Small-Diameter 

Success Stories II

Jean Livingston

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Forest Service

Forest

Products

Laboratory

State and 

Private Forestry

Technology

Marketing Unit

General 

Technical 

Report

FPL–GTR–168
April 2006

Livingston, Jean. 2006. Small-diameter success stories II. Gen. Tech. 

Rep. FPL-GTR-168. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 31 p.

A limited number of free copies of this publication are available to the 

public from the Forest Products Laboratory, One Gifford Pinchot Drive, 

Madison, WI 53726–2398. This publication is also available online at 

www.fpl.fs.fed.us. Laboratory publications are sent to hundreds of libraries in the United States and elsewhere.

The Forest Products Laboratory is maintained in cooperation with the 

University of Wisconsin. 

The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the United States Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) of any product or service.

The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on 

the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where appli- cable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual 

orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all 

or a part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance 

program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with 

disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program 

information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint 

of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250–9410, or call (800) 

795–3272 (voice) or (202) 720–6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Abstract

Many of our national forests are in critical need of restoration. These forests are dense, with an abundance of 

small-diameter, tightly spaced trees and underbrush that 

can contribute to the rapid growth of fire. If economic and 

value-added uses for this small-diameter and unmerchantable material can be found, forest restoration costs could 

be offset and catastrophic wildfires would be reduced. 

This document tells the story of several U.S. wood product 

businesses that are successfully making use of this smalldiameter and unmerchantable material. Some stories 

describe how the USDA Forest Service National Woody 

Biomass Grant Program is improving forest restoration 

by creating markets for this thinned material. One USDA 

Forest Service project in particular, the White Mountain 

Stewardship Contract, involves several wood product 

businesses that are receiving small-diameter and unmerchantable material and successfully producing valueadded products. 

Keywords: small-diameter timber, forest restoration, 

roundwood, small business, unmerchantable timber 

Acknowledgment

I sincerely thank everyone who provided me with a 

personal interview and tour of their organization. The best 

part of my job is meeting all of you and possibly helping 

in some small way. Know that by sharing your story, you 

will help others.

Contents

Page

Foreword..........................................................................iii

Introduction........................................................................ v

Dodge Logging, Inc. ......................................................... 1

Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council...................... 3

North Slope Sustainable Wood, LLC................................ 5

Mount Wachusett Community College............................. 7

Northwest Wood Products Association............................. 9

P&M Signs, Inc............................................................... 11

Pomegranate Center........................................................ 13

Santa Clara Woodworks.................................................. 15

Warm Springs Forest Products Industries....................... 18

White Mountain Stewardship Contract........................... 21

W.B. Contracting, Inc. .................................................... 22

Forest Energy Corporation.............................................. 24

Reidhead Brothers Lumber Mills Inc. ............................ 26

American West Structures, LLC..................................... 28

Cheyenne Log Homes, Inc. doing business as Arizona

Log & Timberworks........................................................ 30
Small-Diameter Success Stories II

Jean Livingston

USDA Forest Service

State & Private Forestry

 Technology Marketing Unit

Forest Products Laboratory

One Gifford Pinchot Drive

Madison, WI 53726-2398

Foreword

In President Bush’s 2006 State of the Union address he 

acknowledged that “... America is addicted to oil ...” and 

set out a goal of replacing “... more than 75% of our oil 

imports from the Middle East by 2025.” Wood chips are a 

part of this goal.

As a person who has spent more than 15 years on the 

issue of using small-diameter and low-valued trees that 

must be removed from our Federal lands to reduce the 

risk from catastrophic fire and insect and disease attacks, 

this endorsement is music to my ears. It took 15 years, a 

multitude of voices, and numerous catastrophic fires, but 

the issue has been raised.

However, with the President mentioning wood chips for 

biomass energy, we do not want to give the impression 

that the nation must start from ground zero. A considerable 

amount of progress has been made in those 15 years. But 

progress can be slow. 

First, people had to recognize that we were talking about 

the “junk wood” in our forests. We were not talking about 

old growth or clear cuts but about removing the understory 

and opening up the canopy. Second, people had to discover that these treatments were very expensive; therefore, 

costs needed to be reduced. Third, people came to the realization that utilization might be a way to help reduce these 

costs. So people started discovering ways to use this “junk 

wood” to make products with economic value. Fourth, 

people had to understand that not all of this material was 

“junk.” It may be small, but some of this material could be 

turned into flooring, paneling, and art work. If only 20% 

of the “junk wood” could be turned into higher valued 

products, it could help defray some of the forest treatment 

costs. We still need to find outlets such as biomass energy 

for the other 80%. Fifth, policies that emphasize these 

treatments on Federal lands needed to be established. 

The Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 and the Energy Policy Act of 2005 were passed, helping to focus the 

goals and roles of the Federal agencies. In addition, new 

authorities for stewardship contracts, which facilitated the 

exchange of goods for services, provided new ways of doing business for both the Bureau of Land Management and 

the USDA Forest Service. Sixth, we needed to implement 

some economic opportunities that help defray economic 

risk to small forest product businesses. The USDA Forest 

Service initiated the National Woody Biomass Utilization 

Grant Program. Thus, the stage was set.

This publication highlights some examples of the businesses and entrepreneurs that are making the program 

happen. These businesses are taking “junk” or low-value 

wood and helping to make a product—studs, pulp, poles, 

posts, flooring, molding, millwork, wood pellets, or 

biomass energy. They are creating and expanding businesses that are helping to restore our Federal forestlands. 

Whether the material comes from overstocked stands of 

small-diameter ponderosa pine or hurricane blow down 

from Katrina, these people are creating successes in using 

small-diameter and low-valued trees. This publication 

contains their stories. 

As with the first publication of Small-Diameter Success

Stories, by Jean Livingston, this document continues the 

stories of the energetic and indomitable spirit of the entrepreneurs who are committed to healthy forests and healthy 

rural communities. They have determination. They have 

passion. But most of all, they have commitment and do not 

give up, even when the barriers seem insurmountable. To 

these people, and to all others who are engaged in using 

small-diameter and underutilized wood, this publication is 

dedicated.

Susan LeVan-Green

Program Manager

State & Private Forestry 

Technology Marketing Unit

USDA Forest Service

Forest Products Laboratory

iii

Introduction

Many of our national forests have an abundance of small, 

tightly spaced trees and underbrush. This small-diameter 

and unmerchantable material has been left in the forest because either it is not economical to remove or local capacity 

to process such material does not exist. The dense material 

creates a ladder-type fuel that can lead to high-intensity 

fires that spread quickly. These types of fires can destroy 

entire stands of trees and cause major alterations to forested 

landscapes and watersheds.

Restoration of these overstocked stands, through mechanical thinning or prescribed burning, will remove most of the 

small-diameter material, thus helping the forest to recover 

its natural structure and ecological functions. Some of these 

forests are in a fire regime condition class 3, indicating 

that mechanical thinning is necessary prior to prescribed 

burning. However, mechanical forest thinning is extremely 

expensive. If new, economical, and value-added uses for 

thinned material can be found, forest restoration costs could 

be offset as the threat of catastrophic wildfires is reduced. 

National Woody Biomass 

Utilization Grant Program

The National Woody Biomass Utilization Grant 

Program (administered by the USDA Forest Service 

State & Private Forestry Technology Marketing Unit, 

located at the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, 

Wisconsin) is intended to help improve forest restoration activities on national forestlands by using and 

creating markets for small-diameter material and lowvalued trees removed in hazardous fuel reduction activities. These funds are targeted to help communities, 

entrepreneurs, and others turn residues from hazardous 

fuel reduction projects into marketable forest products 

or biomass energy products. 

The following are the goals of this grant program:

• Help reduce Forest Service management costs by 

 increasing value of biomass and other forest prod-

 ucts generated by hazardous fuel treatments. 

• Create incentives or reduce business risk for 

increased use of biomass on national forestlands. 

• Institute projects that target and help remove economic and market barriers to using small-diameter 

trees and woody biomass. 

Wildland–urban interface project: White Mountain 

Stewardship contract after restoration.

Wildland–urban interface project: White Mountain 

Stewardship contract before restoration.

To help accomplish forest restoration, various approaches 

are being taken to complete the necessary work and 

simultaneously contribute to the economic growth of 

communities. Forestry agencies and many local forestrydependent communities are partnering—working side by 

side—to find new ways of collaborative forest management, adapting to the opportunities and constraints offered 

by the ecosystem, and implementing new forest product 

technologies. 

Restoration of our forests will persist as long as we 

continue working together for the ecological health of our 

forests and the economic health of forestry-based rural 

communities. This document tells the story of several wood 

product businesses and communities that are successfully 

making use of this small-diameter and unmerchantable 

material. Some stories describe how the USDA Forest 

Service’s National Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program (see sidebar) is working to improve forest restoration 

activities by helping to create markets from this thinned 

material. One USDA Forest Service project in particular, 

the White Mountain Stewardship Contract (see p. 21), 

involves several wood product businesses that are receiving small-diameter and unmerchantable material from a 

10-year contract.

v

Oregon

 Dodge Logging, Inc.

Headquartered on the family ranch, Dodge Logging, Inc., 

is located outside of Maupin, Oregon, and it is truly a family affair with Dad, Mom, and their two sons and daughters-in-law all actively involved in the business. Richard 

Dodge, the Dad, has been active in the forest products 

industry for more than 30 years, and his wife, Janie, has 

been by his side all the way. 

Starting in 1970 with just a chain saw and skidder, the 

Dodge family now owns and operates three mechanized 

logging operations; a stationary whole-log-ship and barge 

reload facility in Boardman, Oregon (Boardman Chip 

Company, Inc.); and a small-random-length dimension 

sawmill in Pendleton, Oregon (Blue Mountain Lumber 

Products, LLC).

The Dodge family is respected in the community and 

receives high praise from its project partners, in particular 

Morrow County. Richard prides himself in being a good 

steward of the land and has a long-time reputation for 

operating equipment that is “light on the land.”

Maupin, in North Central Oregon, boasts that it is on the 

sunny side of Mt. Hood and one of Oregon’s best kept 

secrets. This area is known for its white water rapids and 

wild trout and steelhead fishing on the Deschutes River. 

