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Iron Triangle switched years ago to more mechanized, lighter footprint tracked processing and CTL equipment...

...and in doing so brought the company’s logging iron lineup better in line with regional land managers’ goals and requirements.

10 ➤

Utilization

As usual, sawlogs, even in the smaller range, will fi nd a home. It’s fi nding a value proposition for and marketing that mountain of material under 8 inches in diameter that’s being removed is key to making forest health operations more feasible.

Malheur Lumber Co., which was originally a large log pine cutting mill, has made investments to handle smaller logs and has converted to a multi species mill to match the output from the local forest, but at roughly 40MMBF capacity there’s only so much it can take.

Restoration Fuels, a torrefaction plant that’s located adjacent Malheur Lumber, is still working to optimize its processes and product mix, and may eventually provide a huge local market for biomass and chip material in the future. The facility takes some material each year, but not in the volumes that Williams (or Restoration Fuels, for that matter) would like to see so far.

Meanwhile, Iron Triangle has invested in two small material processing facilities in 2016: a sorting facility in John Day and a small post and pole mill in Seneca roughly 25 miles south. The John Day facility has expanded to include fi rewood processing and packaging as well.

Impact

A detailed report halfway through the life of the 10-year contract was released by the University of Oregon in 2018 that showed an average of 38MMBF were harvested each year during that time. In addition, the forest and restoration activities completed each year added up to an average of $1.2 million annually in forest health work.

Economic studies that accompanied the report showed that through its fi rst fi ve years, the Malheur NF 10-year stewardship contract directly supported 268 jobs in Grant and Harney counties each year, including 185 jobs in forest health work, logging, mill-processing and administrative employment and 83 multiplier effect indirect jobs. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 29TH