=5960.

Registration closes November 25, 2011.

 

For additional information, contact Carrie Tauscher, Illinois EAB Wood Utilization Team Administrator, at 630-719-5646 or visit www.illinoisurbanwood.org.

 

Sponsors include the Illinois Emerald Ash Borer Wood Utilization Team, Purdue University, USDA APHIS and PPQ, Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, University of Illinois Extension, Illinois Arborist Association, and the Village of Rantoul.

 

Workshop: Leadership Conference for Promoting Locally Made US Wood Products

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Location: WERC facility, Princeton, WV

 

This conference is a networking and educational event to lay the foundation for a local wood movement to promote the use of U.S. hardwoods by U.S. manufacturers. For additional information, contact Harry Watt at 704-880-5034, or click here.

 

Sponsors include North Carolina State University, Woodshop News, and WERC.

  

Workshop: Small Sawmill Business Strategies and Hands-On Demonstrations

Tuesday, April 5, 2012

Location: WERC facility, Princeton, WV

 

This workshop focuses on small sawmills and lumber drying operations that use gas, diesel engines, and single-phase electric power. Equipment vendors are invited to set up exhibits and offer demonstrations. Classroom lectures cover equipment currently available for small sawmill and lumber drying operations, how to saw for improving hardwood lumber grades, basics of the hardwood lumber grading system, lumber drying basics, heating a kiln with a stick wood water stove, profitable business and marketing strategies, and how to make value-added products beyond green and kiln-dried lumber.

 

For additional information, contact Harry Watt at 704-880-5034, or click here.

 

Sponsors include North Carolina State University, Woodshop News, and WERC.

 

 

Workshop: New Technologies for Value-Added Wood Products Manufacturers - Cabinets, Furniture, Millwork

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Location: WERC facility, Princeton, WV

Staying on top of technology can keep a business competitive. Technology is continually advancing, and it is useful to get out of the shop and look at what new options may fit your business. Changes also occur in materials. This workshop will discuss both innovations in equipment as well as software and materials.

For additional information, contact Harry Watt at 704-880-5034, or click here.

 

Sponsors include North Carolina State University, Woodshop News, and WERC.

 

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Archived Webinars
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Other Items of Interest

Update on Wood Markets

From Don Deckard, Minnesota DNR Division of Forestry

 

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Hardwood Checkoff Program is an initiative led by a group of U.S. hardwood industry leaders who have come together to develop a Commodity Checkoff program for the hardwood industry. Checkoff programs are industry-funded research and promotions programs tailored to a specific commodity.

 

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Softwood Lumber Checkoff Program Web site provides details regarding softwood checkoff efforts.

 

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Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Payments to Producers in 41 States to Expand the Production and Availability of Advanced Biofuels

WASHINGTON, September 27, 2011 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA will make payments to more than 160 energy producers in 41 States to support and ensure the production and expansion of advanced biofuels.

 

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The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this Update is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute official endorsement or approval by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable.