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Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Utilizing Municipal Trees -- Ideas from Across the Country by Stephen M. Bratkovich Stephen Bratkovich is a Forest Products Specialist with the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area, State & Private Forestry, St. Paul, Minnesota. Introduction In the United States over 200 million cubic yards of urban tree and landscape residue are generated every year.(1) Of this amount, 15 percent is classified as “unchipped logs.” To put this figure in perspective, consider that if these logs were sawn into boards, they theoretically would produce 3.8 billion board feet of lumber,(2) or nearly 30 percent of the hardwood lumber produced annually in the United States. The staggering number of tree removals in cities and towns across the country becomes necessary for a host of reasons. Storm blowdowns, natural mortality, severe insect and disease damage, construction activities, and many other circumstances can change an urban tree from an asset into a liability. Municipalities are faced not only with the volume of tree removals but with the associated financial costs as well. Rising labor and transportation costs, increased landfill or tipping fees, and lost opportunity costs (money that cannot be spent elsewhere in the community) create a financial burden for managers of municipal tree programs. Even if disposal costs were not an issue, landfill space is dwindling, and tree disposal in landfills has been either outlawed or reduced by regulations in many States. Meanwhile, the American appetite for wood continues to grow. Although net growth on commercial U.S. forestlands exceeds harvest by about one-third, our nation is still a net importer of forest products. The utilization (recycling) of municipal trees can contribute to the conservation of forestland resources by generating wood products from trees that need to be removed anyway. Examples include sawlogs for high quality furniture, cabinets, and flooring; pulpwood for paper products; fuelwood for residential and commercial heating; wood chips for mulch on landscaping projects, and specialty items such as burls and branch crotches for unique woodworking projects. Innovators who are utilizing street, yard, and park trees for traditional wood products have realized that it makes economic sense as well. To show how municipal tree removals can be utilized for traditional wood products, this publication highlights 16 successful projects from around the country. These case studies are organized by the different types of participants: State and regional partnerships, municipalities, tree service firms, entrepreneurs, and sawmills. Contact information is provided for each case study. Other resources on the topic of municipal tree utilization are listed at the end of this publication. A subject index is provided. (1) Whittier, Jack; Rue, Denise; Haase, Scott. 1995. Urban tree residues: results of the first national inventory. Journal of Arboriculture 21(2): 57-62.
Partnerships PROMOTING MUNICIPAL TREE UTILIZATION New Jersey Forestry Services Ed Lempicki has fielded his share of telephone calls over a 27-year public-service career with the New Jersey Forestry Services, a branch of the State’s Division of Parks and Forestry. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, he noticed an increase in the number of inquiries he received from municipal officials and tree service firms relating to municipal tree removal and disposal. In Lempicki’s opinion, not only were the number of calls increasing, but the significance of the calls warranted further investigation. In 1991 he sought and received funding from the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, for a project titled “Municipal Forest Products Marketing Service.” Statewide Survey Shows the Way
Concept Spreads Across the Country
Assistance with using a metal detector was provided to interested communities through the Municipal Forest Products Marketing Service project. Photo by Ed Cesa Partnerships—The Key to Success
Ed Cesa, utilization and marketing specialist with the USDA Forest Service in Morgantown, West Virginia, agrees with Lempicki on the value of partnerships. Cesa notes, “An established Federal-State partnership was in place, which helped make the New Jersey project a success.” Due to the positive feedback on the project, Cesa approached Lempicki with the idea of developing a “How to” guide on the topic. “We took many of the principles we learned from the project and wrote ‘Recycling Municipal Trees: a Guide for Marketing Sawlogs from Street Tree Removals in Municipalities’ ” (Cesa and others 1994). The publication was a national success, and in conjunction with the one-on-one technical assistance to municipalities and the group workshops and seminars, earned the Federal-State team the 1995 Technology Transfer Award from the USDA Forest Service. Another valuable partnership that Lempicki cultivated over the years is one with Rutgers University. He teaches a municipal tree utilization module at the annual Rutgers-sponsored Shortcourse on Urban and Community Forestry. This effort led to both Lempicki and Cesa being asked to contribute a chapter on municipal tree utilization in the 1999 publication, “Handbook of Urban and Community Forestry in the Northeast.” In addition, a publication detailing the economics and yield of urban sawlogs manufactured in New Jersey is being developed as a cooperative State and Federal effort. Lempicki has also developed successful partnerships with the New Jersey Bureau of Recycling and the New Jersey Office of Sustainability. The latter provided a low interest loan for equipment to an entrepreneur selling third-party certified lumber manufactured from urban logs. The entrepreneur has found markets for the “rediscovered” certified wood among architects and other high-end outlets. Lempicki points to this example as just one of the success stories he has witnessed since the original project started in 1991. 
