Biomass Assessment & Utilization
Project
Phase I Report
Prepared for: Kootenai River Development Council, Inc.
Libby
Prepared by: Rich Lane
& Associates, LLC
March 2005
Table of Contents
Phase I of the Biomass
Assessment and Utilization Project is organized into the following six
sections:
·
Introduction
·
Utilization of
Small-Diameter Trees & Other
·
Harvest &
Transportation Cost Analysis
·
Resource Supply
& Availability
·
Sustainability
Analysis
·
Literature Search
________________________________________________
This project was funded through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service and the Kootenai River Development Council, Inc. (KRDC).
KRDC provides technical assistance to businesses in
Contact Information:
Paul Rumelhart
Executive Director
Kootenai River Development Council, Inc.
PO Box 621
111 E Lincoln Blvd.
Libby, MT 59923
Phone: 406-293-8406
Fax: 406-293-2532
Phase I, Biomass Assessment & Utilization Project
Kootenai River Development Council, Inc.
Prepared by:
______________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Overview
Forest conditions in western
Throughout forested areas of the
western
Purpose
of Project – Phase I
The Kootenai River Development
Council (KRDC) in
The primary purpose of Phase I of the Biomass Assessment
& Utilization Project is to determine the suitability, quantity and cost of
forest biomass available on a sustainable basis over a ten year period within a
60-mile radius of
This report addresses the utilization of small diameter trees and other forest biomass and provides an evaluation of:
- The industrial products produced from forest biomass
- The industries that manufacture these products
- Important raw material standards and characteristics used by forest biomass industries
- Raw material suitability criteria for the primary tree species in the project area
- Current and future forest biomass raw material supply in the project area
- Projected raw material costs
This report also includes the results of a targeted literature search and a guide to sources of forest biomass-related information.
Phase II
The second phase of the project will focus upon actual utilization of the area’s small-diameter trees and other forest biomass to assist with economic development. The raw material suitability and supply data, plus the cost projections, will be utilized to assist new enterprises with their business decisions. Phase I information will also be used in Phase II to help identify business opportunities and recruit suitable firms that could offer employment prospects in the Libby area.
The term ‘forest biomass’ includes small diameter trees and is frequently referred to as Small Diameter Utilization, or SDU, by the USDA Forest Service. Forest biomass also comprises the wood waste (limbs, tops, needles, etc.) generated as a result of forest management activities such as timber harvest, commercial and pre-commercial thinning, salvage operations and preventive treatments that reduce forest fuel levels and mitigate the risks of disease and insect outbreaks.
‘Woody’ biomass includes forest biomass, plus wood and wood wastes generated as a result of commercial and industrial operations. The term ‘biomass’ is commonly used to describe woody biomass as well as other organic by-product materials resulting from agricultural crop production, animal husbandry, food processing and municipal waste disposal.
Utilization of Small-Diameter Trees
& Other
Utilization of Small-Diameter Trees
& Other
Overview
The economic utilization of small diameter trees presents many challenging issues. The modern forest products industry has strived to efficiently maximize the complete utilization of trees and their by-products, but adding sufficient value to small trees is still a vexing test for researchers, inventors and business entrepreneurs. Although dynamic technological and economic conditions could be the catalyst for a major breakthrough, large-scale solutions will likely be incremental in nature – building upon past successes.
The USDA Forest Service conducts
applied research pertaining to wood products at its Forest Products Laboratory
in
This section of the project identifies existing and emerging uses of small diameter trees and other forest biomass. A small diameter wood utilization report, prepared by Roy Anderson, Montana State Forest Products Marketing Specialist, as part of an Oregon Forest Resources Institute study entitled “Oregon’s Forest Sector – Economic Study” was used as a resource for this section, with the author’s permission.
It also provides information about the industries involved in these endeavors, and specifies technical information regarding units of measure and quality standards, when they exist.
The seven important commercial tree species in the project area (douglas fir, lodgepole pine, western larch, subalpine fir, western hemlock, ponderosa pine and Engelmann spruce) are well suited for traditional building and other construction applications, although their physical and mechanical properties vary somewhat. There is little substantial data pertaining to wood characteristics specific to the coniferous trees in the project area regarding the development of new products.
The following four major categories best classify the current industrial uses of small-diameter trees and other forest biomass:
·
Traditional Wood
Products
·
Emerging Wood
Products
·
Bio-Power
·
Bio-Fuels
Traditional
Wood Products
- Firewood – Still a primary source of heat for
cooking and comfort in many parts of the world, small diameter trees are
well suited as firewood in direct combustion systems such as wood stoves
and furnaces. Many
- Wood
Pellets – This product is
manufactured using sawmill by-products as raw material, primarily sawdust
and planer shavings. Western larch and douglas fir are the preferred
species due to their low ash residue content. Wood fiber is heated and dried, and then
pressed into a pellet shape for heating purposes in residences and
commercial buildings. The end-product
is burned using the direct combustion process in a wood stove, furnace or
wood boiler.
It
should be noted that sawdust is also utilized as a raw material for paper
making. Sawdust
and planer shavings are important sources of raw material in the manufacture of particleboard and
medium-density fiberboard (MDF).
Two industry measurement standards are used to procure this raw material- both serve to determine the amount of wood fiber being purchased. The bone dry unit (BDU) consists of 2,400 pounds of oven dried wood with no moisture. A bone dry ton (BDT) has 2,000 pounds of oven dried wood with no moisture. For comparison purposes, a price of $20/BDU equals $24/BDT.
Typically, a sample of wood is obtained from the truck-trailer or rail car at the point of delivery, weighed green, and then dried in an oven for eight (8) hours at a specified temperature until no moisture exists in the sample. A factor is calculated using the green weight of the sample compared to its dry weight to determine the moisture content of the wood, and then multiplied by the green weight of the trailer or rail car to determine the amount of BDUs or BDTs in that load. Sawdust will vary from 2.3 to 2.6 green tons per bone dry unit (BDU), depending on moisture content. Planer shavings are usually much drier than sawdust and will usually be less than 2.0 tons per BDU. Finished wood pellets are sold by the ton (2,000 pounds per ton).
- Landscape Materials – Bark purchased from sawmills and plywood plants is screened to yield large pieces that are bagged and utilized for landscaping. This product is also commonly known as beauty bark. Ponderosa pine and douglas fir bark are the preferred species due to appearance and ‘chunky’ composition. Compost and pine straw are other landscaping uses of forest biomass.
Raw bark is purchased by the bone dry unit or the green ton – screened beauty bark is sold by the cubic yard (27 cubic feet per cubic yard).
- Posts & Poles – Traditional uses include fence posts and rails for livestock fencing, tree stakes in landscaping applications, plus guardrails and fencing for highways. The industry also provides roundwood furniture firms with their raw material and supplies building contractors with roundwood for architectural accents.
The manufacturing process consists of harvesting tree-length small (3” to 6”) trees and cutting the stem to the desired length (either in the woods or at a plant), and may include removal of the bark and machining the piece to a consistent diameter. For some applications, one or both ends are shaped into a tapered point or dowelled.
Lodge pole pine is the
most preferred tree for this application due to its characteristically straight form and lack of taper. It is also
lighter in weight than other
acceptable species and is known to readily accept chemical treatments that prevent rot. In the northern
The
firms within this industry vary in size and are often sole proprietorships or family-owned enterprises. Over 500 people are directly employed by this
industry, which produces over $64
million per year in gross revenues.
Post and pole material is usually purchased using the green ton as the unit of measure if delivered in tree-length form. Material that is cut-to-length in the woods by pole cutters is more often purchased by the “stick” – prices per stick are dependent on diameter and length. Product quality is an important factor as purchasers avoid crooked stems and those that contain “red rot”.
- Pulp
chips – Residual wood
chips, a byproduct of lumber and plywood manufacturing, are the primary
raw material for paper making in the
Reductions in solid-wood manufacturing levels have increased the historical demand for primary pulp chips across the region. Juvenile and compression wood levels are higher in small diameter timber, but pulp quality and yield rivals that of pulp made from sawmill residual chips. Coniferous tree species found in the study area (with the exception of western red cedar) have wood characteristics that are compatible with kraft-sulfate and newsprint papermaking processes.
The primary unit of measure used to purchase pulp chips is the bone dry unit (BDU) or the bone dry ton (BDT). Chips will vary from 1.7 tons of green wood per BDU for chips from dead trees up to 2.4 ton/BDU for young ponderosa pine.
Quality specifications for pulp chips differ but all focus on bark content, fines and overs. Bark content affects appearance of the finished paper products. Fines (chips less than 3/8” in length) reduce pulp yield. Overs (over-length or over- thick) typically are not adequately cooked during the pulping process and result in quality and appearance degradation to the finished paper product.
