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Forest Journalism for a Sustainable Future

Publisher’s Notebook: Our promise to readers for the year to come

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Happy holidays to you all!

Dave Atkins
Dave Atkins

2017 has been an eventful year for Treesource with our launch in March, the work preparing for the launch, applying and getting our 501(c)3 status as a nonprofit from the IRS and getting lots of positive feedback from people like you who have read our articles.

From drinking water and wooden skyscrapers to wildfires and climate change, we produced and aggregated some important, relevant journalism this year.

We hosted a public forum in Missoula following the state’s epic wildfire season. It focused on how we can learn to live WITH fire, whether you are in New Jersey or California. [Read more…]

SmartLam to quadruple CLT production at new northwestern Montana site

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Montana Gov. Steve Bullock tours SmartLam with co-owner Casey Malmquist earlier this year. Photo courtesy of SmartLam.

SmartLam Technologies Group, the first U.S. manufacturer of cross-laminated timber products, intends to quadruple its production of CLT and develop new types of engineered wood products with an expansion into the former Weyerhaeuser lumber mill site in Columbia Falls, Montana.

Weyerhaeuser shuttered the mill in August 2016, seven months after merging with Plum Creek Timber Co., and put the 40-acre site up for sale this past summer. SmartLam has signed a long-term lease on part of the acreage with the new owners, Columbia Rising LLC, which plans to redevelop the remainder of the site into a rail-served industrial park.

The move, planned no later than Jan. 1, 2018, will accommodate SmartLam’s headquarters as well as its expanding manufacturing facilities. The company anticipates employing 75 workers by the end of 2019. [Read more…]

Brock Commons: University of British Columbia students move into world’s tallest CLT building

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Brock Commons Tallwood House is the University of British Columbia’s newest dormitory. Photo: UBC

College students at the University of British Columbia are making history this fall as the first residents of Brock Commons, an 18-story dormitory made of cross-laminated timber.

Called Tallwood House, the student residence currently holds the title as the tallest mass timber building in the world. Four-hundred UBC students are its first occupants, mostly upperclassmen and graduate students.

The building offers 33 four-bedroom suites and 272 studio apartments, renting for $924 to $1,116.51 per month.

RELATED  Going up! Watch Brock Commons rise 18 stories
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Pacific Northwest: Study touts jobs growth tied to cross-laminated timber

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The next few years will be pivotal for SmartLam and other CLT producers. Photo courtesy of SmartLam.

The production of cross-laminated timber, or CLT, has the potential to create significant job growth in the Pacific Northwest, according to a study published in July 2017 by Oregon BEST, a Portland-based nonprofit.

CLT is made of layers of glued 2-inch-thick dimensional wood crossing over each other at a 90-degree angle, creating a strong panel that can be used in tall buildings.

The 110-page study, “Advanced Wood Product Manufacturing Study for Cross-Laminated Timber Acceleration in Oregon and SW Washington,” was funded by $120,000 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. [Read more…]

SmartLam looks to grow CLT production in Montana, expand to Northeast, Southeast

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SmartLam is on the cusp of a major expansion in western Montana’s Flathead Valley, and beyond. Photo courtesy SmartLam.

COLUMBIA FALLS, Montana – SmartLam, the nation’s first commercial production facility for cross-laminated timber, is locked in a dead heat with DR Johnson for pole position in the rapidly expanding pack of CLT manufacturers.

A major expansion is on the horizon, quadrupling production capacity at SmartLam’s Montana plant. And new plants in the U.S. Southeast and Northeast are next.

“Interest in CLT has just grown exponentially, not only in the quantity of projects but also the quality,” said Casey Malmquist, SmartLam president and co-owner. “We’re seeing high numbers of larger projects utilizing CLT. This new plant will allow us to better serve this fast-growing market.”

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