Collins Companies, which owns and manages 94,000 acres around Chester, CA, 78,000 acres in Lakeview, OR, and 126,000 acres in Pennsylvania is always operating on the cutting edge of sustainable forestry. It's fascinating to tour their lands and biomass facility in Chester in the Northern Sierra. Collins Pine was one of the first companies in the United States to adopt "the Natural Step" a Swedish program for sustainability in businesses (also adopted by IKEA). I highly recommend a visit. (A good time to visit might be Memorial Day weekend, when the new museum opens. The museum will highlight forestry past and present and the role forestry can play in the overall health of the community, economy, and earth.)
Many mills in California and beyond are designed for large diameter logs. With restrictions on logging large trees and many fewer large trees to log, many of these mills have closed over the years and decades resulting in thousands of people out of work and floundering rural economies. Last week Cin ollins Companies announced it will add a new $6.6 small log saw mill at its Lakeview facility in Oregon. Additionally, they are putting in a biomass facility to burn the wood waste they create.
I was talking to the manager of the Collins biomass facility in Chester a few months ago who could convince anyone that biomass energy production is a sound investment. Considering the costs of oil and increased climate change regulations, biomass, as a clean, sustainable, carbon-neutral energy source, is quickly becoming a more viable source of energy, particularly in rural, heavily forested areas. Collins Pine in Chester runs their mill and offices on the energy they produce by burning wood waste, and the excess (about half of what they produce) is sold to PG&E.
On a three hour tour of the plant, I had to actually ask where the smokestack was-- it wasn't obvious as there was no black smoke pouring out. They use heavy duy magnets to scrub the smoke of all particulate matter-- ash that is then used to fertilize the forest lands. Hundreds of degress of heat produced is used to drive other processes such as drying wood chips and lumber. In the end what leaves the smokestack is light, low-temperature steam. CO2, of course, is invisible. The CO2 released into the atmosphere however, is recaptured by the growing trees through photosynthesis. In fact, there is no other natural process that take CO2 out of the atmosphere. (Respiration, decomposition, and combustion all release CO2 into the atmosphere).
Terry Collin's office has a poster of a triangle-- the points representing community, ecology, and economy-- with arrows connecting the three. They strive to operate in the center of the triangle, and continue to acts as model stewards of the forest environment and respected employers and community members, while turning a profit.
A truely visionary forestry company, their forestry credo (take from the 2007 newsletter) is: To manage the forest in such a way to increase and maximize the sustainable growth of the timber resource and the financial return of the owners while maintaining and enhancing all other forest values, including wildlife, aesthetics, clean water, soil productivity, and recreation. This should be accomplished without forfeiting any potential opportunities for future managers or generations of owners.
For more information see their website http://www.collinswood.com/