·
Structural/Nonstructural Lumber – Traditional
solid wood products manufactured by the forest products industry include
boards, dimension lumber and timbers. These products are made from logs cut in
the forest and then sawn in manufacturing facilities. Established end-uses,
product grading rules and marketing practices are not affected by log size.
However,
log size greatly influences harvesting and manufacturing costs – large, high-quality logs are more efficiently
removed from the forest and processed than
are small logs. Logs often constitute
seventy-five percent of the total cost
of the finished product,
therefore increases in log costs directly affect the economic viability of these commodity-driven forest
enterprises.
Advances in multi-stem mechanical felling, skidding and de-limbing equipment have reduced small-log harvest costs significantly. High-speed single- pass headrig designs, reductions in saw blade kerf size and advances with computer scanning technologies have reduced lumber manufacturing costs sensitive to small log size.
The eight physical wood characteristics affecting lumber utilization are: Appearance, Moisture Content, Shrinkage, Specific Gravity, Working Qualities, Decay Resistance, plus Thermal & Electrical Qualities. There are four important mechanical properties (Elasticity, Bending, Hardness and Strength). Strength is measured in various ways, including modulus of rupture, compression stress and shear strength. In general, specific gravity is a good index to determine the presence of suitable mechanical properties.
Visual quality control of finished products is determined by the application of published lumber grading rules administered by the Western Wood Products Association and certified by the Board of Review of the American Lumber Standards Committee. New in-line stress grading technology has provided opportunities to upgrade commodity products to higher values.
The most common units of measure used by this industry are volumetric. The traditional term ‘board feet’ is an approximation of the amount of usable wood in a log and is used to determine the amount of finished lumber. This unit of measure is still extensively used for forest inventory purposes as well as for purchasing logs and selling lumber. One board foot is one (1) inch thick by one (1) foot wide by one (1) foot long. For example, an eight foot two by four (2 x 4) has 5.3 board feet of lumber. Large quantities are usually expressed in terms of thousand board feet (MBF) or million board feet (MMBF).
The board foot measurement standard does not adequately represent the amount of small diameter trees or other biomass in a forest. Cubic foot measurement systems are becoming a more established method of determining forest biomass volume and for selling small (and large) trees in a forest. One hundred cubic feet is expressed as a CCF. Often times, board feet and cubic foot measurements will be converted to green or oven-dried tons, especially when determining the amount of small diameter trees.
An important energy consumption aspect regarding lumber and engineered wood products (discussed in the following section) should be noted. According to the National Academy of Sciences, steel building products require 50.32 million BTUs/ton of finished product to extract, process, manufacture and build with this non-renewable resource. Engineered wood products, such as Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), require about one-tenth of that amount of energy (5.75 million BTUs/ton).
Emerging Wood Products
·
Structural
Roundwood – An evolving application is the use of 4” to 6” diameter
roundwood for beams, trusses and columns in post and frame construction. Bridges and kiosks have also been built using
small diameter structural roundwood products. Roundwood may be less susceptible
to warp and more dimensionally stable than sawn lumber. Less processing is needed to yield a finished
product, which may result in lower costs. Although well-developed specification
guidelines, such as those used for traditional structural lumber, do not
currently exist, numerous roundwood strength-grading systems are being
evaluated.
- Standard Engineered Wood Products – Engineered wood is generally defined as any product made from small roundwood (or large logs) that has been reduced to smaller pieces of wood, which are then adhered together with a bonding agent to produce products with specific definable mechanical properties. These products include Oriented Strand Board (OSB), Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and Glue laminated beams (Glulam), which can all utilize wood fiber from small diameter trees. FRP wood glulam beams are made with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) to increase the strength of wood beams made from small diameter logs. The USDA Forest Service’s Forest Products Laboratory has invented a Laminated Stud.
- Flooring
– Small diameter trees are sawn to produce wood flooring in
several market areas of the U.S. West.
In western
- Inside-out (ISO) beams – This new engineered product uses 5-7” diameter logs. The manufacturing process involves sawing a log to make a four-sided cant, which is then cut into four pieces. These quarters are turning inside-out and glued together to produce 4” x 4” beams up to 16’ long. Still in the pilot stage.
- Land & Water Conservation Products – This utilization endeavor involves various conservation applications of patented small roundwood products licensed by Forest Concepts, LLC. The product line currently includes ELWd Hollow Round Logs and Engineered Log Jams for stream restoration projects, FlowCheck (manufactured log erosion barriers) , Wildlife Friendly Fencing, and WoodStraw Erosion Control.
- Wood Composite Decking – There are several variations within the family of outdoor deck products. Most utilize recycled plastic, combined with wood waste, as the primary raw materials, possibly providing a market for wood fiber obtained from small diameter trees. For instance, Trex systems use hardwood sawdust and Timbertech uses wood flour in the manufacture of their products.
- Wood
Composite Railroad Ties – A
Japanese-designed composite called Esion Neo Lumber FFU (also known as
polyurethane wood) has been used in
- High Compression Molding System – The Sorbilite’s Integrated Composite Forming System, first established in Germany in the 1970’s, combines wood fiber, agricultural fiber and shredded tires with recycled plastics to produce molded products such as cabinet doors, ceiling tiles, furniture forms and trim molding. Recent tests using a mix of sawdust, chips and bark produced from small-diameter ponderosa pine produced quality molding and cabinet door parts.
Wood fiber utilized in this process must be dried to a moisture content of 2-4%.
- Tim Tek -The TimTek product, invented in Australia, is a new long-fiber product that has uniform, high-strength properties said to be in excess of select-grade sawn timber. It can be produced in various lengths and cross-sections. The TimTek product is produced from small diameter logs (three to eight inch diameter class) that are de-barked and crushed to form a mat of interconnected strands of fibers. This "scrim" mat is dried, coated with adhesive, cut to length and then collated. The collated "scrim" is then passed through a steam press to produce high-strength structural timber. It is then cured, re-sawn into standard sizes and cut to required lengths.
In
the
·
Lumber hardening process - The Indurite
process hardens softwood lumber using soy and corn starch in an infusion
process that can add value to products sawn from small diameter trees. Hardened softwoods can rival hardwood for
uses in flooring and also possess increased fire resistance characteristics.
Bio-Power
Woody biomass energy systems range in scale from small systems that simply burn fuel in a stove, furnace or wood boiler to heat a home, school or commercial building to large-scale systems that produce steam and electricity for many customers. A variety of wood fuel forms are utilized, including bark, residual and primary wood chips, sawdust and wood pellets.
Air-dried (20% moisture content) wood fuel contains about 6,400 BTUs/lb whereas the energy content of bone-dry wood fuel ranges from 7,600 to 9,600 BTUs/lb. Douglas fir will yield about 8,900 BTUs/lb. A number of technologies are currently in use or being developed to utilize energy from woody biomass resources:
- Direct Combustion or Direct-Fired Systems burn wood biomass in a boiler to produce steam. Usually this steam is used to turn turbines that are attached to an electrical generator. The co-generation of steam and electricity is also known as Combined Heat and Power or CHP. In some cases the steam is used for manufacturing processes (like papermaking) or to heat adjacent buildings.
- Co-firing uses up to 50% wood biomass mixed with coal in direct combustion systems to produce steam and electricity. The wood biomass fuel reduces the sulfur dioxide emissions associated with fossil fuels.
- Gasification involves the process of heating wood at high temperatures in an oxygen-starved environment to produce a bio-gas consisting of methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This bio-gas can be used to run internal combustion engines or burned directly to produce steam and electricity via a gas turbine.
- Anaerobic digestion processes can be used to produce methane from woody biomass.
- Pyrolysis utilizes the bio-oil produced by heating biomass in the absence of oxygen. The pyrolysis oil can be directly burned or further refined. The chemical known as phenol can be extracted from pyrolysis oil to produce wood adhesives, molded plastic and foam insulation.
- Modular Systems are small (less than 5 megawatt) biomass electrical generation systems that use direct combustion, co-firing or gasification. They appear to be most suitable in small towns or rural settings.
Electricity produced from woody biomass is known to cost about 8 – 12 cents per kilowatt, which is much higher than the cost of hydro-electric power and usually exceeds the cost of natural gas and coal-generated electricity. The Northwest’s power crisis earlier this century prompted considerable interest in wood as a fuel to produce additional electricity, as the market temporarily surged upward to 12 cents per kilowatt and higher. However, supply and demand factors, and energy conservation measures, soon reduced the price of electricity back within its historical cost range, largely negating additional private investments in woody biomass energy.