Although home-based outside of Maupin, other Dodge 

family-owned companies are located in the Northeastern area of Oregon, where forest-thinning projects are 

challenged by rugged mountains, deep canyons, plateaus, 

and rolling hills. National Forests in this area include the 

Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman, Mt. Hood, Ochoco, and 

Deschutes. 

“Our company structure is lean,” says Richard. Each company has an average of two people involved in day-to-day 

management, and most of these folks are working supervisors.” All key personnel report to Richard, and final 

decisions are made through a committee consisting of the 

entire Dodge family in consultation with others if needed. 

In 2005, Dodge Logging was awarded a grant for 

$250,000 from the USDA Forest Service National Woody 

Biomass Utilization Grant Program (see p. v) to upgrade 

and expand the small-diameter log processing capacity at 

their Boardman Chip Company. 

The Boardman Chip Company is located near the Blue 

Mountains of northeast and central Oregon, where catastrophic wildfires are a common occurrence. The Dodge 

family understands the unhealthy forest situation in these 

regions and because of their unique enterprise—from 

logging to processing to marketing—are in an ideal position to contribute significantly to improving the health of 

several public and private forests in Oregon. 

Richard notes that “Although we have already made 

substantial upgrades and equipment purchases to 

improve forest thinning operations and processing facilities to increase the value of the material removed from 

the forest, we still did not have the ability to economically 

process logs that were less than 7-1/2 in. in diameter and 

to recover every log segment that might produce studs or 

lumber.”

Improving recovery is important to the operating margin 

of a business. It also decreases the time and money spent 

by the USDA Forest Service for additional thinning treatments such as piling and burning. 

Richard says they are expanding the small-diameter log 

processing capacity at the Boardman chip plant using 

funds from the 2005 National Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program (see p. v). They hope to accomplish 

this within a year’s time. As an end result, they will have 

increased the speed and automation to sort, merchandize, 

and process logs through a single-pass saw; improved the 

capacity of the twin-band at the Blue Mountain plant to 

handle oversized logs from the Boardman plant; upgraded 

material handling capacity at the Blue Mountain mill; and 

converted their outdated inventory and accounting system 

to a software package that will track and schedule their 

material from the log through lumber, chips, and residuals. 

“This upgrade will result in what could be the first facility 

in the Intermountain West specially designed to accept and 

process mixed loads, meaning pulp logs but with a few 

small sawlog segments,” noted Richard. “We also hope to 

eventually add a roundwood operation, a pellet manufacturing facility, and possibly a baled wood-shavings operation to supplement current residual markets.” 

Richard and Janie said that their business vision is “to 

grow and maintain a healthy, diversified family of forest 

products businesses for the long 

term.” They intend to retain the 

100 current jobs in the Dodge 

Dodge Logging, Inc.

78888 Walters Road

Maupin, OR 97037

Owners Richard and Janie Dodge.
companies and hope to add at least 10 more jobs as a result 

of their latest expansion. 

There is no doubt that the Dodge Logging, Inc., will 

continue to build on their past successes, and one day the 

Dodge family will pass on to their children not only the 

Dodge family of companies, but their land stewardship 

ethics and sustainable forestry values as well.

Dodge Logging, Inc., headquarters outside Maupin, 

Oregon.

2
3

 Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council

Central Oregon 

 Intergovernmental Council

2363 SW Glacier Place

Redmond, OR 97756

The Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) is 

an organization that helps businesses, residents, and communities in the central Oregon area. Since 1972, COIC has 

provided programs and services to the community such as 

employment and training, youth and adult education, business loans, and community and economic development. 

One of COIC’s projects, which was initially funded by the 

USDA Forest Service Economic Action Program in support of the National Fire Plan, is Central Oregon Partnerships for Wildfire Risk Reduction (COPWRR). This is a 

multi-stakeholder partnership with the ultimate goals of 

reducing forest wildfire risk, enhancing forest health, and 

providing community jobs in Central Oregon. 

Scott Aycock, coordinator of the COPWRR project, explains the program:

“COPWRR was initiated to address the removal of dangerous build-up of woody biomass material in Central 

Oregon forests. Specific goals of COPWRR are to 

• determine the long-term feasibility of using small-

 diameter logs and woody material to create wood prod- 

 ucts and produce energy, 

• determine the best way to mechanically remove woody 

 biomass from targeted forests, and 

• develop a market-driven approach to hazardous fuel 

 reduction that could maintain and create local jobs 

 and bring differing stakeholders together in a common, 

 sustainable resource direction.”

In pursuing these goals, the COPWRR team learned 

through research that it is was critical to stabilize or “levelize” the supply of small-diameter material. They found 

that the wood supply on private and public forest lands 

has dramatically fluctuated for the past few years and that 

these fluctuations have contributed to a stall in technology 

investment and employment in the region. 

Scott said that for planning purposes, forest products businesses need to be able to forecast a sufficient wood supply 

at least 5 to 10 years out. Small-diameter material is usually not managed as a resource, and it is very difficult to 

gather accurate data on its future supply. 

These results lead the COPWRR team to work with numerous partners to implement a Coordinated Resource Offering Protocol (CROP) initiative. Developed by Catherine 

Mater of Mater Engineering, the CROP model coordinates 

small-diameter timber sales from multiple forests across 

large areas for 5, 10, and 15 years. 

Catherine says this will “create a levelized supply of small 

trees, making logging them a more economically attractive 

proposition, especially for small companies that must rely 

on bank loans to finance their operations.”

In 2005, COIC was awarded a grant for $220,000 from 

the USDA Forest Service National Woody Biomass 

Utilization Grant Program (see p. v) to expand the CROP 

initiative. 

By using CROP, these businesses are able to more accurately predict, achieve, and stabilize the wood supply, thus 

enabling them to invest in new technology and product 

development. 

The CROP initiative is currently being applied across 

these public land agencies of Central Oregon: the Deschutes, Ochoco, and Mount Hood National Forests, the 

Prineville Bureau of Land Management, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. 

Warm Springs Forest Products Industries, an enterprise 

on the reservation, is using CROP to help establish a 15-

MW biomass power facility and a small-diameter timber 

processing line. Long-term supply is critical to the success 

of these biomass and processing facilities. Warm Springs 

can only supply 40,000 bone dry tons (bdt) from their mill 

waste. However, another 40,000 bdt has to come from 

off-reservation hazardous forest fuel reduction treatments, primarily from the Deschutes and Ochoco National 

Forests. Material used in the Warm Springs operations 

has to be sourced from 8,000 acres per year of forest fuel 

treatments. Currently, Warm Springs is able to pay only 

$10/bdt for very small-diameter biomass material. After 

installing their new facilities, estimates show that they 

can pay at least $20/bdt for the same material, equivalent 

to $100 to $200 per acre in reduced fuel treatment costs 

(assuming 10 to 20 bdt/

acre). For 8,000 acres, 

this would result in 

a total treatment 

Oregon

Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council 

headquarters, Redmond, Oregon.
4

savings of $800,000 to $1.6 million (source: Calvin 

Mukumoto, Warm Springs Consulting Forester).

Scott explains that each year CROP partners are creating 

detailed small-diameter supply projections from public and 

private lands within community supply landscapes, tailoring projections to the needs of individual users. Using 

Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis and other 

tools, conservative estimates of supply are created based 

on harvest costs, proximity to communities, and environmental and social factors. Partners also develop new data 

on harvesting and transportation costs and other local 

economic factors crucial to business investment decisions. 

This information is communicated to local businesses, 

community groups, entrepreneurs, and the general public 

through forums, one-on-one meetings, and the internet. 

CROP partners gather feedback and make ongoing improvements. At the same time, COIC will continue to expand small-diameter utilization in the region by researching and developing small-diameter market opportunities 

and providing technical assistance to new businesses. 

According to Scott, “We anticipate that the levelization of 

small-diameter timber supply through the CROP project 

will have long-term (20+ years) positive impacts in terms 

of costs per acre, increases in acres treated, and community jobs. It is part of a long-term program to develop a 

new forest-based economy in rural Central Oregon, based 

in part on forest restoration activities, and is expected to 

hatch as a self-sustaining local initiative at the conclusion 

of the 2-year pilot project term.” 

The CROP initiative is now being looked at as a project 

that could be implemented nationally. COIC definitely 

has the technical expertise, skills, and history of working 

with Central Oregon forest management stakeholders to 

implement this project. We look forward to watching the 

successful progress of this program. 

Scott Aycock, Program Administrator.
5

 North Slope Sustainable Wood, LLC

North Slope Sustainable

 Wood, LLC

P.O. Box 8846

Missoula, MT 59807

In 2002, four unlikely partners came together to form 

North Slope Sustainable Wood, LLC, in Missoula, 

Montana. The company offers random-length tongue-andgroove flooring made from western larch logs harvested 

from forest restoration projects throughout the Northern 

Rocky Mountains.

Peter Stark, an outdoor and adventure writer, owned 

80 forested acres of western larch and fir in Missoula’s 

Rattlesnake Valley. Those 80 acres needed restoration. So 

when Peter’s wife, Amy Ragsdale, also noted that she was 

in need of a professional dance floor to facilitate her dance 

instruction profession, Peter hired Matt Arno, a professional restoration forester, to thin their 80 heavily forested 

acres. 

Maybe it was the cost of the professional dance floor that 

triggered Peter to wonder if there was a higher valued use 

for the small-diameter trees being removed than selling 

them for a very low cost to a local paper mill. We will never know for sure, but these questions lead Peter to research 

and subsequently discover that the harvested small-diameter larch could possibly be made into a high-valued wood 

flooring. Peter then hired a company to custom saw, dry, 

and mill the logs into high-valued flooring.

Next, Peter hired Shannon O’Keefe, a local professional 

flooring contractor, to install the beautiful, tight-grain 

larch floor in Amy’s new dance studio. Stark, owner of 

the logs, Arno who actually thinned the forest, and Shannon, who laid the flooring, were extremely pleased with 

the quality of Amy’s dance floor. In fact, they showcase 

Amy’s dance floor in their business, highlighting the value 

and benefits of utilizing forest restoration material. 