Free-form furniture, such as this walnut coffee table, was crafted from street trees. Reprinted from Cesa and others 1994, p. 29. Practicing What They Preach
For additional information:
Ed Cesa
Reference
SEEING THE BIG PICTURE OF URBAN FOREST MANAGEMENT Urban And Community Forestry Program
As the State Urban and Community Forestry Coordinator for California since 1992, Eric Oldar has spoken to thousands of people about the benefits of trees and forests to municipalities. One of Oldar’s repeated messages is “Trees in a community should be seen as an asset, not just an aesthetic amenity.” He strives to get people to think of the urban forest as a “sustainable system.” One of his notions regarding “trees as assets” and “sustainability” focuses on the utilization of urban trees for traditional wood products. Over a period of 8 years, Oldar developed a network of partners across California to help him realize his dream. Starting a Utilization Program
Expanding the Utilization Program
This holding site is one of many municipal log yards where portable sawmills and lumber dryers will convert "waste" into "asset". Photo by Eric Oldar Numerous Partnerships Enhance the Program
Workshops and mill tours create awareness and interest in municipal tree utilization. Photo by Eric Oldar 
Partnerships between the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, private industry, and educational and non-profit organizations have inspired woodworkers to use municipal trees for value-added products. Photo by Eric Oldar Oldar has also teamed with faculty at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) to produce three publications on the topics of sustainability in urban forestry, urban tree volume equations for urban hardwoods, and urban wood utilization. The last publication is a 218-page document providing detailed information on the size, use, and potential of utilizing California’s urban forest resource. Future cooperative projects with Cal Poly include development of (1) an internet-based commodity exchange for exotic woods from the urban environment, (2) commodity standards for figure (grain pattern) in urban wood in lieu of standard hardwood grades, and (3) cubic foot wood volume tables to be used in conjunction with automated city tree inventories. Seeing the Big Picture
For additional information:
CONNECTING TREE OWNERS WITH WOODWORKERS Harvesting Urban Timber Program,
During the day, Sam Sherrill teaches economics, statistics, and computer graphics at the University of Cincinnati. During evenings and weekends, he is an amateur woodworker who has crafted handmade furniture for the past 20 years. Like most woodworkers, he typically had purchased lumber for his projects from retail outlets. An incident in the mid-1990s, however, changed Sherrill’s woodworking philosophy and led to a program that is spreading far beyond the boundaries of Cincinnati. Fallen Tree Leads to New Program
Partnerships Boost Program
“Popular Woodworking,” Wood-Mizer, and Sherrill and his colleague developed an educational brochure describing the Cincinnati program. The brochure is used by communities and groups to develop similar programs around the country. It also gives tips on topics such as tree selection and calculating board footage. Sherrill says, “One of the objectives of the program is to hook up like-minded woodworkers across the country to keep downed trees out of the landfill and provide lumber for projects.” This objective is being met, in part, by the creation of similar projects in other cities, such as Hammond and Indianapolis, Indiana. On an informal basis, numerous woodworkers have been directly connected with tree owners who want to have their tree converted into a long-lasting product rather than end up in the landfill. Family Tree Showcases Program
For additional information:
 Since this 500-year old bur oak was blown over, its sentimental value has been preserved in the making of numerous furniture pieces, including a family dining table. Top, Gatch family photo, circa 1860. Bottom photo by Sam Sherrill  Reference
Municipalities RAISING REVENUE FROM FALLEN TREES Wausau, Wisconsin Blaine Peterson wears two hats in Wausau, Wisconsin (population 37,000): one as the city forester plus a second as the Marathon County park forester. As city forester he is responsible for the management and maintenance of 26,000 street trees. His duties as county park forester include tree management in a dozen parks, predominantly in maintained areas such as campgrounds, and picnic and mowed areas. Regardless of which hat he wears, one objective remains the same-utilize as much wood as possible from tree removals from city forests and county parklands. Tapping Into Local Markets
Logs not utilized for pulpwood or sawlogs are often cut into firewood and sold at two county park campgrounds. Any remaining wood is chipped. With state law prohibiting wood residue in landfills, all of the chips are put to use, including these: - Cover on fields of ginseng, an herb used for medicinal properties. Peterson often has the chips delivered directly to local growers, who spread them on their fields, sparing the city the cost of spreading or storage. - Cover on wet and rocky areas on a municipal ski hill. - Municipal landscaping projects. - Protection for eroded banks and paths in parks. - Cover material for dust control at a local open pit mine. - Free chips for homeowners. Peterson has traded lumber for labor. He negotiated with a local sawmill owner to turn large white pine logs from fallen trees into 12- by 12-inch timber beams for use in the city’s recreational shelters, and to keep a portion of the wood as payment. Salvaged Trees Generate Revenue
According to Peterson, “It makes environmental as well as economic sense to utilize as much wood as possible from our city and county park system. Plus, with all the nearby wood and paper mills, it’s also the logical thing to do.” 