In Montana, residual woody biomass
is commonly used to fire boilers at sawmills and plywood plants – the steam
produced from this process is used to heat buildings, dry lumber and soften
logs for peeling. The pulp and paper
plant located in Frenchtown purchases mill residuals (bark and sawdust) and
produces hogfuel from forest biomass to generate steam and electricity used in
various stages of papermaking and chemical recovery. The new electrical generating facility sited
in
The USDA Forest Service’s State
& Private Forestry unit is pioneering a program known as “Fuels for
Schools”, which helps subsidize investments in wood-fired boilers. In western
The U.S. Department of Energy also funds forest biomass bio-energy research, but its primary focus is on easily processed agricultural crops and the utilization of low or negative-cost industrial residues such as black liquor produced from wood pulp operations.
Bio-Fuels
Ethanol, the most promising
biomass liquid fuel, is currently receiving renewed attention in
Ethanol from corn, sorghum and
wheat is more market competitive than wood based ethanol because the federal
government heavily subsidizes the production of liquid fuel derived from
agricultural products.
According to a 2003 U.S.
Department of Agriculture survey, seventy-three (73) ethanol plants were
operating in twenty states, with sixteen (16) additional plants under
construction. At that time, 93% of the
ethanol produced in the
There is on-going research to utilize ligno-cellulosic feedstock, but only pilot scale facilities exist. Three processes are used to extract sugar from wood – concentrate acid hydrolysis, dilute acid hydrolysis and enzyme hydrolysis. The enzyme process reduces cellulose into sugars and may become the preferred method of producing ethanol from woody biomass.
There are twelve (12) bio-diesel
plants in the
Publicly-funded research efforts
are underway to enhance the utilization of agricultural and forest biomass at
the
Harvest & Transportation Cost
Analysis
Harvest & Transportation Cost
Analysis
Overview
Costs associated with the harvest and transport of small
diameter trees and other forest biomass are critical components of the biomass
assessment and utilization project. The
small-tree resource (trees < 7” dbh), although plentiful, only represents
about four percent (4%) of the current harvest volume in
Almost all tree harvest in
Most ground-based logging systems (the focal point of the following discussion) are either partially or fully-mechanized. Contractors typically use mechanized equipment to cut, skid, process and load the harvested trees. The economical harvest of small diameter trees requires specialized equipment. But, due to the nature of various tree sizes that occur in natural forests, it is usually infeasible for logging contractors to purchase equipment that only can be used for small diameter trees. In fact, very few logging contractors in Montana focus only on small-tree harvest, as eighty-nine percent (89%) of the timber processed in Montana is ten (10) inches dbh or bigger. This situation requires most logging contractors to select equipment that can handle a full array of tree sizes.
Harvesting Costs
This section will provide harvesting cost estimates and describes existing logging systems that can be adapted to harvest small diameter trees. However, a preliminary review of critical factors affecting mechanized logging costs will help explain the significance of tree size on harvest operations.
The primary fixed and variable costs involved in logging are:
- Equipment Payments
- Labor
- Liability & Worker’s Compensation Insurance
- Fuel
- Parts & Maintenance.
Proper equipment selection (using the right machine for the job) is vital. The relatively enormous capital investments required to purchase logging equipment require logging contractors to focus on:
- Equipment Availability/Utilization
- System Productivity.
Equipment Availability is defined as the percentage of a period of time that a piece of equipment is fully operable. For instance, six hours of “up-time” in an eight-hour work-day equates to 75% availability. Proper preventive maintenance and efficient access to replacement parts are the keys to high availability. Multi-function machines, such as feller-processors that sever the tree from its stump and also delimb the stem, are often more subject to low availability ratios than single function machines.
Equipment Utilization is a function of availability and the actual time a piece of equipment is effectively utilized. To illustrate, consider a typical mechanized logging system that consists of a tracked feller-buncher, a rubber-tired grapple skidder, a small tracked dozer equipped with a winch & wire-rope chokers and a delimber. If the feller-buncher cannot cut enough trees to keep the skidder and the dozer fully utilized, then most likely the skidder or the dozer will sit idle. Thus, utilization is low for the piece of equipment that is idle. If the skid distance is too long, or the ground too steep, then the skidders may not be able to move enough trees to the delimber to keep that machine fully utilized. There are many other examples of harvest conditions that potentially effect equipment utilization.
In
System productivity, especially for small diameter trees and other biomass, is typically determined by measuring the number of green tons harvested and delivered for payment. Fixed costs are high for mechanized logging systems and continue independently of production levels. Maximum levels of equipment availability and utilization are crucial. Achieving a balance among various machines and their operators to optimize the production of a harvesting operation is vital to minimizing the cost of production.
All the above factors are exacerbated by small-tree harvest,
but many mechanized
Today’s forest restoration, fuel reduction and commercial thinning activities exemplify the benefits of mechanized logging and highlight advances in small tree harvesting technology.
Why Tree Size Affects
Harvest Productivity
Mechanized logging systems are designed and utilized to lower harvest costs in forest stands with medium and small diameter trees. However, available technology still requires the physical handling of each individual tree. It is inherently cheaper to handle (cut, skid, delimb and load) one 16” tree that weighs one ton than to handle eighteen 5” trees to get the same weight. Loggers are very familiar with “piece size” and the exponential relationship between tree diameter and the number of trees per ton.
To lower the impact of this materials handling challenge,
multiple-tree/multiple-stem processing equipment and harvest methods are
commonly used, such as:
- Cutting heads with rapid cycle times and accumulating devises that enable the cutting head to hold several trees while another is being cut.
- Feller-bunchers that place numerous trees in one pile to facilitate skidding or forwarding.
- Grapples mounted on tracked and rubber-tired skidders that hydraulically close around the piles of “bunched” trees and skid them to the log landing.
- High speed tree processors that remove limbs and cut the stem into proper lengths.
Logging engineering research and equipment development will continue in forested regions around the globe, with many of those efforts focused upon increasing small tree harvest productivity.
Logging Rates
Logging rates represent the range of negotiated prices paid for the harvesting of trees. Rates are primarily influenced by the cost factors noted above, anticipated production levels, plus a profit margin.
The logging rate for sawlogs or peeler logs (used to make plywood) is usually based on a volumetric measure, such as the Scribner Decimal C log scale, and will be paid as a price per thousand board feet ($/MBF). Prices paid to harvest small diameter trees are based on green ton measurement ($/ton).
In general, prices are not separated for each phase of the harvest operation, except for loading and trucking. Trucking costs are discussed in the following section. The cutting, skidding, delimbing, and log preparation phases are usually the responsibility of the logging contractor. However, it is very common to negotiate logging rates “loaded on-truck”.
Cost models and harvest simulation programs are helpful tools, but are currently unsuitable for predicting harvest costs of small diameter trees in the Rocky Mountain West. Thus, the logging rates presented below were obtained in January and February 2005 via discussions with wood procurement managers, logging contractors and other knowledgeable individuals.
Log loading rates in western
Mechanized logging rates (excluding loading) in western
Logging rates for small diameter trees are typically on the high side of the above range. The rate “loaded on truck” for small diameter trees is often between $17/ton and $24/ton.
Transportation Costs
Logging trucks and chip trucks are the most common methods of transporting forest-based raw material. Each mode of transportation is designed specifically to provide advantages associated with the type and form of material hauled.
In general,
Like harvesting expenses, fixed and variable transportation costs are a function of:
- Required capital investment, interest rates and loan terms
- Insurance
- Equipment Availability & Utilization
- Fuel cost & fuel efficiency
- Labor costs
- Parts & Maintenance.
These expenses are all calculated into a periodic cash-flow analysis along with estimated revenue, which is based on net tons hauled and payment per ton. These factors, plus a desired profit margin, are used to negotiate actual freight rates. The most common unit of measure used to calculate transportation rates associated with forest products is the green ton (2,000 lbs./ton).
Transportation of Small diameter trees-
The three most important factors affecting hauling rates for small diameter trees are:
- Distance in miles
- Type of Road
- Amount of Payload (net weight)
It is common industry policy to utilize a freight rate formula that includes:
- Base Rate
- Miles
of
- Miles
of
- Miles
of
- Miles of Highway
Rates are generally negotiated based on a 27 ton payload. Formula rates often vary based on market and other conditions – according to the author’s sources the most current average formula rates are approximately:
- Base Rate - $2.40/ton
- Gravel Road - $.14/loaded ton-mile
- Secondary Road - $.12/loaded ton-mile
- Highway - $.08/loaded ton-mile
For example, the freight rate per ton for a 60 mile one-way haul (from the harvest site to the delivery point) consisting of 5 miles of woods road, 10 miles of gravel road, 15 miles of secondary road and 30 highway miles would be: $2.40 base + 5(.19) + 10(.14) + 15(.12) + 30(.08) = $8.95/ton.
