In the year 2000, loggers through the American Loggers Council set out to create a third-party, auditable set of standards and a certification program that holds to account the business and on-the-ground practices of loggers who hold the certificate. The ALC Master Logger Certification Program demands compliance with Seven Areas of Responsibility that ensure environmental…
Forisk’s study quantified reforestation trends in the U.S. over the past ten to twenty years and assessed the potential effects of the U.S. reforestation rates on timber availability and wood biomass supplies. Abstract/Conclusions: The decline in tree planting acreage in the South in recent years is partially due…
The project evaluates the current harvesting capacity for four U.S. regions, estimates roundwood demand, and quantifies supply chain capabilities to meet that demand, in view of loggers’ ability and willingness to invest in capacity expansion, with recommendations to overcome identified obstacles. KEY FINDINGS: Summary of findings in…
Develop Logging Cost indices for six forested regions in the United States. Key cost elements of the wood supply chain will be tracked and trend lines established. Summarization of cost trends into five quarterly “Logging Cost Indices” reports. (Ongoing project.) KEY FINDINGS: See FRA Technical Release 04-R-25 Logging Cost Indices…
This project assesses the state of biomass harvesting, collection, and transportation technology in use across FRA’s geographic regions of the United States. It includes statistics comparing regional operations as well as anecdotal observations obtained from field visits to biomass harvesting operations. KEY FINDINGS: See Forest Operations Review Vol. 13, #1…
Compare the match between logging capacity and manufacturing capacity on a state-by-state basis in selected states for all six forested regions in the U. S. Where shortfalls exist, make recommendations to address the decline in logging capacity. KEY FINDINGS: See FRA Technical Release 07-R-2 Logging Capacity Survey Summary Report.
(Dr. Dale Greene, University of Georgia, in collaboration with Louisiana State University and University of Maine) Main causes of unused wood production identified as market-driven (quotas, closures, “turn-time” issues), regulations (mandatory and voluntary), mechanical problems, labor-related (amount and quality), uncontrollable weather impacts, planning shortfalls, and individual stand/tract issues. KEY FINDINGS: See FRA Technical Releases 03-R-2 Impact of…
Research ways to optimize the wood transportation system by improving turn times, increasing loaded miles, reducing idle time and to reduce costs by adopting new technologies, like trailer designs that increase payloads. Find ways to improve safety and public perception while lowering insurance costs. KEY FINDINGS: See sequence of five FRA…
Virginia Tech has completed a project for WSRI that considers the the application of Lean Thinking principles to the wood supply value chain. Lean has been broadly applied to supply chains within a broad range of manufacturing settings but there is little documentation of it being applied to wood supply. Their report explains Lean concepts…
WSRI is collaborating with Team Safe Trucking to speed up the development of a trucking safety and issue awareness training system. The target audience ranges from drivers and wood suppliers to wood producers and consumers. This is a departure from the traditional model for projects funded by WSRI. The goal this time is to support…