Fallen white pines that once provided shade to generations of park patrons will serve future generations as timber beams in recreational shelters. Photo by Blaine Peterson 
Marketing trees blown down in a windstorm turned a potential financial disaster into $78,000 revenue through the sale of pulpwood, sawlogs, and firewood permits. Photo by Blaine Peterson For additional information:
BORROWING A PORTABLE MILL YIELDS MULTIPLE BENEFITS Lompoc, California In early 1997, Parks and Urban Forestry Manager Cindy McCall was on the lookout for creative solutions. The Parks and Forestry Department of Lompoc, California (population 42,000) had two seemingly unrelated problems. First, the city could afford only inexpensive pine for the construction of park benches and picnic tables, and the soft wood was quickly damaged by skateboards and gouged with the initials of park patrons. Second, many of the town’s big trees were as much as 15 years past their normal life expectancy. The budget impact of removing these old trees was compounded by the concern for what to do with the wood. Like the rest of California’s municipalities, Lompoc was required to halve its landfill shipments by the year 2000 and was already mulching or chipping everything from grass clippings and fallen leaves to wood waste from pruned trees. Searching for Solutions
Portable Mill Is Key to Success
Instead of using pine picnic tables, Lompoc city workers now use shammel ash, which McCall terms “indestructible.” Ash trees removed from sides of streets have also been used for flooring. The city refloored two heavily used storage rooms at a community center with 3-inch-thick hardwood. The total lumber milling cost was $120. Even 1-inch-thick hardwood flooring from the lumberyard would have cost $500 to $900, according to McCall. The extraordinary thickness of the flooring means that it will not need replacing for decades. McCall is pleased with the low labor and maintenance costs to run the mill. She said, “My crew of two was trained on the mill in less than an hour. Each day they worked, it took only 10 minutes to set up the mill at the city’s nursery after towing from the corporate yard.” McCall estimates that blade sharpening, blade replacement, and routine engine maintenance “runs less than $20 per day.” McCall has no doubts that the CDF loaner mill was cost-effective. Milling the wood has reduced the city’s tipping fees by nearly $40,000, and has allowed the Parks and Urban Forestry Department to use high-quality hardwoods for benches and picnic tables that require less maintenance. 
Sturdy memorial benches are made from shammel ash that is removed from city streets and milled by city crews using a portable sawmill on loan from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Photo by Cindy McCall, reprinted from Bodzin 1998, p. 4 
Creative projects made from municipal trees come in all shapes and sizes. Photo by Cindy McCall Innovative Products
Another innovative project McCall has implemented is giving large tree trunks to a local chainsaw wood carver in exchange for wood sculptures for city parks and fund-raisers. Other products manufactured from Lompoc’s city trees include bleachers, indoor paneling, picnic shelters, and park signs. Joining Forces With Others
Trees Too Valuable to Waste
For additional information:
Reference
UTILIZING WOOD FOR ITS HIGHEST USE Bismarck, North Dakota In 1978 Paul Blumhardt was hired by Bismarck, North Dakota, to oversee a 2-year-old urban forestry program for the city. Bismarck (population 55,000) sits roughly in the middle of North Dakota, near the intersection of the Missouri River and Interstate 94. Agricultural crops dominate the landscape east of Bismarck, while ranches, rolling hills, and prairies dominate to the west. Tree cover is confined primarily to river and creek bottoms, farmstead shelterbelts, and the scattered and sparse population centers. At the time, finding enough dollars to fund the relatively new program was a concern. Blumhardt solved the funding problem through innovative revenue-generating projects, including ones involving municipal tree utilization. Flooding Spurred Utilization Efforts
At the same time the dead cottonwood trees were harvested, a major landscaping project on nearby Interstate 94 required 2,000 cubic yards of wood chips. Blumhardt purchased a $24,000 Brush Bandit 280 to chip the tops and small limbs of the cottonwoods. The chips were sold for $12.50 per cubic yard to a nursery who had the contract for the interstate landscaping project. “We generated and sold enough chips to pay for the chipper in 1 year,” Blumhardt remarks. 