Efficiencies associated with loading at the harvest site and unloading at the delivery point are often not within the trucking contractor’s control. Unusual delays in either activity are a common reason for increases in freight rates.
Freight rates can also be negatively affected by dead wood, which is sometimes too dry to allow a full payload. Seasonal highway weight limits may also affect transportation costs.
Certain forest types or silvicultural prescriptions involving small diameter trees may also affect transportation costs as short trees/short logs also present a challenge for trucking contractors. The proper loading of standard logging trucks requires the availability of enough long “bunk” logs. These bunk logs are placed on the bottom and sides of a trailer to safely transport shorter logs. Short logs are often loaded in the center or on top of the load. If a standard log truck is forced to shorten its trailer length because standard length bunk logs are not available, a full payload may not be achievable.
In most cases, standard logging trucks are well suited for the transport of small-diameter trees.
- They are designed to carry various log lengths, although extremely short or very dry logs pose difficulties in achieving maximum allowable gross weight.
- Several trailer designs are available for hauling short logs.
- The common log truck-trailer configuration allows for a fairly short turning radius on forest road curves and switchbacks.
- Also, standard log trailers are loaded on the truck-tractor for return trips to harvest sites, eliminating excess tire wear and increasing the safety factor.
Transportation of forest biomass-
Chip trucks (aka chip vans) are commonly used to haul residual wood chips, bark, sawdust and planer shavings. In general, these materials originate at a permanently located wood products manufacturing site such as a sawmill or plywood plant. Efficient loading practices include the use of chip bins, which are used to store material until a truck arrives. Often the residual materials are transported on paved highways to plants that allow unloading 24 hours every day. Equipment utilization rates are commonly maximized by operating two shifts. Chip trailers are bulky with low ground clearance and are designed especially to carry high-volume, low-weight materials. Specialized 55-foot chip vans commonly achieve net payloads of 33 tons.
These factors all help minimize transportation costs. The haul rate in the environment described above is approximately $.043/ton/round-trip mile plus an adjustment for fuel costs. For instance, the freight rate for a sixty-mile highway haul of residual chips from a sawmill to a paper mill would be about $5.16 per green ton, without the fuel cost adjustment. Base rates are not commonly used, but the rate/ton-mile is lower for hauls that exceed 125 miles. This price information is based on the author’s extensive involvement with contracting for the hauling residual wood materials such as chips, sawdust and hogfuel throughout the Intermountain West.
Standard chip trailers can be successfully used to haul
primary pulp chips or other forest biomass such as hog fuel that is produced at
the harvest site. This practice is
currently uncommon in
- It is impractical to use 55-foot chip vans on most forest roads.
- Chip trucks require slightly wider roads and much larger radius switchbacks than log trucks
- Increased road specifications will increase costs of road building.
- Chip truck drivers must be trained to safely operate on forest roads.
- Equipment can easily be damaged due to the bulky nature of chip vans.
- Chip trailer suspension systems are designed for highway travel
- Drop belly trailers (commonly used for highway hauls) cannot be used.
- Flat bottom trailers may result in less payload, depending on wood moisture.
These factors result in higher transportation costs for woody biomass produced in the forest than the rates used for hauling residual products. Formula-based pricing similar to the logging truck rates used for small-diameter trees should be expected for forest biomass transportation.
.
Delivered Costs
Within the project area, anticipated costs for harvesting and hauling small-diameter trees to Libby equal $26 to $32 per green ton. This range is approximate and will vary according to the factors discussed above. Recent increases in fuel costs will affect hauling expenses.
Delivered costs are not simply the sum of harvest and transportation costs, as other supply and demand market factors often have an effect on pricing. Road construction and maintenance affects total costs as well.
Stumpage prices (the price paid to the landowner for trees that are harvested) can also significantly influence the total pricing equation. Generally, the public or private forest owner strives to sell their standing trees for a profit. In some markets, those returns are relatively lucrative, especially for large, high-quality logs. Stumpage prices for many small-tree harvests are commonly one-tenth or less of the price paid for sawtimber.
In other cases, the landowner may actually subsidize a silvicultural treatment designed to attain desired forest conditions. In those cases, the landowner may not receive payment for stumpage but achieves an increase in property or environmental values.
Resource Supply & Availability
Resource Supply & Availability
Overview
Information regarding the supply of small-diameter trees and other forest biomass in the project area is crucial to the Biomass Assessment and Utilization Project. A three-layered approach was designed to provide important information regarding supply in the:
· Sixty-mile radius Project Area
·
·
The following parameters for each layer are provided:
· Forested Acres
· Landownership Patterns
· Tree Species
· Amount of Growing Stock
·
· Annual Net Growth
This report also presents information regarding the private
industrial lands and state managed forests in
The primary sources of information for the KNF section of
the project are the results of a study conducted in 1994 by the USDA Forest
Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station as part of its national Forest
Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. This FIA study provided data pertaining
to the land base that the KNF has determined to be suitable for timber harvest,
according to its Forest Plan. It also addresses biomass data for trees less
than 5” in diameter. Data and reports are available on the web at: http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/rm/ogden/state_reports/Montana/mt_nfs.html
A report issued in 2000 by
the USDA Forest Service entitled “Forest Resources of the
A mixture of forest inventory information, updated in 2003
for
Although supply information is useful, availability of
supply is a far more critical issue within the Project Area and much more
difficult to evaluate. The primary
factors influencing availability are reviewed in the
Data tables for each layer of supply analysis are available at the end of this section. The following graphical illustrations depict the Sixty-Mile Radius Project Area:
The 6.7 million acre Project Area is 86% forested, and
is......... 
The dominant forest types are Douglas
fir, spruce & true firs, Lodgepole pine (LPP) and Western larch.
These forests and their soils are......
And its 13.4 billion cubic feet of
coniferous growing stock produces Net Growth of 340 million cubic feet each
year.
Introduction
Two National Forests comprise sixty-six percent (66%) of the Project Area. The primary interest of the project sponsor (KRDC) is the Kootenai National Forest (KNF) which surrounds Libby. An evaluation of the forest biomass supply and availability from this National Forest is a principal component of the Kootenai River Development Council’s (KRDC) Biomass Assessment & Utilization project.
General Overview of
Land Base & Suitability
Classification
This national forest consists of 2.25 million acres. Ninety-three percent (93%) or approximately 2.1 million acres is non-reserved forest land. The Cabinet Mountains Wilderness comprises 3% of the KNF’s total land base. Four percent (4%) is classified as non-forest land or water.
One million three hundred thousand (1.3 million) acres, which is sixty percent (60%) of the non-reserved forest land, has been classified as suitable for regulated timber harvest. The “suitable” designation is used by the USDA Forest Service to identify areas where timber management will not cause irreversible damage to soil or watershed conditions and that are not otherwise designated as more suitable for critical wildlife range, old-growth reserves, special recreational activities or geographically too steep for timber harvest operations.
The term “forest type” is used to describe areas where an individual tree specie or group of species dominate. The prevailing forest type is Douglas-fir, which comprises the majority of the live-tree stocking on 37% of the forest land area classified as suitable. Lodgepole pine is the second most common forest type (20%), followed by western larch (14%), Engelmann spruce and grand fir. Ponderosa pine is not a major forest type or tree specie on the KNF.
Biomass
Biomass data (which includes trees less than 5.0” in diameter) was collected for the entire 2.1 million acres of non-reserved forest land. The biomass estimate (expressed in oven-dry tons) includes all the above ground parts of trees that are one-inch and greater in diameter. An oven-dry ton is the equivalent of 2,000 pounds of wood devoid of any moisture, a measurement conversion that identifies the amount of actual wood fiber.
The total coniferous species biomass was 108 million oven-dry tons, which calculates to 51.4 oven dry tons per acre.
Biomass volume in the small-diameter tree classifications (3.0” to 6.9”) was dominated by lodgepole pine, then Douglas fir (23%), subalpine fir (15%) and western larch (11%).
Timber Inventory
Sawtimber (trees larger than 8.9” in diameter) volume is estimated to exceed 11 billion board feet (Scribner log scale) on the suitable lands. Average sawtimber volume per acre on the suitable lands was 8.46 MBF/acre.
The suitable timber base has about 3.3 billion cubic feet of trees that are larger than 5.0 inches in diameter, including the sawtimber volume. Douglas fir represents twenty-nine percent (29%) of that volume followed by western larch (19%) and lodgepole pine (18%).