In their final move, these three men contacted Mike Wood, 

a forester and a lawyer with an extensive background in 

environmental issues and “green-certification” procedures. 

Mike saw the possibilities, joined the other three as the 

fourth partner, and North Slope Sustainable Wood, LLC, 

was born. 

Mike notes, “Western larch, or tamarack, has a long tradition in Europe as a superior and beautiful flooring, with its 

dense, honey-colored grain and dark pinhole knots. Our 

western larch is unique to the Northern Rockies. In our 

region, it typically grows on mid-elevation north-facing 

slopes—sites with light to moderate annual precipitation.” 

Wood flooring has a prime market when cut from highquality hardwood and softwood species. Although hardwood species are generally more popular as a flooring 

material, higher density softwood species are also used. 

Softwood species regularly manufactured into flooring 

include southern pine, Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and 

western larch. 

Some literature erroneously suggests that wood cut from 

small-diameter trees is weaker than wood cut from 

large-diameter trees. USDA Forest Service research 

has established that the properties of wood from smalldiameter trees may be just as good as those cut from largediameter trees. 

There is considerable interest in how the properties 

of such material compares 

with those traditionally 

assumed for western 

Owners of North Slope Sustainable Wood, LLC.

Amy’s dance floor.

Montana
6

softwood species. The physical and mechanical properties 

of small-diameter trees thinned from overstocked stands 

are dependent upon species, the age of the tree, and the 

conditions under which the tree is growing. 

As part of a USDA Forest Service evaluation of utilization 

options for wood harvested from forest thinning projects, 

the Forest Products Laboratory evaluated the hardness of 

two species currently being used in the West for finished 

flooring—Douglas-fir and western larch. Several Douglasfir 2 by 4s were obtained from suppressed growth trees 

in northern California, and western larch flooring was 

provided by North Slope Sustainable Wood, LLC. The 

larch flooring was cut from suppressed, small-diameter 

trees growing in Montana. 

Larch flooring installed in Forest Service employee 

Angela Farr’s home, Missoula, Montana. 

Results indicate that the suppressed Douglas-fir had 22% 

to 44% greater-than-species-average hardness values 

commonly assumed for Douglas-fir. The western larch 

results were about 6% greater than values commonly 

assumed for larch. 

“As word has spread about our company, sales have 

steadily increased over the past year. We’re still operating 

on a fairly small scale, but it has actually been good for 

us and is allowing us to work out the small glitches in our 

processing and delivery,” Mike says.

Sometimes when the most unlikely group of people come 

together, the best is accomplished. In the case of North 

Slope Sustainable Wood, this is definitely true.
7

 Mount Wachusett Community College 

Mount Wachusett 

 Community College 

444 Green Street

Gardner, MA 01440-1000

Mount Wachusett Community College has become a 

leader in promoting and demonstrating woody biomass as 

a sustainable and renewable energy source. Built in 1974, 

the college’s main campus is located on 280 acres in Gardner, Massachusetts, and has about 450,000 square feet of 

buildings that need to be lighted, heated, and cooled. 

The college campus was initially an all-electric system, 

and their utility bills over the years have skyrocketed, 

exceeding $750,000 per year. In 1996, a study was funded 

to find possible solutions to reduce their high energy costs. 

Results of the college’s study indicated a possible conversion to a biomass-fired hydronic system, utilizing woody 

biomass fuel. The plan indicated a possible annual savings 

of $276,000, with a simple payback on investment (excluding financing) in about 9 years. Wood residue material 

from local sawmills could meet the college’s long-term 

supply needs. 

The plan was adopted, and in April 2002 Mount Wachusett 

Community College began constructing a new wood biomass heating system that came on line for the 2002–2003 

heating season, replacing the existing all-electric system. This new system is saving the college an estimated 

$300,000 per year. 

Rob Rizzo, Director of Facilities Administration at the 

college, said, “Over the past several years, we have 

implemented a variety of energy conservation measures 

including variable air volume conversion, installation of 

variable frequency drives on air-handling units, chiller 

replacements, new energy-efficient lighting, heat pumps, 

cooling tower replacement, domestic hot water conversion, replacement of unit ventilators, and the installation of 

a new domestic hot water heat exchanger. These additional 

energy conservation measures have reduced our total 

electrical consumption to approximately 8 million kWH at 

a cost of approximately $670,000.” 

Building on its commitment to use woody biomass as 

a sustainable and renewable energy source, the college 

recently partnered with Community Power Corporation 

(CPC) to build and install a 50 kW downdraft gasifier 

(BioMaxTM), using wood chips as the feedstock. Located 

in Littleton, Colorado, CPC develops, commercializes, 

and markets modular biopower systems to meet the needs 

of distributed energy consumers in both nondeveloped and 

developed countries. The BioMaxTM 50 will provide heat, 

air conditioning, and electricity for the college’s newly 

constructed daycare center. This will be CPC’s first installation of a BioMaxTM 50. 

The college hopes to have the BioMaxTM 50 in operation 

at their daycare center by April 2006. Plans are to have 

Rob Rizzo oversee this project and provide the technology 

transfer to help bring it from the demonstration stage to 

commercialization. 

“So far, Mount Wachusett Community College is the only 

state agency to switch to a biomass heating plant, a technology that’s been in use in other states for about three 

decades,” said Rob. 

Rob also noted that the biomass plant has not only saved 

the college money. By cutting utility bills, the college 

has been able to keep student fees steady for the past 

3 years. College President Daniel Asquino estimates that 

the decreased costs of operating a biomass heating plant 

has saved the average student about $400 a year in fees.

The college has indeed reversed the old proverb “practice 

what you preach” and turned it into “preach what you 

practice.” The college is in the process of developing an 

associate degree program in renewable energy and technology. Right now Rob has developed three courses on 

renewable technologies, and these classes were offered for 

the first time in the Spring 2006 semester. 

Rob acknowledges that “Support from many sources has 

made all this possible. One of the strongest supporters 

has been Massachusetts Congressman John Olver, who 

was able to secure funding to help complete the energy 

conservation measures at the college. Executive VicePresident Ed Terceiro coordinated and implemented the 

entire program, and College President Dan Asquino had 

the vision and supplied the guidance and leeway to move 

forward with these projects.” 

In 2005, the college received the “Excellence in Energy 

Efficiency” award from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the past 3 years, the college has reduced their 

greenhouse gas emissions by 181⁄2%, which is a phenomenal number. Rob remarks, “Our President has gone on 

record to say that the college will have a minimum 

of a 25% reduction of 

greenhouse gas emissions 

by 2012.” 

Massachusetts

Mount Wachusett Community College’s biomass 

power plant.
8

The college began by wanting to cut its energy costs and 

now has progressed to becoming an authority on sustainable and renewable energy. Their goals have evolved 

into reducing greenhouse gas emission levels, teaching 

students about renewable energy sources, and helping to 

advance woody biomass as a viable energy option. Mount 

Wachusett Community College is definitely living up to its 

motto, “Education for a Changing World.” 

Woodchip boiler inside the biomass power plant.
9

 Northwest Wood Products Association 

Northwest Wood Products 

 Association

18900 Riverwoods Drive

Bend, OR 97701

Located in Bend, Oregon, Northwest Wood Products 

Association (NWPA) is a private, non-profit trade association for secondary wood products manufacturers. The 

association provides assistance to their members in market 

development, capital access, technology and training, and 

supply development. Their 80 members are primarily from 

the Pacific Northwest. 

Dennis Brock, Executive Director for NWPA, provides 

some statistics on the secondary wood products industry. 

“In 1990, it maintained about 19% of the employment 

in the wood products industry. In 2003, the secondary 

wood products industry retained 37% to 46% of Oregon’s 

overall employment in the wood products industry and 

sometimes as much as 63% in the rural communities.” 

Dennis strongly believes, “The wood products industry is 

not dying—it’s just changing.”

According to Dennis, “In 1990, 1 million board feet of raw 

exported log timber created one job. Today, in the secondary wood products industry, that same million board feet 

can create as many as 24 jobs.” Dennis believes there are 

unlimited opportunities for the secondary wood products 

industry in Oregon. 

As mentioned, supply development is a major function of 

NWPA. One recent project of NWPA’s involved partners that included the USDA Forest Service, the Oregon 

Economic and Community Development Department, and 

the city of Fossil, Oregon. This project was designed to 

establish part of the new infrastructure needed to process 

small-diameter and underutilized species in Central Oregon. Installing a small-capacity dry kiln center became an 

integral part of this new infrastructure. 

Data from this small-capacity drying system are helping 

establish proper drying schedules, cycle times, and other 

technical information needed to continue developing 

this new infrastructure. With this knowledge, the wood 

products industry is able to maximize nontraditional (e.g., 

juniper) and small-diameter species such as lodgepole 

pine, white fir, Douglas-fir, and ponderosa pine. 

Large capacity kiln dryers are not suited for drying smalldiameter timber, and most mills in Oregon that have large 

dryers have closed their doors. However, a large quantity 

of wood fiber is available from national forests and state 

and private forests. Estimates claim that over the next 

20 years, about 880,000 acres of our national forests are 

scheduled to be thinned. The placement of a small-capacity dryer close to the timber resource reduces added transportation, processing, and drying costs for wood products 

manufacturers.

For example, wood harvested in a central Oregon community would have to be transported to another town to 

have it kiln-dried, the dried wood would then have to be 

transported back to central Oregon for manufacturing. 

This process alone could add $300 to $350 per thousand 

board feet to a company’s processing costs.

In June 1993, NWPA applied for and received a USDA 

Forest Service grant to install a small-capacity dryer in 

Fossil’s new industrial park. In January 2004, the Oregon Economic and Community Development provided 

additional funding. The dry kiln is accessible to local 

manufacturers and individuals producing wood products. 

Several potential users signed up early for the service so 

that this drying facility could process trees removed from 

eight of Oregon’s eastern counties. 

The city of Fossil agreed to provide space in their newly 

developed industrial park. The city was also instrumental 

in securing grant funding to erect a new building to house 

the dry kiln. Local business owner Tim Coe and Brunt 

Ranch Juniper, located in Fossil, agreed to provide dayto-day management of the operation in return for reduced 

kiln drying charges. Although this project encountered 

numerous delays and challenges along the way, an open 

house for the dryer was held in July 2005. 