In one year, logs from more than 200 cottonwood trees killed by floods on a local golf course were sold to a local sawmill and a firewood processor. Photo by Paul Blumhardt City Landfill Is Focal Point
Firewood, at $10 per ton, is available at the landfill in log lengths of 12 to 16 feet. Individuals can cut the logs to length on-site, load the wood in their vehicle and drive across a scale to determine their payment. Also, Blumhardt has been instrumental in getting wood conversion equipment, such as tub grinders, to be demonstrated at the landfill after storms. Both residents and city officials are educated in wood utilization, and the demonstrations help convey a positive proactive approach. A Forestry Department web page also includes information on the city’s wood utilization program. Two Decades of Accomplishments
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BORROWING A WOOD YARD FOR STORAGE AND SALES Cincinnati, Ohio “All wood is good” is one motto adopted by Steve Sandfort, Supervisor of Urban Forestry in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sandfort, who manages 100,000 street trees on 1,000 miles of city streets, has achieved the goal of sending no street trees to the landfill. Since 1980, he and his staff of six employees have made every attempt to sell or recycle wood. One method of obtaining 100 percent utilization is the effective use of city-operated wood yards for selling firewood and chips. Finding a Wood Yard
- Fence with a locked gate to minimize theft and dumping - Paved all-weather surface without parking bumpers, so vehicles will not get stuck in bad weather and the lot can easily be cleaned - Large enough to store firewood on one side of the yard and chips on the other side, while allowing ample space for truck traffic during sales and cleanup - Available for at least 1 year. A publicly owned yard is usually easier to arrange since a private owner might ask the city to provide insurance. In either case, the Forestry Division must agree to clean the lot of all debris and repair all damages. The police, according to Sandfort, watch the lot and deal with dumpers or thieves. Stocking Firewood and Chips
Marketing and Selling
Two staff members work each wood sale: one stays on-site at all times, and the other makes money drops, gets lunch, resolves emergencies, etc. The cut-to-length firewood is sold, load-your-own, by the cord (128 cubic feet) for $50; and the chips are sold, load-your-own, by the truckload for $10. Buyers pay cash for the amount of wood they take out of the yard. Often commercial tree planters purchase the mulch. A good public relations tool is to open and close the lot on time and to have fun. Sandfort says, “The wood sales are a wonderful change of pace for my staff. I want them to have a good time. It’s a morale builder.” Cleaning Up After Storms
For scattered minor or small emergency prunings, contracted tree crews are instructed to leave cut-to-length firewood stacked at the base of a nearby tree for anyone to take. Over the years the Forestry Division has developed a list of “wood users”—individuals who can be called to pick up wood that is not taken within 2 weeks. 
Since 1980 city-run wood yards have generated revenue for Cincinnati’s Urban Forestry Division and provided firewood, chips, and mulch to homeowners and businesses. Photo by Steve Sandfort Selective Cutting and Sales
Using the Revenue
The Bottom Line
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SUPPLYING FREE WOOD FOR ARTISANS Able Tree Service
Jim Cook, owner of Able Tree Service, has 30 years experience in the tree care business. His firm in Missoula, Montana (population 60,000) provides all of the services one would expect: pruning, cabling and bracing, transplanting, pest management, soil therapy, young tree culture, and tree removal. One service that sets Cook apart is his creation of a “wood artisan network” to which he supplies free wood. If a log is too big to chip and turn into mulch (greater than 12 inches in diameter) and has value-added potential beyond firewood, then Cook turns to this network to find new life for the wood. Artisan Network
Currently, a wide range of products is made from Missoula trees by local artisans. For example, Cook has supplied basswood to a carver of carousel horses, blue-stained ponderosa pine to a log furniture builder, white birch to a lath crafter, and various hardwood species to a turner of wooden bowls. The University of Montana Extension Service has taken note of Cook’s expanding artisan network and plans to develop a computer web page to support his effort. Cook also has stockpiled some trees and logs for future projects, although it is a guess what the future holds. Some of the hollow logs, for example, “might be used by local science teachers,” says Cook.  