Within the small to medium diameter classes, lodgepole pine comprises 40% of the cubic foot volume in the 5.0” to 8.9” sizes, followed by Douglas fir (19%) and western larch (11%).
Growth & Mortality
Net annual growth for growing-stock trees (larger than 5.0 inches in diameter) on suitable forest land was 19.1 million cubic feet.
Gross annual growth was 88.4 million cubic feet (68cf/ac/yr) but was reduced by annual tree mortality estimated to be 69.3 million cubic feet.
Net annual growth on the KNF’s suitable forest lands was14.7 cubic feet per acre per year (14.7 cf/ac/yr) at the time of the forest inventory in 1994.
It should be noted that total net growth at that time was significantly affected by a severe mountain pine beetle infestation. Annual mortality in lodgepole pine was 51.3 million cubic feet, producing negative annual growth in that species in all but the 5.0”– 6.9” diameter size class. Douglas fir represented the highest levels of gross and net growth among the five most common tree species.
A conversion to oven-dry tons (50 cf/odt) indicates net growth on the suitable land base of approximately 382,000 odt/year just for trees that are larger than 5.0 inches in diameter.
Commercial Timber Program
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Timber Sale Program for the KNF has been determined to be 54.5 million board feet (MMBF), which is close to their average annual sale volume for the last four years. About 8-10% of this volume is focused on small-diameter trees.
Past sale quantities were much higher in the 1990’s due primarily to salvage harvests of dead & dying lodgepole pine stands affected by the mountain pine beetle. The KNF’s Timber Sale Program has also been reduced due to ESA restrictions, forest-wide litigation and budget issues. In fact, the average timber sale volume on the KNF the last four years, (2001- 2004) is 46% of the amount sold during the four year period from 1996 – 1999; when the KNF averaged almost 100 million board feet in timber sales annually.
However, the KNF leads the Northern Region (Region One) in timber sale accomplishments – the KNF produces more timber sale volume than any other National Forest in the Northern Region of the USDA Forest Service. According to Region One Timber Management staff, harvest levels on the Region’s twelve National Forests are 20% of what they were in the late 1980’s.
Along with the overstocking situation pertaining to the high numbers of small-diameter trees, Douglas fir bark beetle and root rot are the primary forest health issues on the KNF – timber management efforts are focused on those forest conditions.
Service Contracts
Service contracts are used by the KNF when the services
provided by a contractor exceed the value of products removed. Most often, service contracts do not involve
the removal of commercial products, such as with pre-commercial thinning
contracts designed to reduce stocking levels in stands of young trees. It may be possible to obtain biomass material
generated as a result of service contract work, but KNF officials do not
generally include that provision in their contracts. Currently, pre-commercial
thinning of lodgepole pine stands is on-hold due to concerns regarding
Stewardship Contracting
Declines in the USDA Forest Service timber sale program have
not diminished the need for restorative forest management procedures such as
wildlife habitat enhancement, insect & disease protection, fuel loading
reduction or timber stand improvement.
In recognition, the U.S. Congress initially authorized the Stewardship End Result Contracting program in 1999 to allow innovative forest managers the flexibility to accomplish needed forest improvements. Region One of the USDA Forest Service led the implementation effort and in 2003 Congress expanded the program (via Public Law 108-7), permitting the USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to employ Stewardship Contracting for ten years.
In an oversimplified nutshell, National Forests can now:
- Trade goods for services
- Apply excess receipts from one project to help fund another stewardship project
- Select contractors based on the “best-value” premise
- Award a contract or agreement for up to ten years
The KNF has so far utilized this tool for two projects:
- The 211 acre Yaak Community Stewardship Collaborative helped to reduce hazardous fuel levels, improve wildlife habitat, restore area streams, increase local employments and enhance local job skills.
- The Treasure Interface project was designed for many of the same purposes, including reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires and providing a supply of forest products. The project area affected 678 acres.
The upcoming Green Mountain Fuels Reduction Project on the Cabinet Ranger District will also address forest health issues using Stewardship Contracting.
Project sponsors have inquired about the possibility of
implementing a longer term Stewardship Contract on the KNF designed to improve
forest conditions on a landscape scale.
Such a project may perhaps be modeled to emulate the White Mountain
Stewardship Project on the
Review of Administrative
& Policy Issues
Budget
The USDA Forest Service budget is authorized by Congress and is often politicized. According to KNF forest officials the Timber Sale Program budget for FY 2005 does not appear adequate to prepare and administer the KNF’s planned timber harvest of 54.5 mmbf and Congress had not yet approved that budget request.
Categorical Exclusions
Categorical exclusions (referred to as “Cat Xs or “CEs”) are commonly used on the KNF to facilitate efficient planning and decisions regarding fuels reduction, rehabilitation, salvage and forest sanitation projects. Up to 1,000 acres can be treated using the Fuels Reduction CE. CAT X #12 can be used for live tree harvest on projects up to 70 acres to address forest health problems. NEPA work is still required. These projects cannot be appealed, but litigation remains an option.
The KNF’s Forest Plan identifies the forest lands suitable for producing timber. It also establishes how much timber the USDA Forest Service can sell from the suitable lands. More generally, the planning process identifies the multiple-use goals and objectives for each forest resource. The KNF is currently revising its Forest Plan, as required by federal statute.
Preparation of the preferred alternative and completion of the Forest Planning process has been delayed by the implementation of the new 2004 Planning rule. This revision, published in the Federal Register on January 5, 2005 replaces the 1987 Planning rule and removes the 2000 Planning rule. The new rule is designed to focus forest planning on activities needed to achieve overall desired future conditions on National Forests, which may remove some of the emphasis on limiting forest management activities to only suitable lands.
Appeals & Litigation
The current strategy used by environmental groups is to litigate by filing legal suits against timber management decisions. Most recently, grizzly bear habitat management issues have become the reason for litigation. Early this century, old growth timber parameters were the primary focus of litigation on the KNF.
The effects of litigation are very significant. Currently in Region One, there are 260 million board feet of prepared timber sales effectively unavailable for purchase and an additional 27 million board feet already sold but enjoined by litigation.
T&E Species
The threatened and endangered wildlife species on the KNF
include the grizzly bear, gray wolf,
High elevation lodgepole pine stands, preferred habitat for
hare, are felt to be critical habitat for the
Other research, used by the Montana Bureau of Forestry in
determining its annual sale volume, indicates that multi-story, multi-specie
forest stands are actually more preferred by
Montana School Trust Lands
The state-owned forest lands in the Libby area are managed by the Trust Land Management Division of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC). Their goal, guided by the State Forest Land Management Plan, is to maximize the production of sustainable revenue for the school trust beneficiaries by intensively managing forest lands. The Forestry Division of DNRC prepares timber sales, which are reviewed by the Forest Management Bureau of DNRC before the sales are presented to the Montana Land Board for approval. The Libby Unit Office administers projects in the Libby area, with oversight from the Northwest Land Office in Kalispell
Timber harvest volume is regulated by sustained yield
calculations. The Forest Management
Bureau has implemented a linear optimization model to maximize annual allowable
cut levels. Recently, the annual sustained yield for
The DNRC manages 164,771 acres of forest land within 60 miles of Libby. The majority (81%) of the lands are dominated by sawtimber sized trees (9” and bigger). Twelve-thousand acres are considered to be dominated by the poletimber size class, which are trees from 5.0” to 8.5” in diameter.
The tree species composition is very similar to the
Potential productivity, measured by habitat type, is high. One hundred and fifty-two thousand (152,000) acres, or ninety-two percent (92%) of the forest lands, have the potential to produce more than 50 cubic feet per acre per year. Sixty-three thousand (63,000) of those acres can produce more than 85 cf/acre/year.
If producing at full potential growth these state managed forests would produce in excess of 9.8 million cubic feet annually, which equates to about 255,000 green tons of potential growth each year.
Overview
Privately-owned forests are an important component of the
Project Area. Non-industrial private
forest (NIPF) owners represent a minor portion of the forested land in
Industry-owned forest lands in the Libby area are currently
owned by two companies. Plum Creek Timber Company, a publicly-traded
corporation based in
Plum Creek
Plum Creek intensively manages their fee land in the Libby
District to produce logs for their plywood plant and sawmills in northwestern
A Plum Creek study conducted in 2003 determined that as a
result of annual harvest activity on the district, approximately 40,000 green
tons of stem wood 5” and smaller was not being utilized. That weight estimate equates to 13% of the
total tonnage harvested, which is very reasonable for the tree species, harvest
practices and log specifications used by
Sustainability estimates were not available.