The NWPA posts on their website all current information 

pertaining to the small-capacity dryer. Appropriate drying 

schedules for the dry kiln were determined with the support of Scott Leavengood, Oregon State University, and 

Paul Dailey, Dailey Wood Products in Reedsport, Oregon. 

Refinement of the process and modified drying schedules is continuing to be updated and shared on NWPA’s 

website. 

This small-capacity dryer 

project is just one of 

NWPA’s many projects. 

Dennis notes, “NWPA 

is continuing to fulfill 

its original purpose of 

Oregon

Dennis Brock, Executive Director, Northwest Wood 

Products Association.
10

helping wood products manufacturers grow and become 

more profitable by helping them make connections to new 

markets, locate financing opportunities, take advantage of 

employee training programs, and find alternate sources of 

supply.”

The NWPA is a true believer in partnerships between 

private and public sectors and understands that this is a 

key element to successful job creation and community 

sustainability and profitability. Their mantra is, “Private 

industry can’t do it alone. Education can’t do it alone. 

Government can’t do it alone. Together we are stronger.” 

Small-capacity wood dryer in Fossil, Oregon.
11

 P&M Signs, Inc.

New Mexico

P&M Signs, Inc.

202 E. Broadway

P.O. Box 567

Mountainair, NM 87036-0567

Phil Archuletta is an entrepreneur “extraordinaire.” In 

addition to being an author, inventor, and community 

activist, he is the successful CEO of P&M Signs, Inc., and 

its sister companies P&M Plastics and P&M Small Timber 

Processing—all located in Mountainair, New Mexico. 

These for-profit companies are dedicated to “the recycling 

of forest residues in exchange for the creation of jobs in 

economically deprived communities.”

Combined, the P&M companies employ 17 full-time 

employees, with a total experience of more than 75 years 

of creating high-quality signs. In 2004, P&M sales were 

about $1.8 million with a payroll of about $30,000 per 

month. Phil calculates that the family of P&M companies 

has a $3.6 million annual economic impact on the 

community. 

Located adjacent to the Cibola National Forest, Mountainair is a rural community of about 1,300. Average 

household income is $25,651 per year, and the community 

has a 9.6% unemployment rate. The spread of western 

juniper and pinyon pine in this area has created millions of 

acres of small-diameter woodlands, resulting in problems 

such as lowering the water table, reducing rangeland, and 

creating severe erosion, which pollutes streams and lakes. 

When Phil arrived in Mountainair in 1991, he had only 

$300 in his pocket, but he had a “can do” attitude and 

more than 30 years of experience in sign manufacturing. 

He had also spent 15 years working with the Missoula 

Technology Development Center on a durability study for 

signs while serving as Secretary-Treasurer for Ojo Caliente Craftsmen in northern New Mexico. As a result of his 

work experience, perseverance, and a little bit of luck, he 

opened P&M Signs, Inc., in 1991, and his business is now 

the largest employer in the area. 

Phil knew that finding an economic use for western juniper and pinyon pine from these woodlands would alleviate 

some of the environmental problems associated with them. 

This area is also extremely vulnerable to forest wildfire as 

a result of the dense juniper and pine and a very dry climate. Reducing hazardous forest fuels is a priority in this 

area; however, the lack of local markets for small-diameter 

material is a limitation. 

Historically, western juniper has been used for firewood 

and fence posts, but the high costs of harvesting and 

processing have limited attempts to develop and utilize 

it further. Even commercial firewood operations are only 

marginally successful because of the labor-intensive nature 

of harvesting, and the relative availability and low cost of 

steel posts and treated timber have diminished the practicality of using juniper for posts. 

To reverse these trends, Phil developed a strategy to 

increase the value of the resource, primarily by 

developing products of higher value. One of those products is AltreeTM—a wood–plastic composite that has high 

value and has been a success for this company and the 

community. 

Phil led the effort to develop AltreeTM in collaboration 

with the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory 

and other agencies and groups. Now listed on government 

contract, AltreeTM is so named because all parts of the 

tree are utilized—the bark, branches, needles, and berries. 

Made from small-diameter western juniper and pinyon 

pine trees and recycled plastic containers, AltreeTM is noncorrosive, insect and mold resistant, nontoxic, and stable 

in all weather conditions. 

To increase the product’s success, AltreeTM has been 

designated as a USDA “biobased” product. Biobased 

products are those commercial and industrial non-food 

products that are made, in whole or a significant part, of 

biological or renewable domestic agricultural or forestry 

materials. The Federal 

Biobased Products 

Preferred Procurement 

Phil T. Archuletta, CEO, P&M Signs, Inc.

Dense juniper and pine in a very dry climate.
12

Program (http://www.

biobased.oce.usda.

gov/public/index.cfm) 

requires all Federal 

agencies to develop an 

affirmative procurement program for 

purchasing USDAdesignated biobased 

products. Analysts 

expect that the future 

biobased market could 

be worth several billions of dollars.

AltreeTM can be used 

for signage, plaques, 

decking, fencing and 

railing, spindles and posts, picnic tables, sandboxes, trash 

can holders, park benches, window boxes, tool handles, 

shims, window boxes, landscape timbers, and grading 

stakes and in marine and waterproofing situations in place 

of treated plywood and pressboard.

Major customers of AltreeTM include the USDA Forest 

Service, New Mexico Highway Department, New Mexico 

State Parks, New Mexico Game and Fish, and National 

Parks. 

Two AltreeTM customers from the USDA Forest Service 

are Phil Bono, Six Rivers National Forest in California, 

and Vicky Estrada, Mountainair Ranger District. Estrada 

says that “We have used the AltreeTM signs for the past 

4 years. P&M Signs has always been very responsive to 

our requests, completing and delivering on time, and has 

been an extraordinary positive partner in developing uses 

for our small-diameter western juniper and pine trees. 

AltreeTM has proven to be resistant to weather, gun shots, 

and porcupines.” 

So next time you drive through a national forest, pay 

particular attention to the signs on the roads and trails. You 

may see the attractive and durable AltreeTM signs produced 

by P&M Signs, Inc., made from recycled plastic and the 

invasive western juniper and pine. 

AltreeTM is not P&M Signs’ only product. They can 

produce signage to any requested specifications. Phil said, 

“We even have a crew that will hang the outdoor signs, 

if asked.” Right now, building a large-scale AltreeTM 

processing plant (100 by 200 feet) is one of the company’s 

goals, which they hope to achieve by summer 2006. Most 

of the equipment has been purchased; they just need to 

construct the building. 

Another P&M goal is to open a sawmill operation, using 

an existing building to produce vigas, latillas, and other 

pole products in addition to sawn lumber. Between the 

new AltreeTM processing plant 

and the sawmill, 65 more jobs 

could be available in the community. 

In November 2005, Phil was 

notified that P&M Signs was 

awarded a 5-year, exclusive 

Smokey Bear licensing 

agreement. Phil said “I’ve 

been trying for 35 years to get 

this license. Printing an icon 

like Smokey Bear is an incredible opportunity for us.” 

Smokey Bear signs will be 

printed in full color using a 

high-density reflective sheeting material developed by 

Phil. This material has proven 

to last for years and not lose its 

reflective capabilities. According to Phil, “We are bringing 

Smokey back to New Mexico, 

his first home. We plan to 

launch a huge Smokey Bear campaign all across the country.” (The first Smokey Bear was rescued from a fire near 

Capitan, New Mexico, in 1950.)

Phil also competed and won the contract to print the signage for First Lady Laura Bush’s Preserve America initiative. This initiative is an effort to encourage and help fund 

community efforts for the preservation and enjoyment of 

America’s priceless cultural and natural heritage. To date, 

more than 220 communities in 37 states have received 

this designation. Each community is required to order the 

official Preserve America logo signs from P&M Signs. 

Phil has a vast network of contacts—from local to national—and he is very active in his community. The following 

is only a short list of his awards and accomplishments. 

• USDA National Most Successful Minority Owned 

 Business

• SBA New Mexico Advisory Board Chairman

• Small Business Association Regional Award 

• Mountainair City Council Member

• Mountainair Chamber of Commerce, President

• Green Zia Quality Award

Phil Archuletta cares deeply about people and especially 

his community. This entrepreneur “extraordinaire” continues to have a successful future in the wood products 

business. The only problem is keeping pace with his ingenious ideas, his energetic company goals, and his dynamic 

aspirations for the community. 

First Lady Laura Bush’s Preserve America sign.

Smokey Bear sign 

made using AltreeTM 

and coated with highdensity reflective 

sheeting. 
13

 Pomegranate Center

Washington

Pomegranate Center

P.O. Box 486

1400 NW Maple Street

Issaquah, WA 98027

The Pomegranate Center is not a small-diameter wood 

business—it is a community-based nonprofit dedicated 

to social and environmental issues. The Center develops 

creative ways to achieve its goals; finds positive and 

sustainable solutions to problems; and works on projects 

in partnership with government and other public agencies. Located in Issaquah, Washington (near Seattle), the 

Pomegranate Center was incorporated in 1986 by Milenko 

Matanovic, Executive Director. 

Milenko is a professional artist and community organizer. 

“I was concerned with the direction of modern communities, so I created the Pomegranate Center to explore how 

artists can have a role outside the narrow artistic world and 

be actively involved in building better communities.” 

The Pomegranate Center helps individuals use their talents 

to improve their communities. They do this by integrating social, artistic, and environmental viewpoints into 

“creating meaningful gathering spaces, initiating inclusive 

community-based planning, and providing educational 

outreach, research, and training.” 

Milenko explained further: “We plan and design gathering places, parks, neighborhood focal points, community 

trails, and public artworks that contribute to the community. Studies show that well-designed public spaces contribute to a stronger sense of community, good relations 

between neighbors, and feelings of safety and security. In 

our own experience, factors such as community distinction, cultural vitality, and social interaction are also greatly 

enhanced. These attributes are important not only to residents, but to policymakers, housing developers, lenders, 

and neighboring communities.” 

