Wood utilization

Oregon Adopts Local-Use Lumber Grading

Posted on by akabelowsky
Two men in front of a PowerPoint main slide

Scott Lyon, left, Wisconsin DNR Forest Products Services team leader, and Scott Leavengood, director of Oregon Wood Innovation Center. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Brian Cole, Wisconsin DNR Forest Product Specialist

On Wednesday, April 1, at the Fitchburg Service Center, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Forest Product Services team held its first Wisconsin Local Use Dimension Lumber Grading (WLUDLG) class for 2026.

Along with 10 Wisconsin students, we had the pleasure of hosting Scott Leavengood. Scott is the director of the Oregon Wood Innovation Center (OWIC) and has worked in Wood Products Extension with Oregon State University (OSU) since 1994.

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Repurpose Your Holiday Tree!

Posted on by janness

By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist
Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

To say that working on a Christmas tree farm in high school led me into forestry would be a case of significant historical revisionism. Still, that experience swam in the same waters as reading Lord of the Rings, going on family vacations to the mountains, having a nearby municipal forest and other things that showed me that trees were the way.

Since then, I have increasingly appreciated holiday trees and other green things brought into households, not (just) in the harbinger-of-gifts way, but as reminders of life against a cold, seemingly bleak background. “Things will get better,” these green things announce. “Just wait!” Continue reading “Repurpose Your Holiday Tree!” →

Biophilic Design & Urban Wood

Posted on by janness

By Dwayne Sperber, Wudeward Urban Forest Products

Trees grow, change and like all living things, eventually decline or die. Sometimes trees are removed from urban areas due to safety concerns, tree health or insufficient space. But when these urban and community trees are viewed not as waste, but as a valuable material resource, their story doesn’t end – it continues.

By transforming fallen trees into urban wood products, we can extend the benefits of living trees into the places we live, work and play. These materials – lumber, furniture, architectural woodwork – quietly connect us to nature. This is the basis of biophilic design, the concept of connecting humans to the natural environment.

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Survey Coming For Secondary Wood Manufacturers

Posted on by akabelowsky
Icon of a survey under the DNR Forestry News banner

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources soon will launch a survey of secondary wood manufacturers.

By Wisconsin DNR

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry and University of Wisconsin-Madison Wood Products Extension will conduct a survey involving Wisconsin’s secondary wood products manufacturers. This survey will be used to update the Wisconsin Wood Users Industry Directory.  The directory, last updated in 2018, is currently available, and we plan to have the updated version online as part of the forestry products section of the DNR website.

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Symposium On Wood-based Construction Scheduled

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Wisconsin DNR

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Forest Products team is pleased to share an upcoming symposium focused on the latest advancements in wood design and construction. This event, scheduled for Sept. 23 at the Milwaukee Art Museum, is tailored for architects, engineers, designers, developers, general contractors and all professionals with an interest in innovative wood applications.

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Housing Wisconsin: Home Building Trends, Outlook

Posted on by akabelowsky

Housing Market Index (HMI) Survey, March 2025. Source: NAHB/Wells Fargo. / Graphic Credit: Brian Zweifel, Wisconsin DNR

By Brian Zweifel, DNR Forest Products Specialist, Dodgeville
Brian.Zweifel@wisconsin.gov

Variability and uncertainty seem like key words to describe many things right now, but the words apply especially to current housing markets.

The home construction and remodeling industry is a key driver of forest products markets and can be an important indicator of future demand. Softwood lumber and engineered wood products such as oriented strand board, plywood and laminated beams and joists are used in home construction. Hardwood lumber, however, is used to manufacture flooring, cabinets and other millwork items for interior applications.

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Impact Of Home Building On Wood Products Sector

Posted on by akabelowsky

Figure 1. Number of full-and part-time sawmill employment in Wisconsin, 2015-2023. Data Source: IMPLAN. / Graphic Credit: Ram Dahal, Wisconsin DNR

By Ram Dahal, DNR Forest Economist, Madison
Ram.Dahal@wisconsin.gov

Residential home construction heavily depends on wood products like lumber. When housing starts increase, the demand for softwood and hardwood lumber and engineered wood products typically rises, and vice versa.

The home building market experienced a variety of challenges in recent years due to stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second quarter of 2020, the US experienced a reduction of more than 25% in new privately owned housing starts compared to the previous quarter. Almost all regions experienced similar downfall (Figure 1).

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Eastern White Pine CLT Research Moving Along

Posted on by akabelowsky

A five-ply panel of Eastern white pine from Wisconsin being formed into cross-laminated timber in a press at Michigan Technological University. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Alex Anderson, DNR Forest Products Specialist, Tomahawk
Alexander.Anderson@wisconsin.gov

As part of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Forest Products Services mandate to explore new markets for species considered underutilized in the state, a research project was proposed to evaluate the viability of Eastern white pine (EWP) in cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels.

CLT has become increasingly popular in the U.S. during the last decade-plus, after the product was determined to be an effective alternative to traditional concrete and steel construction for multi-story construction in Europe. It is created by pressing dimension lumber (2x4s and 2x6s, typically) into large panels where each layer runs perpendicular to those above or below it, similar to plywood. This construction method allows for large structural panels to be created entirely from wood.

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Lumber Milling At McFarland High School

Posted on by janness

By Peter Lindblad, HNG News Reporter, PLindblad@hngnews.com

Reprinted with the author’s permission.

The price of wood is soaring. To save a little money, the technology education department at McFarland High School has devised an ingenuous DIY cost-saving scheme.

Since 2019, Steve Pennekamp’s woodworking classes have been milling their own lumber. The village, in a partnership with the students, provides the logs, removed from projects around town. Continue reading “Lumber Milling At McFarland High School” →