Stimson Lumber Company
The Libby area fee land is managed to produce wood for
Stimson’s sawmills in
Resource Supply Summary Tables
|
Table
One - Forested Acres |
|
|
|
|||
|
|
60-Mile |
% |
|
% |
|
|
|
USFS |
3,791,192 |
66% |
1,649,615 |
77% |
|
|
|
Private |
1,604,660 |
28% |
430,981 |
20% |
|
|
|
State |
342,041 |
6% |
59,446 |
3% |
|
|
|
BLM |
18,787 |
0% |
- |
0% |
|
|
|
County |
12,634 |
0% |
- |
0% |
|
|
|
Total |
5,769,314 |
100% |
2,140,042 |
100% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table
Two - |
|
|
||||
|
Specie |
60-Mile |
% |
KNF |
% |
|
% |
|
Douglas
Fir |
1,888,218 |
33% |
626,318 |
31% |
668,763 |
31% |
|
Spruce/Tfir |
1,095,368 |
19% |
426,141 |
21% |
341,812 |
16% |
|
LPP |
963,258 |
17% |
515,893 |
26% |
515,893 |
24% |
|
W
Larch |
530,511 |
9% |
302,205 |
15% |
297,228 |
14% |
|
Grand
Fir |
384,135 |
7% |
|
0% |
118,891 |
6% |
|
WRCedar |
324,539 |
6% |
141,533 |
7% |
78,563 |
4% |
|
W
Hemlock |
152,571 |
3% |
- |
0% |
- |
0% |
|
P
Pine |
145,853 |
3% |
- |
0% |
59,446 |
3% |
|
WWP/WBP |
88,063 |
2% |
- |
0% |
- |
0% |
|
Hdwds |
83,613 |
1% |
|
0% |
- |
0% |
|
Not
Stocked |
82,002 |
1% |
|
0% |
59,446 |
3% |
|
Total |
5,738,131 |
100% |
2,012,090 |
100% |
2,140,042 |
100% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table
Three - Coniferous Growing Stock (cubic feet) |
|
|||||
|
Specie |
60-Mile |
% |
KNF |
% |
|
% |
|
Douglas
Fir |
4,037,513,395 |
30% |
1,707,401,873 |
31% |
1,388,185,329 |
28% |
|
Spruce/Tfir |
3,837,876,660 |
29% |
1,481,744,518 |
27% |
1,344,794,501 |
27% |
|
LPP |
2,061,563,179 |
15% |
1,244,119,948 |
22% |
1,106,620,456 |
23% |
|
W
Larch |
1,570,472,976 |
12% |
643,170,541 |
12% |
600,332,555 |
12% |
|
WRCedar |
747,267,252 |
6% |
319,864,246 |
6% |
179,924,638 |
4% |
|
W
Hemlock |
545,015,746 |
4% |
55,484,753 |
1% |
52,531,500 |
1% |
|
P
Pine |
366,623,448 |
3% |
1,930,728 |
0% |
160,806,703 |
3% |
|
WWP/WBP |
204,778,398 |
2% |
95,306,155 |
2% |
61,874,224 |
1% |
|
Other
Sftwd |
24,848,468 |
0% |
|
0% |
|
0% |
|
Total |
13,395,959,522 |
100% |
5,549,022,762 |
100% |
4,895,069,906 |
100% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table
Four - Site Productivity (cubic feet per acre per year ) |
|
|||||
|
Site
Class |
60-Mile |
% |
KNF |
% |
|
% |
|
165-224 |
24,397 |
0% |
- |
0% |
- |
0% |
|
120-164 |
289,918 |
5% |
13,477 |
1% |
- |
0% |
|
85-119 |
1,359,969 |
24% |
529,450 |
26% |
331,207 |
15% |
|
50-84 |
3,079,049 |
53% |
1,335,408 |
66% |
1,556,190 |
73% |
|
20-49 |
1,015,982 |
18% |
133,753 |
7% |
252,644 |
12% |
|
Total |
5,769,315 |
100% |
2,012,088 |
100% |
2,140,041 |
100% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table
Five - Average Net Growth (cubic feet per year) |
|
|||||
|
Specie |
60-Mile |
% |
KNF |
% |
|
% |
|
Douglas
Fir |
87,585,196 |
26% |
28,942,127 |
22% |
30,644,922 |
22% |
|
Spruce/Tfir |
103,917,202 |
31% |
35,446,744 |
27% |
41,382,843 |
30% |
|
LPP |
51,563,906 |
15% |
32,173,172 |
24% |
33,248,786 |
24% |
|
W
Larch |
35,835,788 |
11% |
18,486,612 |
14% |
18,140,890 |
13% |
|
WRCedar |
23,438,030 |
7% |
10,513,554 |
8% |
6,195,092 |
5% |
|
W
Hemlock |
19,457,657 |
6% |
3,808,542 |
3% |
4,008,472 |
3% |
|
P
Pine |
9,382,354 |
3% |
246,574 |
0% |
880,576 |
1% |
|
WWP/WBP |
6,269,451 |
2% |
2,759,406 |
2% |
2,166,590 |
2% |
|
Other
Sftwd |
2,287,783 |
1% |
- |
0% |
- |
0% |
|
Total |
339,737,367 |
100% |
132,376,731 |
100% |
136,668,171 |
100% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table
Six - Volume of Small Diameter Trees (5.0 - 6.9" dbh) |
|
|||||
|
Specie |
60-Mile |
% |
KNF |
% |
|
|
|
Douglas
Fir |
216,503,979 |
20% |
162,659,396 |
13% |
|
|
|
Spruce/Tfir |
287,328,715 |
27% |
273,403,385 |
21% |
|
|
|
LPP |
357,354,535 |
33% |
578,777,842 |
45% |
|
|
|
W
Larch |
76,495,480 |
7% |
147,056,538 |
11% |
|
|
|
WRCedar |
78,148,340 |
7% |
68,905,049 |
5% |
|
|
|
W
Hemlock |
37,352,611 |
3% |
22,537,955 |
2% |
|
|
|
P
Pine |
8,423,259 |
1% |
1,930,728 |
0% |
|
|
|
WWP/WBP |
8,965,177 |
1% |
27,570,033 |
2% |
|
|
|
Other
Sftwd |
1,209,921 |
0% |
- |
0% |
|
|
|
Total |
1,071,782,017 |
100% |
1,282,840,926 |
100% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sustainability Analysis
Sustainability Analysis
Overview
A major goal of the Biomass Assessment & Utilization Project was to provide information regarding sustainability rates over a ten year period. The term ‘sustainable’ is used to define the rate at which an activity is able to be maintained. In forest management terminology, sustainable harvests of small-diameter trees and other forest biomass are the harvest or utilization rates that can be maintained without negatively affecting the ecological balance of an area.
For this project, annual net growth was used to estimate sustainability. Net growth is the mathematical difference between a forest’s gross growth and mortality. Basing sustainability only on net growth understates potential supply, as the existing growing stock is not included in potential supply estimates. In overcrowded forest conditions, it would be prudent to harvest a portion of the current growing stock and still achieve sustainable ecological balances.
The productivity of a forest is dependent upon climate, soil quality and genetic composition & average age of the tree species on the forest. Appropriate forest management regimes can also improve productivity, thus increasing sustainability criteria. Net productivity or growth is also affected by natural events such as disease, insect epidemics and wildfire that kill or reduce growth rates in forests. Other factors, such as water quality and desired wildlife habitat conditions will also affect ecological sustainability.
Three units of measure are used to illustrate net growth:
- One cubic foot represents the solid portions of a tree (bark & wood), and is a 12 inch cube.
- A green ton is 2,000 pounds of bark, wood, plus the weight of the moisture content in a tree.
- An oven-dry-ton is 2,000 pounds of totally dry wood & bark – devoid of any moisture.
The tables on the following page illustrate net growth
information for each of the three layers of forest resource analyzed within the
Project Area. “60-mile” is that area
within a 60-mile radius of Libby. Libby
is located within
The “suitable” land base is a sub-set of the KNF, which is that area determined by the USDA Forest Service through its Forest Planning process to be available for forest management activities that involve commercial logging. All volumes are for coniferous (softwood) trees only:
|
|
Forested Acres |
Growing Stock |
|
|
|
(million) |
(billion cubic
feet) |
CF/Acre/Year |
|
60
Mile Radius |
5.762 |
13.396 |
58.9 |
|
|
2.14 |
4.895 |
63.9 |
|
KNF |
2.012 |
5.549 |
65.8 |
|
KNF
Suitable* |
1.3 |
3.300 |
14.7 |
*Growth data from the 1994 FIA
Inventory; other data for
The above Growing Stock forest inventory and growth information was determined from just the trees that exceed 4.9” in diameter at breast height (DBH).
