Norfolk Southern’s Brosnan Forest to Provide Timber for New Building at Clemson University

On Thursday, Norfolk Southern Corporation announced that it would provide timber for the construction of a Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation building project at Clemson University. The majority of the wood used for the state-of-the-art mass timber building will be longleaf pine harvested from the Brosnan Forest, a 14,400-acre timber and wildlife preserve near Charleston, South Carolina.

The building project will help serve the Southeast as an education and research hub for wood-based construction, sustainable building practices, and will develop the next generation of forestry and environmental leaders.

This collaboration also highlights Norfolk Southern’s commitment to workforce development as part of a larger collaboration with Clemson. The university has been a priority source of talent for Norfolk Southern for over a decade. In the last five years, Norfolk Southern has supported Clemson with grants and other gifts totaling over $50,000.

The project is significant for its use of longleaf pine, a tree species native to the Southeast known for its durable wood ideal for use in construction applications. The diverse longleaf pine ecosystem, once accounting for 90 million acres of the Southeast, now spans just three million acres. By using sustainable forestry methods and strategic partnerships with leading forestry organizations like The Longleaf Alliance, the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, and Milliken Advisors, Norfolk Southern’s Brosnan Forest is safeguarding the future of this important tree species.

By responsibly harvesting the longleaf pine for use in Clemson’s new building project, Norfolk Southern hopes to successfully demonstrate the superiority of the species for use in infrastructure development.

Another unique feature of the collaboration is its use of first-of-its-kind blockchain technology. Chainparency’s GoTrace platform is being used to track the timber as it moves through the supply chain starting with its harvest at Brosnan Forest then to Collum’s Lumber Mill in Allendale, South Carolina, and SmartLam in Dothan, Alabama, for processing before finally arriving in Clemson.

The project highlights a strong collaboration between numerous entities all working toward the common goal of promoting healthy forests and sustainable building practices.