Mass Timber Products Could Hold Key to Reduction in Wildfires

Recent wildfires have ravaged forested areas along the West Coast and other parts of North America. It is easy to point to climate change for the severity of the problem. However, another problem, which is man-made also must shoulder some of the blame and can now be part of the solution. Fire suppression and exclusion practices have created a build-up of flammable material in forests, which could be reduced through controlled burns as well as thinning of small trees and shrubs. Mass timber products, which are surging in popularity as a low-carbon alternative to concrete and steel, could create an economic incentive for thinning. This virtuous cycle could help drive the mass timber market, estimated to be more than $2 billion worldwide by 2025. In essence the small trees and shrubs once rejected by the lumber industry have become one of the cornerstones of the mass timber market. According to Kyle Freres – VP of Operations, at family-owned Freres Lumber Company, whose company has traditionally produced plywood from Douglas Fir, the lumber industry has, for the most part, been uninterested in small trees, or “small-diameter trees.” Bumass timber, which is structurally engineered of many layers to reach a gestalt of greater strength and stability, is by its very nature well suited for smaller trees. “You end up with less defects and more consistent grain fiber that meets a higher engineered capacity.”