Biomass volume is converted to oven-dry-tons using the conversion of 50 cubic feet per bone-dry-ton; a bone-dry-ton unit of measure is commonly used to calculate biomass energy values in the bio-energy industry. The total biomass on KNF forested land is estimated at approximately 110 million oven-dry-tons which would yield more than 2.6 million oven-dry-tons of net growth annually (see table below).
Green weight is calculated using the average conversion of 52 pounds per cubic foot for the tree species on the KNF. The green weight measure is useful for industries that harvest and transport or purchase raw materials based on green weight, such as post & pole firms. Most often, roundwood used for pulp chips is also measured and purchased using a green ton factor. Although data is available, board foot growing stock or annual growth is not contemplated in this report as the focus is on small-diameter trees.
The following table illustrates the existing biological potential within the project area to sustain a supply of raw materials for industries that would utilize and add-value to the biomass resource base:
|
|
|
Net Annual Growth |
|
|
|
Million CF/Year |
Million ODT/Year |
Million
Green Tons/Year |
|
60
Mile Radius |
339.7 |
6.794 |
8.8322 |
|
|
136.7 |
2.734 |
3.5542 |
|
KNF |
132.4 |
2.648 |
3.4424 |
|
KNF
Suitable |
19.1 |
0.382 |
0.4966 |
Value-added Prospects
The complete raw material supply evaluation for a potential business enterprise investment will require numerous and complex iterations that analyze the net growth and other inventory data. It is a certainty that the project area can biologically sustain a greater amount of biomass harvest than currently exists, but the multi-faceted array of complex political, environmental, social and economic issues overrides such a simple methodology.
Designing workable solutions within the context of this unique opportunity is similar to the development of products that utilize small-diameter trees and other forest biomass. Although dynamic technological and economic conditions could be the catalyst for a major breakthrough, large-scale solutions will likely be incremental in nature – building upon past successes.
Without supply assurances, it is very unlikely that a major (+ $5MM) financial investment would be approved by company owners, stockholders, bankers or speculative investors for a new biomass-based endeavor in the project area. However, it is possible to utilize and add value to the available raw material supply in ways that minimize risk.
For instance, a more in-depth analysis of the inventory data reveals that small-diameter lodgepole pine is abundant and represents a large portion of the net growth in the area. The post & pole industry prefers this species and is capable of adding jobs within the project area without making an enormous investment. In fact, the number of new jobs added per $1MM of capital investment for a labor-intensive operation like this out performs the new jobs/million-dollars-invested ratio attained from a new large scale solid-wood products manufacturing complex or a biomass electric generation plant.
A medium-sized post & pole mill requires 10,000 – 15,000 green tons of small-diameter lodgepole pine annually. The KNF’s suitable land base alone annually produces enough new growth to supply eight or ten post & pole plants of that size – that does not include up to 20,000 tons produced annually as a result of current harvest on industrial forest lands. Nor does that calculation of consumption require the reduction the growing stock.
Other uses of small-diameter lodgepole pine include log furniture stock. A rough calculation of value-added potential for suitable small-diameter furniture material indicates that a $400 log bed that weighs 250 pounds results in a total finished value (including labor & marketing) of $3,200 per ton.
The analysis of harvesting & transportation costs revealed that delivered costs to Libby within the 60-mile project area would be in a range from $26 to $32 per green ton, without stumpage, road construction and other procurement expenses. That cost currently exceeds the price that pulp and paper companies are willing to pay for un-chipped roundwood. However, it may be possible to sort or manufacture higher-value short sawlog segments from small-diameter roundwood. Adding value in this manner would help subsidize the manufacture of chips made from the remaining material to attain full utilization.
The ability to upgrade portions of small-diameter trees to the highest value may also result in better utilization of douglas fir understory trees, prevalent throughout the project area. Utilization of bark and other wood waste generated as a by-product of the primary manufacturing process may also provide fuel for small-scale wood gasification electricity production capabilities.
The above value-added concepts, and others utilization strategies, will be further-examined in Phase II of the Biomass Assessment and Utilization Project.
Literature Search
Literature Search
for
Phase I, Biomass Assessment &
Utilization Project
Kootenai River Development Council, Inc.
Prepared by:
November 2004
The
results of a literature search pertaining to the Kootenai River Development
Council’s Biomass Assessment & Utilization Project are listed below. Three computerized data bases at the
1.
Agricola – indexes publications pertaining to agriculture,
botany, forestry, grazing, range management, and research by the U. S. Forest
Service, from 1970 to the present.
2.
Biological and
Agricultural Index – indexes over 300
journals from popular to professional that pertain to biology and agriculture
from 1983 to the present.
3.
Tree CD – a comprehensive index of forestry literature from
1939 to the present.
These efforts yielded
sixty-six publications of potentially direct significance to the Assessment
& Utilization Project and are related to:
o
o
Determination of
o
Wood
Characteristics of Small Trees
o
Small Tree
Utilization
o
Small Tree &
other
o
Small Tree
Harvest Systems & Productivity
The Journal of Wildlife
Management format style was used - available abstracts accompany each article.
Literature Search – Biomass Assessment & Utilization Project
Aquino, C. 2003. Case Study: Market Opportunities for
commercially thinned small diameter douglas-fir trees.
Anderson, R. C., L. Swan and E. Burket. ____.
A Characterization of the
Anonymous. 2004. Recycling
ABSTRACT: Recycling wood thinnings helps prevent
catastrophic forest fires as well as providing raw material for compost and
power generation. The town of
Anonymous. 1998. Finding high-value markets for wood. Bio Cycle 39: 40.
ABSTRACT: Initially a
biomass fuel supplier, the wood processing company Weaver Industries in
Anonymous. 1997. Role
of wood production in ecosystem management. Proceedings of the Sustainable
Forest Working Group at the IUFRO All Division 5 conference in
Araki, D. 1996. Recovery of wood chips from low grade
fiber sources. Forest Engineering Research Institute of
ABSTRACT - Small-diameter
trees, tops, wood slabs and wood
waste from mixed stands of lodgepole pine and black spruce in
Baumgartner, D.M.,
L. R Johnson, and E J. DePuit, eds. 2002. Resource Management, Manufacturing,
and Markets. Papers and abstracts of papers presented at the Small Diameter
Timber: Resource Management,
Manufacturing, and Markets Symposium. Published by
ABSTRACT: The
symposium focused on the complex challenges of managing densely stocked stands
of small diameter trees and on the national significance of the small diameter
timber resource. New developments in management, harvesting systems,
manufacturing products using small log processing and wood drying practices,
and market issues for wood products made from small trees were presented during
three days of general, concurrent, and poster sessions. More than 60 presenters
from 15 states and
Bergman, R. and J. Zerbe. 2001. Primer on Wood Biomass for Energy. U. S.
Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory,
Camp, A. 2002. Damage to
residual trees by four mechanized harvest systems operating in small diameter, mixed conifer forests
on steep slopes in northeastern
ABSTRACT: Dense stands of small-diameter timber present unique challenges for land managers.
In the inland West, trees in
high-density stands often grow slowly and may be at risk to insects, diseases,
and catastrophic fires. In 1996, the U.S. Congress recognized a need to address
forest health issues and stimulate local resource-based economies in
northeastern
Chow, P.
1983. Chemicals, fiber, and energy from woody
biomass.
Corwin, M.L. et. al. 1988. Common characteristics of six successful mechanized small-tree harvesting operations in the South. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 12: 222-226.
ABSTRACT: Forest
industry personnel were surveyed to identify successful (efficient and
financially viable) small-tree harvesting (thinning or pre-logging)
operations in the southern
Erikson, R.G.
et. al. 2000. Mechanical grading of
lumber sawn from small diameter lodgepole pine, ponderosa
pine, and grand fir trees from
northern
ABSTRACT:
Eza, D. A.
1984. Cost-effective trucking distances for woody biomass
fuels. U. S. Forest Service,
Fight, R.D., R.J. Barbour and K.E. Skog.____.
Financial analysis of ecosystem management activities in stands
dominated by small-diameter trees. U. S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest
Research Station,
Glenn, J. 1997. Marketing woody materials on the back of the biomass industry. Bio Cycle 38: 68-69.
ABSTRACT: Dave and Michael Hardy set up California Bio-Mass Inc. in 1991 and transformed a $3,500 investment into a growing $2 million a year biomass business. Initially launched to supply wood residuals to the boiler fuel market, the company has seen its product sales from boiler fuel drop from about 80 to 20 percent as a result of its diversification into other market areas. The development of the company and the system and market changes implemented are described.
