The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is supporting the development and expansion of forest markets by recently awarding eight grants totaling nearly $1.45 million through the agency’s Wood Education and Resource Center. Grants were awarded to programs in Missouri, Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
Located in Princeton, West Virginia, and administered by the Forest Service, the Wood Education and Resource Center partners with the forest products industry on sustainable forest products in the 35 states of the eastern hardwood forest region. The center provides training, technology transfer, networking opportunities, applied research and information.
Wood Education and Resource Center’s 2020 Wood Forest Markets Projects include:
- Missouri Department of Conservation—Explore utilization options for small-diameter shortleaf pine in Missouri by identifying the status of shortleaf pine resources, identifying potential markets for resource utilization and analyzing production options.
- University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.—The Southern Regional Extension Forestry office will provide external communications support to the Forest Service by documenting Wood Innovation grants and partnership success stories and strategizing the national Wood Innovations brand expansion through the development of a new national Wood Innovations webpage
- Regents of the University of Minnesota—Conduct a comprehensive assessment of several eastern softwood species peeler logs and determine the technical and economic fitness of these species for laminated veneer lumber.
Visit www.na.fs.fed.us/werc for more information.