The Pomegranate Center facilitates public forums and 

town meetings, helping communities identify common 

concerns and objectives, discover creative methods of 

attaining goals, and find positive, sustainable solutions to 

problems. “Our programs reinforce civic connection and 

commitment, train local residents to solve problems, and 

create long-term leadership capacity within a community 

to meet future needs.” 

Their community-based planning projects are collaborative efforts between government agencies, non-profit 

organizations, architects, landscape architects, artists, 

developers, and community builders interested in public 

involvement processes. Their Gathering Places program 

focuses on affordable housing communities and neighborhoods in need of civic focal points. Affordable housing 

communities consisting of recent immigrants and refugees 

often provide the location for Pomegranate projects. 

Milenko says their work proactively responds to the steady 

decline of community life. Rapid societal change and its 

byproducts (sprawl, traffic congestion, and environmental degradation) have lead to a loss of pride and sense of 

community and decreased participation in activities that 

support local vitality. 

In 2000, the Pomegranate Center received a grant to study 

the social conditions of Springwood Apartments (Kent, 

Washington), one of the largest subsidized housing projects in the state of Washington. Based on their findings, 

the Center developed a plan to revitalize outdoor spaces 

that would provide a focal point for the entire community, 

where individuals from the community could provide 

hands-on construction and stimulate interaction among 

those living in the community. 

Then in 2002, the USDA Forest Service awarded a grant 

to the Pomegranate Center to explore the use of smalldiameter roundwood to revitalize Springwood’s outdoor 

spaces. They constructed two mailbox shelters (10 by 36 

feet and 10 by 24 feet) and a 10- by 8-feet kiosk where the 

Springwood community could post information and children could display their artwork. The suppressed-growth 

Douglas-fir 4- to 5-in.-diameter roundwood used had been 

harvested from a restoration project on a local smartwood 

tree farm in Shelton, Washington. 

Since Springwood, the Pomegranate Center has also been 

exploring the use of roundwood as a viable construction 

material in creating outdoor facilities in two other lowincome housing projects: Riverwalk Point in Spokane 

and Benson East in Kent. So far, they have renovated a 

playground and designed and built two mailbox shelters, 

kiosks, light posts, entry signs, a bus shelter, numerous 

tables and benches, a tea shelter, and fencing. Again, these 

projects were assisted through a grant from the USDA 

Forest Service, and the roundwood used in the projects 

was harvested from forest restoration projects. 

Milenko commented, “We enjoy exploring the different uses for small-diameter roundwood because not only 

are we helping to add vibrancy to the outdoor spaces of 

numerous communities in need, we are contributing to the 

health of our forests.”

The Pomegranate Center plans to continue playing a part 

in finding uses for small-diameter roundwood material 

harvested from forest restoration projects. Their goal is to 

partner with someone who will mass-produce the roundwood products Pomegranate has designed and used in 

their projects. 
14

Pomegranate projects: entry signs, mailbox shelters, light posts, tables and benches, tea shelter, and a bus shelter.
15

 Santa Clara Woodworks

New Mexico

Santa Clara Woodworks

4100 N. Gold Street

Silver City, NM 88061

Santa Clara, New Mexico, is fortunate to have an involved 

and vital member of the community like Gordon West. 

Gordon owns Santa Clara Woodworks, a “woodworking and fabrication business dedicated to the production 

of quality products from locally obtained materials in a 

manner that promotes good stewardship of the land and 

support of the community.”

Gordon started his first business, Gordon West Joinery, in 

1977 in Missoula, Montana. In 1982, he moved his company to northern Idaho, then in 1997 to Santa Clara, New 

Mexico, and renamed it Santa Clara Woodworks. Gordon 

came to New Mexico with 20 years of experience in carpentry, sawmilling, and logging; his plan was to focus on 

building log cabins made from small-diameter logs. 

Santa Clara, formerly called Central City, is located 

6 miles east of Silver City on U.S. Highway 180. Santa 

Clara covers 1 square mile and has a population of about 

2,000, primarily Hispanic. It is the oldest village in 

the district and its history is closely tied to nearby Fort 

Bayard. This buffalo-soldier fort sprung up in 1866 and 

played an integral role in protecting settlers and those in 

the nearby mining districts. 

Situated in Grant County, Santa Clara is nestled in the 

foothills of the Pinos Altos Mountains. It borders the 

Continental Divide and is very close to the Gila National 

Forest. As a result of low copper prices and the forces 

of the international economy on the border industries, 

approximately 1,200 jobs have been lost in the local 

mining industry and supporting sectors. In addition, two 

local sawmills have closed in the past 10 years, because 

of a lack of a reliable supply of saw logs. Statistics show 

unemployment levels have exceeded 12%. 

Santa Clara proved to be no different than any other place 

Gordon has lived. Shortly after arriving, he soon found 

out that the supply that he wanted was not available when 

he tried to obtain logs to continue his log home business. 

However, the nearby 3.3 million acres of Gila National 

Forest faced, and continues to pose, a high risk of catastrophic wildfire because of an overabundance of dense, 

overstocked forest stands. So, to obtain a small-diameter 

wood supply, Gordon partnered with two organizations 

and helped them complete a 16-acre restoration project on 

the Gila National Forest. 

Wherever Gordon has lived, he has been involved with 

local businesses and environmental groups to promote appropriate public and private forestry and to use the wood 

from these efforts to create wood product businesses. Over 

the years, Gordon has become known for his forward 

thinking, successful collaboration efforts, and strong forestry stewardship principles.

In 1999, he and Todd Schulke from the Center for Biological Diversity founded Gila WoodNet. Gordon says, “Their 

vision of forest restoration meshed with my logging 

equipment and forestry techniques, but the scale of Santa 

Clara Woodworks operations was too small to achieve 

landscape-scale results in the forest.”

Gila WoodNet, located in Santa Clara’s Industrial Park, 

is a non-profit corporation associated with many wood 

businesses that perform forest restoration work. WoodNet 

operates a small log-sort yard and processing operation, 

which creates a biomass wood supply for small wood 

businesses and new jobs for the community. Gila WoodNet directly employs 6 people. Most of the start-up costs 

for Gila WoodNet were obtained through grant funds from 

the Ford Foundation and USDA Forest Service programs. 

Gordon noted, “Twenty percent of the woody biomass 

from forest restoration projects is useful for high-value 

Gordon West, owner of Santa Clara Woodworks.

Hand-peeled and notched small-diameter poles are 

used in log cabins, allowing natural logs to be used in 

traditional timber frame construction. 
16

products and 80% is not. This 20% produces 80% of 

the business complex’s revenue.” All profits from Gila 

WoodNet are put back into forest restoration work and 

product development. Products from the company currently include vigas, poles, juniper posts, firewood, mulch, 

and chips.

Although it’s a different way to look at it, Gordon figures 

that “Gila WoodNet creates one full-time job directly 

related to wood for every 10 restored forest acres. Gila 

WoodNet has a target of treating 300 acres per year in 

mechanical forest restoration. About 10,000 forest acres 

are qualified for mechanical thinning within 50 miles of 

Santa Clara. That would give Gila WoodNet a 30-year plan 

of restoring 300 acres per year.”

Gordon said, “Now that GilaWoodNet is up and operating 

and has a supply of ethically sourced logs, I am resuming 

my efforts through Santa Clara Woodworks to develop 

buildings and products utilizing small-diameter trees. I 

want to focus on maximizing added value while minimizing product costs and to promote small-diameter roundwood as a standard building material.”

Santa Clara Woodworks is a one-employee business. Rather than hiring employees, Gordon prefers to have what he 

labels “collaborators.” He does not always have continual 

work for employees, so he works with a collaboration of 

partners to get the job done, and he actively seeks other 

woodworkers and craftspeople to share future projects. 

Some of the small-diameter wood products that Gordon 

has adapted or developed over the years include log 

cabins, trusses, timber frames, furniture, structural composite blocks, and erosion-control material.

His log cabins are built using hand-peeled and notched 

small-diameter poles. The styles reflect early USDA Forest 

Service guard stations and National Park Service structures. For his trusses, he uses a unique Center Line System 

Log Joint-Making Tool that he invented and fabricated. 

Because of this method, all parts are interchangeable 

between trusses, which makes it easier for later on-site 

log cabin assembly. In addition, the joint-making tool 

allows natural logs to be used in traditional timber frame 

construction. 

One product still in development is Chipcrete, a chipbased composite structural building block, partially 

funded under a USDA grant. An erosion-control material 

called Zerosion is a spin-off of Chipcrete. Zerosion uses 

the lowest valued part of woody biomass and can be engineered for a wide variety of site-specific conditions. 

To do small-diameter forest restoration projects, Gordon 

explains that you need multi-functional equipment. “For 

the scale that we and several other communities want to 

work at, there is no equipment or infrastructure appropriate to that scale. The equipment is either too small or too 

big, and we have to modify it to make it work.” To fill 

in this equipment gap, Gordon built a light-on-the-land, 

36-hp small-log forwarder that uses a small crane. He has 

subsequently attached a larger crane and is using the small 

crane as an attachment on the bobcat used in the yard. 

Gordon also has developed a simple solar heat collector 

and has installed a solar dry kiln onsite. “Ponderosa pine 

is difficult to drawknife if it is wet, so we debark and 

sticker-stack our logs to air dry or use our solar-dry kiln if 

necessary.”

Gordon has developed or modified other equipment, 

including bobcat log attachments, winch systems, and a 

Unilogger. Early on, his business was focused on construction so it was natural to modify equipment already 

in service to do the small-scale logging needed to get a 

supply of wood. 

“Using a one-ton truck with log bunks, pulling a trailer 

with the Bobcat outfitted with a yarding winch attachment, two people can go to the forest in the morning and 

come home in the early afternoon with enough wood 

to keep busy for a week on a cabin or truss order,” says 

West. 