Guss, L.M. 1995.
Engineered wood products: the future is
bright.
Jackson, D.H
and K.O. Jackson.
1989.
Jeffries, T.W. 2000. Ethanol and thermo-tolerance in the bioconversion of xylose by yeasts. Advanced Applied Microbiology. 47:221-268.
Keegan, C.E. et.al. 2004.
Timber Use, Processing Capacity, and Capability to Utilize Small-Diameter
Timber within
Keegan, C. E. et. al. 2004.
Capacity and Capability of Mills in the Kootenai National Forest-Timber
Processing Area.
Keegan, C. E. et. al. 2003. Wood for Energy in
Keegan, C. E. et. al. 1987.
Utilizing Wood Residue for Energy Generation in
Hartsough,
B.R. et. al. 2001. Harvesting
cost model for small trees in
natural stands in the Interior Northwest.
ABSTRACT: Realistic logging cost models are needed for long-term forest management planning. Data from numerous published studies were combined to estimate the costs of harvesting small trees in natural stands in the Interior Northwest of North America. Six harvesting systems were modeled. Four address gentle terrain: manual log-length, manual whole-tree, mechanized whole-tree, and mechanized cut-to-length systems. Two cable systems were included for steeper terrain: manual log-length and mechanized cut-to-length systems. A stand-alone program incorporating all the relationships is available.
Holtzscher,
M.A . 1997. Tree diameter effects on cost and productivity of cut to
length systems.
ABSTRACT: Currently, there is a lack of economic information concerning cut-to-length harvesting systems. This study examined and measured the different costs of operating cut-to-length logging equipment over a range of average stand diameters at breast height. Three different cut-to-length logging systems were examined in this study. Systems included: 1) feller-buncher/manual/forwarder; 2) feller-buncher/processor/forwarder; and 3) swing-to-tree harvester /forwarder. Operating costs were calculated by generating stands with the stand generator program PCWThin. Once stands were generated, costs for thinning were determined using a computer spreadsheet model known as the Auburn Harvester Analyzer. Each individual system followed different cost trends; however, for all systems, tree size had a significant effect on unit cost of wood produced. As tree size increased, unit cost of wood produced decreased. The swing-to-tree harvester system was much more expensive for small-diameter trees than the other two systems due to individual stem processing and small volume per tree but approached the unit costs of the other systems at larger tree sizes.
Host, J.R.
and D.P.Lowery. 1983.
Salvage and thinning operations in second growth ponderosa pine stands. U. S.
Forest Service,
Howard, J. O. 1987.
Harvesting Overstocked Stands of Small Diameter Trees – Energy Value of
Whole-Trees and Crowns.
Hunt, J.F. and J.E. Winandy.
2003. Lam I-joists: a new
structural building product from small-diameter, fire-prone timber. U. S. Forest
Service, Forest Products Laboratory,
ABSTRACT: This study aims to
promote healthy and sustainable forests by developing value-added uses for
curved and small-diameter trees. In typical North American
logging or thinning operations, much of this low-value timber is felled and
left on the ground, chipped, or burned because most mills are not equipped to
handle it. By understanding the fundamental processing requirements for and the
mechanical properties of curved and small-diameter material, we can gain
insight into possible options for using this resource. Through cooperative
efforts with industry, universities, and government institutions, we are
working to use innovative technologies to investigate the potential for using
an additional 8.5 to 17 million board feet per year of fire-prone 'woody' fuel
per forest unit for value-added products. In the study reported here, research
was focused on processing small-diameter curved and cull timber into dimensional
2 by 4 studs and then converting that material into a value-added laminated
I-beam, called Lam Lumber. This paper describes research to date on processing
needs and basic research being conducted on small-diameter timber.
Kellogg, L.D.
1983. Handling the small tree resource with cable systems.
Kluender, R.
et. al. 1998. Removal intensity and tree size effects on harvesting cost and
profitability.
ABSTRACT: Sixteen stands were harvested at intensities (proportion of basal area removed) ranging from 0.27 to 1.00. Logging contractors used chain saws and rubber-tired skidders. Harvested sites were similar in slope and tree size. Harvest cost per hundred cubic feet of wood (CCF) was inversely related to harvest intensity and tree size. Harvesting profitability per CCF was near zero when removing trees averaging less than 8 inches diameter at breast height (DBH). Harvest intensity had the greatest influence on profitability in small-diameter timber. Harvest profitability was greatest when removing large trees at high levels of harvesting intensity. Because of the differences in average tree size removed by different harvesting prescriptions, some prescriptions were more profitable than others. Most profitable for harvesting contractors in our study was single-tree selection in an uneven-aged stand. Less profitable were selection in an even-aged stand, clear cutting, and shelterwood harvests, in that order. Selection at low removal intensities with small trees removed would always be the least favored harvest method with the equipment spreads we observed. Average removed tree size needed to be at least 8 inches DBH to break even.
Kumar, S., R. J. Barbour and R. R. Gustafson. 2004. Kraft
pulping response and paper properties of wood from densely stocked
small-diameter stands.
ABSTRACT: In this study, the kraft pulping characteristics, fiber properties, and handsheet properties of small-diameter trees and tops from three eastern Washington (USA) wood species (lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta; Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii; and western larch, Larix occidentalis) were determined. Similar studies were done on sub-merchantable sawlogs from these three wood species and two commercially available sawmill residue pulp chip sources. The purpose of the study was to compare the kraft pulping characteristics of trees that will be removed during treatments to restore and maintain ecological function, or reduce fire hazard, in northern interior forests with the pulping characteristics of wood conventionally used in kraft mills in the region. The results of this study show that small-diameter trees and tops and sub-merchantable sawlogs are suitable raw material sources for kraft pulp mills. These wood sources responded to kraft pulping similar to the sawmill residue chips with some minor exceptions. The Douglas-fir sub-merchantable logs pulped slower than the others and it was found that western larch is a somewhat inferior raw material source due to its lower pulp yield. Results from the fibre analysis were similar to that of the pulping research; pulp from the small-diameter trees and tops and sub-merchantable logs is comparable to that from the sawmill residue chips with a few notable exceptions. The fiber length of pulps from small-diameter trees and tops and sub-merchantable logs sources were similar, but the sawmill residue chips produced fibers with moderately higher fiber length and coarseness. Hand sheet properties of pulp from all the wood sources were similar. Differences that were noted tended to be attributed to species differences. In general, there are only small differences in the Kraft pulping and paper making performance of wood from small-diameter trees and tops and sub-merchantable saw logs compared to wood used conventionally in Kraft mills. These differences could be handled easily in a mill by making moderate process adjustments.
Lambert, M.B.
and J.O. Howard. 1990. Cost and productivity of technology for harvesting and
in-woods processing of small-diameter trees.
LeVan-Green,
S.L. and J. Livingston. 2001. Exploring the uses for small diameter
trees.
ABSTRACT: This article explores the uses of small-diameter and underutilized (SDU) material which occurs in overstocked national forests of the Interior US West. SDU material refers to timber that was left in the forest because it is not economical to remove it or no local processing capacity is available; it also includes dense under story present throughout the forest following successful fire suppression for 50 years. There are many beneficial management reasons for removal of this material, including reduction of fire hazards, improvement of stand species and quality mix, healthier wildlife habitat, and protection of watersheds. Finding cost-effective and value-added uses for the thinned SDU material would offset forest management costs. Possible uses for SDU material include sawn wood, engineered wood products, laminated timber, structural round wood, wood composites, wood plastic composites, fiber, pulping, compost and energy, and wood pulp. The report concludes that future restoration programs must be designed to provide a consistent supply of raw material to processors. It also recognizes that there is no single product that will utilize all small diameter trees from Red Zone areas. Instead, a stable, diverse wood industry appears to be the most desirable future
Little, J.B. 1998. A junk to jobs experiment. American Forests 104: 26-28.
ABSTRACT: Although
many timber towns are struggling to survive dwindling harvest levels, the rural
community of Hayfork,
Livingston, J.
2004. Small-Diameter Success
Stories. U. S. Forest Service, Forest
Products Laboratory,
ABSTRACT: Public and private forests are in critical need of restoration by thinning small-diameter timber. If economical and value-added uses for this thinned material can be found, forest restoration costs could be offset and catastrophic wildfires would be minimized. At the same time, forestry-dependent rural communities – faced with diminishing timber supplies, loss of jobs, high unemployment, and declining community vitality – are looking for new ways to make a living from nearby forests. From information gathered in onsite interviews, this report describes how several businesses and community organizations are contributing to the health of the forest and their community by successfully making use of small-diameter and underutilized material.