Large urban trees such as elm often produce beautiful lumber sought by artisans. Photos by Roger Bergmeier Free Wood Encourages Market Development
A basswood carousel horse inspires and delights. Photo by Theresa Cox For additional information:
GIVING NEW LIFE TO OLD UTILITY POLES Trees-N-More
In 1997 Kerry Burruss entered the tree trimming and removal business in eastern Kansas with pre-owned equipment and high expectations. One day he was asked by a homeowner to remove a healthy 28-inch diameter red oak tree. His reaction was one of disbelief because he saw no apparent reason to remove the tree. The homeowner had his mind set, however, so Burruss eventually did cut down the tree. After a difficult search he found a custom sawmiller who agreed to mill the butt (bottom) log of the tree. Burruss recovered some of the milled lumber, which was converted into various pieces of furniture. This incident caused Burruss to rethink his own business, eventually leading him to apply for a state grant and purchase a Timber King portable sawmill. At the same time, only 10 miles away in Topeka, Kansas, Brad Loveless, Senior Manager of Biology and Conservation Programs for Western Resources, was facing his own wood utilization dilemma. Western Resources, a utility company serving over 600,000 customers, is continually removing old utility poles and replacing them with new ones. The traditional practice of disposing of the old 50- to 80-foot poles in landfills incurred significant transportation expense. Loveless and some of his coworkers were troubled by this seemingly wasteful practice. Loveless investigated the possibilities of milling the discarded utility poles into lumber, and his search eventually lead him to Kerry Burruss. 
Instead of going to landfills, 40- to 50-year old utility polls are now recovered for lumber. Business Arrangement Benefits Both Parties
Western redcedar poles are sawn into various lumber dimensions on a portable sawmill. Photo by Kerry Burruss Products From Old Poles
Lumber milled from utility poles is donated for local projects, such as this wildlife viewing platform. Photo by Brad Loveless No problems have been encountered with residual preservative in the milled poles. “We avoid using the heavily treated butt ends of poles unless the product will be used in a ground application,” notes Loveless. Sawing Complements Tree Service Work
In addition to his utility pole sawing, Burruss continues to grow the other parts of his business. He has added a solar kiln to dry lumber milled from logs obtained from tree removal projects. The lumber is planed at a local cabinet shop, and species such as oak, ash, and walnut are sold to furniture builders and high school shop classes. Burruss notes, “I like the tree service work I do; however, it’s the custom sawing for Western Resources and other folks that is my long-term goal.” For additional information:
Brad Loveless
NETWORKING TO UTILIZE ALL WOOD RESIDUE West Coast Arborists, Inc.,
“We used to see it as trash,” says Andy Trotter, “but now we see it as a product.” “It” is the residue, such as logs, from Trotter’s tree care business. Trotter is Vice-President of West Coast Arborists, which is headquartered in Anaheim, California. The company employs over 350 people and has annual tree care contracts with 90 municipalities in southern California. Firewood used to be the primary outlet for the larger logs and branches from tree removal and trimming projects. “Our business doubled in 5 years, and the firewood dealers we supplied couldn’t keep up with the quantity we generated,” says Trotter. “Plus, we were looking for an environmentally friendly alternative to filling our landfills with wood residue.” In 1999 the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) loaned a portable sawmill to West Coast Arborists to encourage and demonstrate municipal tree utilization (see p. 9). The unit was used to mill hardwood lumber from logs that traditionally would have been sent to a landfill, chipped, or converted to firewood. The high quality of the lumber produced and a growing regional interest in expanding the California hardwood industry convinced the management of West Coast Arborists to purchase their own mill. Trotter says, “The CDF loaner mill was instrumental in getting us started full-time on our own utilization program.” Producing Lumber