At the shop, a set of grapple forks for the Bobcat helps to 

move logs around efficiently. Recently, Gordon conducted 

a fabrication workshop with forest workers from northern 

New Mexico and Colorado, helping them to make their 

own winch attachments. The Unilogger is an improved 

version of the earlier small forwarder. It is a MercedesBenz Unilog truck heavily modified to be a cut-to-length 

feller, a three-winch mobile cable yarder, and a low-impact forwarder, all in one. It would also be possible to use 

the Unilogger to haul loads from the forest to the sortyard, 

although Gila WoodNet will use it as a dedicated forestry 

machine. West expects it to boost the pace of restoration 

Chipcrete, a chip-based composite structural building 

block.
17

thinning; felling, limbing, bucking, and forwarding several 

hundred trees per day with a crew of two. 

Gordon is involved with wood-related organizations and 

businesses throughout the region and feels that these 

contacts have great potential for developing new wood 

products and markets. In addition to Gila WoodNet, he 

works in collaboration with organizations that help with 

research and development of new wood products, innova-

tive craft furniture makers, other decorative wood prod-

ucts, and a timber framer. He recently started a consulting 

business with several others in the region, Rural Business 

Implementation Group (RBIG), with a mission of actively 

assisting other communities to establish robust and diverse 

wood industries based on forest restoration. 

Clearly this community has gained a valuable human 

resource by the name of Gordon West. He has a passionate 

land ethic and strong community-based values. Gordon 

has had a positive influence on the community, as seen by 

the increasing number of wood-based jobs and businesses 

created from forest-restoration thinning projects. We look 

forward to seeing more of Gordon’s ideas on equipment 

development, his innovation in creating small-diameter 

wood products, and his forward thinking applied for the 

betterment of this community.

Unilogger, an improved version of the earlier small 

forwarder.
18

 Warm Springs Forest Products Industries

Oregon

Warm Springs Forest 

 Products Industries

P.O. Box 810

3270 Highway 26

Warm Springs, OR 97761

It’s easy to find—Warm Springs Forest Products Industries 

(WSFPI) is just off to your right on Highway 26 as you 

pass north through the town of Warm Springs, which is in 

the north-central part of Oregon. 

In 1967, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 

Reservation purchased Jefferson Plywood Corporation and 

established Warm Spring Forest Products Industries. With 

each having their distinctive heritage, the tribes of Warm 

Springs, Wasco, and Northern Paiute make up the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The reservation consists of 

about 640,000 acres, half forested, between the Cascade 

Crest and the Deschutes River. The Deschutes, Mt. Hood, 

Ochoco, and Willamette National Forests either border or 

are adjacent to the reservation. There are more than 4,000 

Tribal members and most live in or around the town of 

Warm Springs.

The Tribal economy here is based primarily on natural resources (hydropower, forest products, ranching), tourism, 

and recreation. With high unemployment rates (about 17% 

in summer and 35% in winter), the reservation struggles 

with economic development. The Tribes have always 

strived to develop sustainable businesses aligned with the 

environment and their culture. 

Larry Potts, CEO of Warm Springs Forest Products Industries, said, “We harvest nearly 42 million board feet of 

timber per year. Species include incense cedar, ponderosa 

pine, white pine, lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, western 

larch, noble fir, grand fir, and white fir.” They maximize 

the return to the Tribe while using the raw material in an 

efficient and environmentally sound way. Most of their 

harvest is used in the manufacturing process; however, 

some logs are sold on the open market. 

Warm Springs Forest Products Industries produces Douglas-fir, white fir, and ponderosa pine framing and industrial 

lumber and timbers, 4- by 4-in. through 12- by 12-in., in 

lengths of 8 and 20 feet. All framing and industrial lumber 

products are dried, planed, and graded under the industry standard rules and regulations of the Western Wood 

Products Association. WSFPI is also certified by Forest 

Stewardship Council (FSC), which is an international nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging responsible 

management of the world’s forests. 

Larry explains that the Tribal Council feels that “a strategy 

to provide jobs and revenue while in concert with 

reducing fuels from the forest is possible by producing 

biomass energy.” 

Warm Springs Forest 

Products Industries currently operates a biomass 

power plant. However, it is 

antiquated and inefficient. 

They have a three-phase plan to improve and enlarge 

their biomass energy plant and upgrade their capacity to 

process small-diameter logs. 

Phase I, completed in September 2005, replaced the 

plant’s 1927 boilers. Phase II replaces the current limiteduse condensing turbine with an extraction turbine that is 

much more conducive to a sawmill operation. The WSFPI 

plans to use the steam produced to dry lumber and double 

their power production. The new boiler (Phase I) combined with the condensing turbine is capable of producing up to 3 MW of power. With the new larger extraction 

turbine, they could produce an additional 6 MW of power. 

Phase III plans include installing a small-diameter 

(5- to 7-in. diameter) log processor and adding a second 

boiler and turbine. Their current mill can only efficiently 

process logs greater than 8-in. diameter. The new smalllog facility could provide 20 new jobs. When the second 

boiler is added, WSFPI could potentially have 15 to 

20 MW of power for sale or internal use. 

Larry added, “The Tribe is actively reviewing a proposal 

to sell PacifiCorp, our utility provider, the renewable 

energy they produce. We want to be part of the solution of 

utilizing woody biomass material.” 

In 2005, a grant for $250,000 from the USDA Forest Service National Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program 

(see p. v) to help with Phase II of their project was “extremely appreciated and helpful toward completion of 

our three-phase biomass energy strategy,” noted Larry. 

As a result of completing Phase II using the National 

Woody Biomass Utilization Grant, WSFPI hopes to 

increase the current price it pays for delivered woody 

biomass from off-reservation sources, such as the national 

forests that surround their land. The increase in price paid 

would help offset the cost of harvesting these fuels. 

Larry Potts, CEO, Warm Springs Forest Products 

Industries.
19

Right now, WSFPI can supply only 40,000 bone dry 

tons (bdt) of biomass from their mill waste. They plan 

to purchase the remaining 40,000 bdt needed from offreservation hazardous forest fuel reduction treatments, primarily from the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests. 

The increase in power that WSFPI produces will allow 

them to pay more for a bone dry ton of woody biomass. 

For example, WSFPI is currently paying only $10/bdt 

for woody biomass material delivered. When the current 

condensing turbine is replaced with the new extraction turbine, WSFPI will be able to pay about $25/bdt of woody 

biomass delivered. 

WSFPI has undergone many changes since its birth in 

1967. Larry remarked, “Their management is constantly 

monitoring our progress to be certain that we remain a 

benchmark for the timber products manufacturing industry 

and a valuable asset to the Tribes. Sustainable forestry, 

sustainable communities—that’s what Warm Springs Forest Products Industries is all about.” 

Office of Warm Springs Forest Products 

Industries.

21

White Mountain Stewardship Contract

In August 2004, the USDA Forest Service awarded Future 

Forest, LLC, the White Mountain Stewardship Contract on 

the Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona.

The Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest, which comprises 

a significant portion of the largest contiguous ponderosa 

pine forest in North America, faces large-scale threats to 

communities from large wildland fires. The suppression of 

fire over the past hundred years contributed to the development of very dense forests. These forests that once were 

characterized by 20 to 60 trees per acre now average more 

than 400 trees per acre, which makes the forest vulnerable 

to intense wildfire and insect damage.

This project is the largest 10-year stewardship contract in 

the nation. The contract allows for the treatment of about 

15,000 acres per year, up to 150,000 acres in 10 years. 

The stewardship contract also facilitates the development 

of a wood products industry better suited to market the 

excessive number of small-diameter trees on our national 

forests. Results include healthier forests, enhanced rural 

development, and utilization of previously unmarketable 

small-diameter trees and woody biomass. 

Two individuals merit special recognition regarding the 

White Mountain Stewardship contract: Elaine Zieroth, 

USDA Forest Service Supervisor on the Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest, and Bill Greenwood, Eagar, 

Arizona, Town Manager. 

Without Elaine’s persistence, patience, and dedication to 

this process, the White Mountain Stewardship Contract 

would have never come to fruition. Bill Greenwood was 

born and raised in the White Mountain area and is very 

active in the community. He works closely with local 

agencies and businesses to improve forest health and create jobs, and he is dedicated to seeing the White Mountain 

Stewardship project succeed. Both Elaine and Bill continue to keep close tabs on the stewardship contract and 

are always there to offer their assistance.

The designated contractor, Future Forest, LLC, is providing services to perform woody biomass management, 

which may include tree removal, treatment of existing 

slash and dead trees, erosion control, resource protection, and haul-road maintenance. Future Forest, LLC, was 

formed by W.B. Contracting and Forest Energy Corporation to pursue this stewardship opportunity. 

Because of the size, complexity, costs, and urgency of the 

task at hand, Future Forest, LLC, is engaging many other 

forestry and forest product entities in the White Mountains 

and elsewhere as they move forward to create healthy forests. The following wood products businesses in the community are currently receiving and successfully producing 

value-added products from material removed as a result of 

the White Mountain Stewardship Contract. Their stories 

are told in following pages of this document. 

• W.B. Contracting

• Forest Energy Corporation

• Reidhead Brothers Lumber Mills Inc. 

• Cheyenne Log Homes, Inc., doing business as Arizona 

 Log & Timberworks

• American West Structures, LLC

What is Stewardship Contracting?

(Source: USDA Forest Service http://www.fs.fed.us/)

Over the past two decades, the Federal timber sale 

program has declined while the need for restorative 

work or maintenance in ecosystems remains. Some of 

the project work includes watershed restoration and 

maintenance, road obliteration for sediment control, 

wildlife habitat improvements, fuel load reductions, 

timber stand improvements, and insect and disease 

protection. 

To accomplish the USDA Forest Service’s stewardship 

responsibilities, creative approaches are needed to 

complete the necessary work and simultaneously 

contribute to the economic growth of local and rural 

communities. “Stewardship End Result Contracting” 

is one solution to this problem. 

Stewardship contracting includes natural resource 

management practices seeking to promote a closer 

working relationship with local communities in a 

broad range of activities that improve land conditions. 

These projects shift the focus of Federal forest and 

rangeland management towards a desired future 

resource condition. They are also a means for 

Federal agencies to contribute to the development of 

sustainable rural communities, restore and maintain 

healthy forest ecosystems, and provide a continuing 

source of local income and employment.

