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Old 09-27-2017, 05:14 PM   #10 (permalink)
acparker
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Harvesting selectively for timber is damaging, harvesting for biomass is catastrophic.

I spent some time, many years ago, in the area of the Ouachita mountains of Oklahoma and Arkansas. It was Weyerhaeuser country. They held a 99 year lease on all the woodlands of the area. For the first few decades, they selectively harvested for furniture and construction grade lumber. Sometime in the '60's or '70's, the corporate focus shifted to pulpwood. They clearcut hundreds of thousands of acres of centuries-old virgin hardwood forest and sent it all to the pulp mills. They then replanted with fast-growing softwoods. Locals were enraged at the loss of quality hardwoods that had been feeding a thriving furniture manufacturing industry, and could have continued to do so for generations.

Biomass is a good idea, generally, but when you lose perspective in pursuit of short-term gain there are unfortunate consequences.

Agriculture and forestry waste is a byproduct that is often overlooked. A lot can be done at the local level to utilize those resources. Here is an interesting website that details some options for utilizing agricultural waste-streams: EPWT
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