Once considered trash and destined for the landfill, downed street trees are now salvaged and milled into usable lumber. Photo by Jeff Melin Drying Lumber
Marketing
Value-Added Products
Networking
Park benches, such as this one from ash and black acacia, are often sold to the communities from which the trees came. Photo by Jeff Melin The wood utilization program grew to the point where West Coast Arborists hired a full-time recycling coordinator, Jeff Melin. Melin is responsible for the flow of hundreds of tons of green waste produced each day, including the use and marketing of sawlogs and other wood materials. Trotter admits that the wood utilization project currently is a “catchy tune” with customers and his firm’s top management, and that lumber sales need to improve for the program to pay for itself. “Everyone has a good feeling about using recycled materials,” he says. “We need to spread the word about the potential of urban tree use.” For additional information:
Entrepreneurs PART-TIME RECYCLER PROVIDES BENEFITS TO CONSUMERS 2nd Chance Woods
A third generation woodworker with a reputation for quality craftmanship, Mark Duncan has an inborn passion for wood. As a landfill groundwater monitoring specialist for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), Duncan observed the large quantities of wood going to waste. Trees such as oak, walnut, hackberry, elm, maple, and cedar were routinely dumped at landfills and burned. Duncan jumped into action after reading an article in “Popular Woodworking” magazine about a municipal recycling program that converted city trees to high-quality lumber (see p. 13). In 1999 he started a business to give landfilled trees in Topeka, Kansas, a “2nd chance”. Grant Jumpstarted Business
Landfill Provides Raw Material
Logs from storm-damaged trees are given a “2nd Chance” thanks to a State grant. Products and Markets
Part-Time Is Just Fine
Duncan sees a bright future for 2nd Chance Woods. An abundant supply of free trees can be recovered from landfills, the market is good for his value-added wood products, and the public is eager to purchase his lumber at prices lower than in a typical lumber yard. He proudly acknowledges, “I’m recycling and providing a benefit to consumers at the same time.” For additional information:
SELLING HANDCRAFTED PRODUCTS FROM SALVAGED LOGS Urban Forest Woodworks
According to George Hessenthaler, in 1847 there was only one tree, a juniper, where Salt Lake City is now located. For over 150 years, however, the city has embarked on a vigorous shade tree planting program. He estimates there are now over 200 species and 5 million trees in Salt Lake City, and about 75 percent are hardwoods including walnut, ash, locust, sycamore, maple, catalpa, Russian olive, chestnut, and various fruit trees. After watching many of these trees be cut—due to old age, storm damage, or urban expansion—and dumped in the county landfill, Hessenthaler decided to take action. In 1988 he founded Urban Forest Woodworks to salvage urban trees and convert them into hardwood products. Product Line
Hessenthaler believes the most important aspect of urban sawlog utilization is to “sell what you make.” There are perhaps over 300 jewelry box and case-making firms in the United States, as well as individual hobbyists, and European and Asian producers. Hessenthaler does not see the other case makers as competitors, but rather as potential customers for mini-bookmatch panels for case tops and for special case hardware that he has patented. Gift store owners are receptive to the idea of selling products made from urban trees and are eager to display the brochures that describe the environmental friendliness of the products. Actual retail sales, however, have been based more on the quality of the product and less on the source of the wood. “People will not buy your product just because it is environmentally friendly,” he concedes. 
Urban Forest Woodworks specializes in hand-crafted products such as jewelry boxes featuring book-match panels. Photo by George Hessenthaler 
An indoor production area of 6,000 square feet annually transforms 30,000 board feet of lumber into value-added products. Photo by George Hessenthaler Manufacturing Equipment