In February 2003, the U.S. Congress authorized 

the USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) to implement stewardship 

contracting for a period of 10 years. Some features of 

the authorizing legislation include allowing USDA 

Forest Service and BLM to apply the value of timber 

or other forest products removed as an offset against 

the cost of services received, apply excess receipts 

from a project to other authorized stewardship 

projects, select contracts and agreements on a “best 

value” basis, and award a contract or agreement up to 

10 years, which may stimulate long-term investment 

in the local community. The authorizing legislation is 

found in the 2003 Appropriations Act (16 U.S.C. 2104 

Note).
 W.B. Contracting, Inc. 

Arizona

W.B. Contracting, Inc. 

P.O. Box 411

Eagar, AZ 85925

Implementing healthy forest restoration on Ted Turner’s 

ranch in northern New Mexico is just one of the many jobs 

W.B. Contracting has on their reference list. Owned and 

operated by brothers Ricky, Dale, and Dwayne Walker, 

W.B. Contracting is a well-established wood contracting 

business that has been working in the Southwest for 

18 years. 

W. B. Contracting was formed in 1985 as a brush-thinning and slash-clearing operation, using small dozers and 

chainsaws to pile the brush. In the early 1990s, they realized that investing in mechanized small-diameter logging 

equipment was necessary to stay competitive and for their 

business to grow. So when they had an opportunity to buy 

some equipment (HydroAx cutter and clean wood chipper) 

from a local company that was going out of business, they 

did. 

For the next several years, W.B. Contracting grew and 

prospered by moving their operation close to the market. 

Dwayne said, “At first, this required us to move to New 

Mexico, but after 3-1/2 years we were able to come back 

to the White Mountains of Arizona, working exclusively 

on tribal lands, selling wood chips to the Stone Container 

paper mill and sawlogs to the Fort Apache Timber Company. However, in the spring of 1988 when the paper 

mill quit taking raw fiber, we purchased a feller–buncher 

and a stroke delimber in order to bid on a 3-year contract 

near Vermejo, New Mexico. In late 2001, that contract 

ended and we were able to move back one more time to 

the Arizona White Mountain area where work was again 

available.” 

All three brothers were born and raised in the White 

Mountain area. Ricky Walker is the President of W.B. 

Contracting, Dale is the Vice-President and Secretary, and 

Dwayne is Vice-President and Treasurer. Brothers Ricky 

and Dale are active full-time equipment operators or foremen on all forest restoration projects. The youngest of the 

brothers, Dwayne, participates in all decision making for 

W.B. Contracting but has also recently assumed a full-time 

position with Future Forest, LLC. 

In 2004, W.B. Contracting partnered with Forest Energy 

Corporation, a local wood pellet fuel manufacturer, to 

form Future Forest, LLC, the prime contractor for the 

White Mountain Stewardship Contract (see p. 21). 

“The right equipment is critical in our work,” explains 

Dwayne. “We are continually looking to buy state-of-theart equipment that operates on a variety of forest terrain.” 

With the combined knowledge and experience of these 

three brothers, they are also 

quite capable of redesigning equipment if it is not 

commercially available. 

In 2005, W.B. Contracting received a grant from the 

USDA Forest Service National Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program (see p. v) to purchase a versatile 

whole-tree log forwarder. 

According to Dwayne, “A whole-tree log forwarder allows us to harvest acres that were previously inaccessible, 

thus reducing the number of new or reconstructed roads 

and landings. This piece of equipment has better weight 

distribution and less potential for ground disturbance and 

compaction than skidders. We hope to fit the forwarder 

with harvester heads that create a three-in-one felling, 

processing, and transport machine. This further reduces 

the number of passes that the equipment has to make over 

a site.” 

Dwayne’s current job site is a 500-acre wildland–urban 

interface restoration project, Woodland Lake Park, near 

Dwayne Walker, one of the three brothers who own 

W.B. Contracting, Inc. 

500-acre wildland–urban restoration project, Woodland 

Lake Park, near Pinetop, Arizona.

22
Pinetop, Arizona. This forestland is on the Apache–

Sitgraves National Forest and is part of the White Mountain Stewardship Contract. Wildland–urban interface areas 

comprise about 80% of this stewardship contract. 

Several acres at this site have already been treated, and it 

was amazing to see the improvements they had made to 

this wildland-urban interface area. As I looked over the 

site and made favorable comments to the brothers, you 

could see in their faces the pride they have in their work 

and the gratification they get from doing it. 

W.B. Contracting has a clear mission—to be the most successful, efficient biomass harvester in the Southwest. They 

are committed to making the White Mountain Stewardship 

contract a model for future stewardship projects in this 

country. 

However, they also know that their company cannot do it 

alone, nor do they want to. W.B. Contracting is definitely 

a team player. They are active members of the Arizona 

Sustainable Partnership and Northern Arizona Wood 

Products Association that assist in marketing and small 

business development. 

Dwayne spends a great deal of his time seeking out and 

helping to bring in new markets for the harvested forest 

restoration material. Since the White Mountain Stewardship Contract was awarded, new businesses in the area 

have emerged, such as a post and pole operation and 

a small-diameter sawmill. New companies that are on 

record as either in the process of beginning an operation 

or looking to locate in this area include a custom log home 

business, a power generation plant, and a chemical wood 

hardening company.

Among the three brothers, W.B. Contracting has 

100+ years of experience in woodland operations and 

treatments, with a specialty in forest landscape restoration. The brothers have strong ties to the White Mountain 

community and have earned the respect of other local 

businesses in the wood industry. They have a reputation of delivering wood material for processing on time 

and within standard specifications. W.B. Contracting is a 

successful business not only because of its superior land 

stewardship ethics but because they know how to effectively collaborate on projects and build vital partnerships 

within the community. W. B. Contracting is well on its 

way to achieving its mission of being the most successful, 

efficient woody biomass harvester in the Southwest. 

Grapple skidder operating on restoration project.

23
 Forest Energy Corporation

Forest Energy Corporation

1001 North 40th Street

Show Low, AZ 85901 

The owner of Forest Energy Corporation looks forward to 

accumulating most of the wood residues in the area. When 

he buys it, he dries, grinds, and compresses it into smallsized pellets for fuel. Only a small component of this 

wood resource comes from sawdust, shavings, and fines 

left over after processing trees for lumber and other wood 

products. The majority is obtained directly from restoring 

forest ecosystems or reducing fire hazard in surrounding 

forests.

Rob Davis is the owner and President of Forest Energy 

Corporation, which manufactures wood pellets for fuel, in 

addition to animal bedding, absorbents, and a 5-lb compressed wood log for use in fireplaces and wood stoves. 

In the 1970s, when many countries were experiencing an 

energy crisis, the first wood pellet manufacturing plant 

opened in North America. People soon learned that wood 

pellets provide a safe, reliable, and clean heat. In the 

1980s, the wood pellet residential market grew 

tremendously. 

Rob started his business in Show Low, Arizona, in 1991, 

primarily because “The Southwest is home to my children 

and several generations before them, although there certainly were other reasons why I built in this area, such as 

taking advantage of the large volume of wood waste from 

the local forest products industry, the potential market in 

this area, and the increasing cost of fossil fuel.” 

Because of Rob’s well-known expertise in the wood pellet 

industry and his interest in forest health issues, he is frequently an invited speaker at conferences throughout the 

United States. He is a Past President and Director of the 

Pellet Fuels Institute and a member of the Arizona Governor’s Forest Health Oversight Council and Southwest Sustainable Forest Partnership Steering Committee, a member 

of the WGA (Western Governor’s Association) Biomass 

Task Force and the Review Team of the Restoration of 

Fire-Adapted Ecosystems component of the WGA 10-Year 

Strategy Implementation Plan, Goal III. He is President 

of Forest Energy Systems, a company developing sustainable heating and cooling systems using renewable biomass 

fuels for commercial and industrial applications. Rob is 

also one of two partners in Future Forest, LLC, the prime 

contractor for the White Mountain Stewardship Contract 

(see p. 21). 

General Manager Curtis Rogers gave me a tour of the 

plant when I visited Forest Energy Corporation. The 

company employs 30 people in their processing plant and 

consumes about 150,000+ tons of green wood per year. 

The wood pellet manufacturing process starts 

when loads of raw material arrive at the plant. 

The material is stored and eventually transferred into an 

in-feed system where it is metered into a screen, which 

separates the chips from the sawdust. The chips are passed 

through a pre-grinder and mixed with the sawdust. The 

material then goes into the dryer, where it is dried to the 

proper moisture content. The sawdust is conveyed onto a 

screen, which separates the fine sawdust from the coarse 

material. The coarse material goes through a hammer mill 

to be reduced in size and recycled back into the system. 

The refined material is then metered into the die where 

the pellets are formed. The pellets are cooled and then 

conveyed into a storage silo. The wood pellets can then 

be packaged into 20- or 40-lb bags, or bulk delivered for 

central heating customers. 

“We promote sustainable, efficient, state-of-the-art 

production of clean heat and power from our valuable 

biomass resources, industrial wood residues, and forest restoration projects. We call it home-grown energy,” 

Curtis noted.

Forest Energy Corporation, outside Show Low, Arizona.

Raw material (wood residue) just arriving at the plant.

24Arizona
Wood pellet plants voluntarily follow standards to create a 

product that is consistent in content, density, size, and 

quality. Forest Energy Corporation takes great pride that 

they are known for producing a high-quality product. 

There are currently two grades of pellet fuel: standard and 

premium. The main difference between the two is that the 

standard grade contains more ash than the premium grade. 

Pellet manufacturers are encouraged to label their fuel and 

have it tested regularly.

Pellet fuel can usually be purchased at stores that sell 

building supplies, pet and farm supplies, and hearth appliances. The cost of pellet fuel depends on the geographic 

region where it is sold, whether it is in bulk or bag, and 

the current season. Usually, wood pellets cost about the 

same as a cord of well-cured wood and less than all fossil 

fuels. Pellet fuel is estimated to be only about a third the 

cost of electricity. A residential pellet appliance is capable 

of generating 10,000 to 150,000 BTUs of heat per house. 

