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Develop and Deploy the Needed Science and Technology
A mixed conifer stand after small wood has been removed and slash piled.
John Deere slash bundling machine in action.
Oils derived from wood. Courtesy of DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Effective utilization of woody biomass will require new information about the growth and productivity of forests; silvicultural techniques and management guidelines to establish and maintain desired conditions; harvesting, handling, and processing of woody biomass material; development of new uses for woody biomass; and technologies for conversion to energy and other biobased products. All of these require additional research and technology development and the transfer of that knowledge to practitioners on the ground. This will involve cooperation with other federal agencies, universities, organizations, and industry.
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Forest Service
- Eastern Forest Threat Center – provides the latest research and expertise on issues such as insects and disease, wildland loss, invasive species, uncharacteristic fire and climate change, to assist land owners, managers and scientists in detecting and predicting future threats to their land.
- Forest Products Laboratory – conducts research on expanded and diverse aspects of wood use. Research concentrates on pulp and paper products, housing and structural uses of wood, wood preservation, wood and fungi identification, and finishing and restoration of wood products.
- Forest Service Research and Development – Resource Valuation and Use Research - provides methods to identify and evaluate economically efficient management practices and strategies on public and private lands. Values for renewable resources and their uses are essential in resolving land use and resource allocation problems.
- Forest Service Technology and Development Program - aimed at applying technology and equipment to improve business practices and at keeping employees safe while working in a forest environment.
- Northeastern Area Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC)- facilitates interaction and information exchange with the forest products industry to enhance opportunities for sustained forest products production in the eastern hardwood forest region of the United States.
- Pacific Northwest Research Station Alaska Wood Utilization Research and Development Center - has a statewide mission to evaluate opportunities for the wood products community by working closely with business owners, forest managers, and other resource professionals in Alaska to identify the most important research and technology transfer needs.
- Pacific Northwest Research Station Ecologically Sustainable Production of Forest Resources - conducts research on characteristics of forest products and the analysis, design, and implementation of forest management activities.
- Southern Research Station Forest Operations Research – Biomass Research - researches topic areas related to: biomass harvesting systems; economic analysis; bundling; individual machines; proto-type machines; energy wood chipping systems; environmental considerations; short rotation woody crop production; and drying, storing, transporting and roll splitting.
- Southern Research Station: Short Rotation of Wood Crops - The Short Rotation Woody Crops Cooperative Research Program is working to identify appropriate cropping systems to provide feedstocks to meet industry requirements in a sustainable manner that will enhance environmental quality and promote renewable alternatives.
- State and Private Forestry, Technology Marketing Unit - provides technical assistance
for improving utilization and marketing of forest products.
- Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center - generates and integrates knowledge and information to provide credible prediction, early detection, and quantitative assessment of environmental threats in the western United States.
Interagency
Universities
- Colorado State University, Colorado State Utilization Colorado Wood Utilization & Marketing Program - an effort to conduct research and extension efforts that assist the Colorado forest products industry in meeting its needs in the areas of wood science, manufacturing, and marketing.
- Consortium for Research on Renewable Materials - provides a database of information for quantifying environmental impacts and economic costs of wood building materials through the stages of tree planting, growing, product manufacturing, building construction, and its operational use and demolition.
- Oregon State University, Oregon Wood Innovation Center - improves the competitiveness of Oregon’s wood products industry by fostering innovation in products, processes, and business systems.
- Oregon State University, Western Juniper Commercialization Project - a focus group to identify critical issues from a manufacturer's perspective, potential areas of cooperation, and who could consider working together with the Forest Service, and other government and non-profit economic development organizations.
- SunGrant Initiative - a concept to solve America's energy needs and revitalize rural communities with land-grant university research, education, and extension programs on renewable energy and biobased, non-food industries.
- University of Minnesota, Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering – integrate engineering, science, technology and management for sustainable use of renewable resources and enhancement of the environment.
- University of Washington, Forest Systems & Bio-Energy Program - focuses on integrating small-scale, mobile, wood biomass chemical conversion to liquid fuel systems with emerging technologies in the renewable-energy sector (hydrogen fuel cells).
- Washington State University, Wood Material and Engineering Laboratory - Washington State University's wood plastic composite website and blog center.
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