Obtaining Logs
1. Not to cut down trees. (He lets a professional do it.)
In 12 years Hessenthaler estimates he has salvaged over 7,000 logs (250,000 board feet), diverting them from landfills into beautifully handcrafted products. He proudly proclaims, “By using discarded logs I’m doing my part to preserve the environment, particularly in rescuing the wood from our overcrowded landfills.” He goes on to say, “Anything made of wood can be made of urban forest wood." For additional information:
Reference
RECYCLING WOODY MATERIALS FROM A LANDFILL Slater Industries Demolition Landfill
Joe Slater and his father, Frank, have operated an inert material landfill and recycling business for 10 years near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Joe is a graduate of North Carolina State University’s furniture manufacturing and management program and is an accomplished machinery fabricator. Frank is semiretired and an accomplished cabinetmaker. Eye for Wood Prompts Purchase of Sawmill
The Slater’s mill is a Cook Accu-Trac and comes equipped as a portable mill; however, the Slaters did not need the portability once the mill was towed to their North Carolina site. They removed the wheels, trailer hitch, and lighting system, and constructed some additional jacks to keep the mill stable. The mill was mounted under a tarp on a recycled concrete floor to protect it from the elements. A permanent shelter will eventually be built. Recycling at the Landfill
Wood arrives at the Slater landfill in all sizes and shapes. Photo by Urs Buehlmann Sawmill Complements Recycling Business
To speed up the lumber processing, a three-blade Morgan edger was added after the first year of operating the mill. Having the edger has enabled the Slaters to use the sawmill exclusively to saw logs. Plans include the purchase of a small dry kiln to produce value-added products, as well as a tub grinder for processing lower quality material into mulch. 
Stakes produced at the Slater landfill are a value-added product sold to utility companies and land surveyors. Photo by Urs Buehlmann Products and Markets
Large logs are recovered for lumber, and the remaining wood goes to other uses such as mulch. Photo by Urs Buehlmann The Slater’s receive about 28 cents per board foot for their packaging lumber, which they sell primarily to a structural steel fabricator. They have sold air-dried red oak lumber for 60 cents per board foot. Occasionally, air-dried cherry, walnut, or quarter-sawn oak brings as much as $1 per board foot. Major customers for the higher quality lumber are local hobbyists and furniture makers. The Slaters also have been successful in marketing their higher quality mulch, which is produced using rented tub and horizontal grinders, to landscapers for $12 to $16 per cubic yard. Operating Philosophy
For additional information:
Reference
READY BUYERS EASE RECOVERY FROM TRAGEDY California Hardwood Producers, Inc
Dave Parmenter, owner of California Hardwood Producers, Inc., in Auburn, California, has a list of lumber offerings that reads like a landscape gardener’s inventory: black acacia, Modesto ash, catalpa, red elm, blue and red eucalyptus, black locust, Pacific madrone, spalted maple, mulberry, black, tan and white oak, Italian stone pine, sycamore, claro, English walnut, chestnut, peach, apricot, and pear. These and other species reflect the trees he commonly mills from nearby Sacramento’s urban forest plus those he salvages from Northern California orchards. California Hardwood has a contract with Sacramento to collect trees that otherwise would go to the landfill. Although Parmenter says he does not get each of the 4,000 to 6,000 trees brought down each year, he does find markets for all the trees he can mill. "We have never cut one speck of wood we have not found a buyer for,” he said. Flooring Is Signature Product
Flooring is the company’s top product, offering customers who want something different a wide selection of species. A rustic-looking knotty oak is the most popular. Parmenter also mills red elm flooring from trees killed by Dutch elm disease. Red eucalyptus flooring, which looks like Brazilian cherry, and Pacific madrone, sometimes called “Pacific cherry,” are also good sellers. 
A large inventory of hardwood species offers customers a wide selection in flooring. Reprinted by permission from Newton 2000, p. T32, Copyright 2000 by Woodshop News. From Cooperative to For-Profit Operation
Tragedy Strikes Mill
Rebuilding the Business
Custom sawing includes driftwood brought in by a customer. Reprinted by permission from Newton 2000, p. T30, Copyright 2000 by Woodshop News. Today, mill production is back to a half-million board feet a year despite having no permanent building and only makeshift kilns. The equipment mainstays of the business today are a new Wood-Mizer LT40 Super Hydraulic diesel-powered bandsaw with computerized setworks and a one-of-a-kind Baker twin-band resaw with automatic feed that can cut cants up to 12 by 12 inches in cross-section. He farms out his flooring milling to a local contractor he helped get started in the business. Parmenter admits that he still has some distance to go to fully recover from the fire. Despite his growing production he still operates with limited equipment. He believes his optimal level of production would be about 5 million board feet a year. One of his goals is a large retail area, with a factory and warehouse. Another goal is to create a statewide marketing cooperative. Parmenter notes that he could make almost as much money if he just cut all his logs into firewood; however, he sees so much beautiful California hardwood going into landfills that he does not want to take the easy way out. He says, “To me, this is a crusade.” For additional information:
Reference
PURCHASING MUNICIPAL LOGS: A WIN WIN SITUATION Minnesota Valley Forest Products, Inc.
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