An entire house can be heated by pellet fuel when the 

proper appliance is installed. Projects using commercial 

boilers up to 40 million BTU per hour are currently in the 

planning stages in several Southwest locations. All are 

automatically fed and controlled requiring only normal 

periodic maintenance. 

Curtis explained, “To become more cost efficient, we 

would like to get to the point of bulk delivery of wood 

pellets. The consumer would never touch the fuel. You 

could compare it to how homeowners currently have their 

propane or fuel oil bulk delivered. The owner could have 

an enclosed bin for pellet storage and an automatic feeder 

would transport the pellets to the stove or boiler. We could 

deliver the wood pellets as we make them, reducing our 

storage costs. Eagar, Arizona’s Town Hall is one example 

of where we are doing this right now.” 

The cost of heating continues to increase, and people are 

demanding alternative fuels. Wood pellets are becoming 

an extremely economical alternative. Rob expects that 

“the pellet stove will soon be joined in large numbers by 

pellet furnaces, central heating systems, boilers, and commercial systems.” 

Wood pellet fuel is a growing industry that has the 

potential to boost the local economy and create jobs, 

especially in rural communities. Forest Energy Corporation is a result of Rob Davis’ commitment and dedication 

to his belief that all biomass residues, and especially those 

from sound forest ecosystem management, are a valuable 

natural resource, not a waste product. Their prudent use is 

necessary for a sound energy future of our nation. And, if 

by increasing the health of our forests, he can also help the 

local community by providing jobs and economic stability 

with a low cost, reliable heat, so much the better. 

Wood pellets packaged into bags.

25
26

 Reidhead Brothers Lumber Mills Inc. 

Reidhead Brothers 

 Lumber Mills Inc. 

P.O. Box 84

Nutrioso, AZ 85932

Reidhead Brothers Lumber Mills, Inc., in Nutrioso, Arizona, is a third-generation, family-owned operation with 

markets already established for various wood products. 

Terry and his brother Darrel own Reidhead Brothers Lumber Mills, Inc., which includes a remanufacturing plant 

in Springerville, Arizona, and a large-diameter sawmill 

in Nutrioso. In addition, Terry owns a molding plant in 

Snowflake, Arizona. In April 2004, Terry purchased the 

former Precision Pine sawmill near Eagar, Arizona, and 

leased the land from the city of Eagar. This sawmill is 

becoming a major processor of small logs from the White 

Mountain Stewardship Contract (see p. 21). 

Since purchasing the small-diameter mill, Terry has been 

busy retrofitting and installing new equipment. In October 2005, USDA Forest Service Sawmill Specialist Rusty 

Dramm was invited for a technical assistance visit to this 

small-diameter mill. 

According to Dramm, “Terry Reidhead decided not to 

install a chipper canter in the existing mill in Eagar. This 

is because the logs are opened up with chipping heads and 

that reduces the ability to recover high- grade lumber from 

the quality zone of the log. The design of this mill is based 

on a 4-in.-wide bandsaw scragg mill, a modified bull 

edger, and a trim saw. The log factory has a bucking saw 

and debarker. When Terry purchased this mill, he left the 

old 7-foot bandmill in place because it is in good condition 

and could be used if larger grade logs become available.” 

This sawmill also has a planer mill with a breakdown 

hoist, planer matcher, and a certified truck scale. The 

planer mill has been running since August 2005, and the 

small-diameter mill is scheduled to be running some time 

in 2006. 

Dramm said, “This mill design is suitable for processing 

the anticipated log mix of small-diameter material. The 

choice of a scragg primary breakdown and secondary cant 

breakdown are good choices for small logs. Terry has 

made good use of the existing mill equipment and materials-handling systems.”

Terry’s small-diameter sawmill presently receives all of its 

supply from the White Mountain Stewardship Contract. 

When in full operation, Terry expects to produce 12 million board feet of lumber per year and employ 15 people. 

Terry recently installed a new wood chipper at his mill. 

Right now they chip wood slabs and sell these chips to 

Forest Energy Corporation in Show Low, a wood pellet 

manufacturing plant location 

about 60 miles from the mill. 

Terry proudly explains, “We 

make use of all the wood; we 

don’t waste anything.”

American West Structures, a wood business located very 

close to Terry’s small-diameter sawmill, could be Terry’s 

largest customer of small-diameter lumber if they were 

able to kiln-dry their lumber to the required 8% moisture 

content. 

This past year, Terry and American West Structures got 

together and figured out a way to help each other. In 2005, 

American West Structures received a National Woody 

Biomass Utilization Grant (see p. v) from the USDA Forest Service to secure increased capacity to dry lumber to 

8% moisture content. Rather than build their own dry kiln, 

American West Structures is helping to fund a dry kiln at 

Reidhead Brothers small-diameter sawmill.

By helping to fund the dry kiln, American West Structures can increase their small-diameter lumber supply 

from 20% to 35% and increase their payment to Reidhead 

Brothers Sawmill by $20 per thousand board feet. In turn, 

Mixed log supply from White Mountain Stewardship 

Contract.

Debarker and bucking station.

Arizona
Terry is able to pay $3 more per ton for the raw material 

from Future Forests, LLC, the general contractor for the 

White Mountain Stewardship Contract. Terry hopes to 

have the dry kiln in full operation by spring 2006. 

Terry wants to keep both the small log mill in Eagar and 

the large-diameter mill in Nutrioso running. However, he 

is not sure that the supply is there for the large-diameter 

mill. “It’s the old family mill, ya know.” Terry’s grandfather bought the large log mill in1939.

Dramm believes that “Terry’s approach to mill design is 

on track and should support efficient processing and handling of the log mix feeding the mill.” 

This area is a community with a rich forest heritage, and 

Terry’s family has been part of that heritage since 1913. 

He is dedicated to the health of the forest and the prudent 

use of the wood materials being removed to promote that 

health. “It’s my hope that it all keeps going until at least 

2013; by then it will 100 years of forestry for my family.” Terry would like his son, Charlie, to continue on with 

the family’s forestry businesses. “I hope that this is his 

future.” 

27
28

 American West Structures, LLC

American West Structures, LLC

2000 West Central Avenue

P.O. Box 2008

Eagar, AZ 89525

Steve Nicoll and his wife, Colleen, own and operate 

American West Structures, LLC. The company is located 

just outside of Eagar, Arizona, and right next to his brother 

Randy’s log cabin and post-and-pole operation. American 

West Structures is another small-diameter business in the 

chain of White Mountain Stewardship Contract (see p. 21) 

partners that work to increase the supply for local wood 

businesses and improve the health of the forest.

Established in 1998, American West Structures is a successful and growing small-diameter business. It specializes 

in manufacturing and pre-assembly of glued-laminated 

wood trusses, pedestrian and vehicular bridges, and laminated log home packages. The company also provides prepackaged headers (for doors, windows, and garage doors) 

and custom beams. 

Steve has been manufacturing log, timber, and laminated 

architectural trusses for 25 years. One of the company’s 

main attractions is its ability to make a laminated beam 

that spans more than 24 feet without support. American 

West Structures uses small-diameter wood as their main 

source of raw material and a unique horizontal finger 

jointing system, which provides added strength for larger 

structures. 

Steve adds, “We also do tongue and groove re-manufacturing of 1 by 6s, 1 by 8s, 2 by 6s, and 2 by 8s for local 

lumber yards. Right now we bring in raw material from 

local lumber mills and from the Northwest and Southeast 

sections of the United States. Our goal is to use more local 

material.” 

The company also has a waste collection system and sells 

their wood waste to Forest Energy Corporation in Show 

Low, Arizona, a wood-pellet manufacturing plant located 

about 60 miles from American West Structures. 

Just like any successful business, American West Structures wants to change with the times and improve their 

products as new sources become available. To do that, 

however, the company has two major barriers to overcome.

Their first barrier is the volume of lumber they need to 

dry locally. There is no local supplier available to kiln dry 

lumber to their required 8% moisture content. The second 

barrier is lost sales because American West Structures cannot provide laminated wood decking, which is one of the 

most popular choices for large open spans. 

Steve said, “Customers prefer to buy the trusses and 

laminated decking from the same supplier. Currently, the 

closest manufacturer 

of laminated decking 

is in Montana.” 

In 2005, American West Structures received a National 

Woody Biomass Utilization grant (see p. v) from the 

USDA Forest Service to purchase deck laminating press 

equipment and to secure increased capacity to dry lumber 

to 8% moisture content. Rather than build their own dry 

kiln, American West Structures is helping to fund a dry 

kiln at Reidhead Brothers sawmill, another White Mountain Stewardship contract partner, where the kiln will 

benefit both businesses. 

By helping to fund the dry kiln, Steve said, “We are able 

to increase our small-diameter lumber supply from 20% 

to 35% from the White Mountain Stewardship Contract. 

American West Structures currently uses about 450,000 

board feet each year of local, small-diameter lumber 

for various wood products. As a result of the laminated 

Construction of small-diameter building to house deck 

laminating press equipment.

Vehicular bridge manufactured from pre-assembly 

glue-laminated wood trusses.

Arizona
29

decking presses and the increased dry kiln capacity gained 

through the National Woody Biomass Utilization Grant 

Program, we can increase our usage to 2 million board feet 

each year and increase our payment to Reidhead Brothers 

Sawmill by $20 per thousand board feet.” 

As a result of the dry kiln and laminated decking equipment, Steve said that they expect to increase their sales by 

20% each year for the next 4 years. They also predict that 

they will increase their employment from 13 employees in 

2005 to 21 by December 2007. 

American West Structures structural laminated decking 

will be available in lengths up to 24 feet. Steve explained, 

“We can produce random length and long-length laminated decking from local softwood species such as DouglasFir-South, ponderosa pine, and various face species. The 

face is a sound, tight-knotted grade that is machine sanded 

to accentuate the grain and the growth characteristics of 

the wood. It is required that the lumber be kiln dried to 

8% moisture content rather than the standard 19% lumber. 

This lumber is then laminated with a fully waterproof 

exterior adhesive.” 

As of November 2005, American West Structures had a 

good start on construction of the 30- by 40-feet dry kiln to 

be located at the nearby small-diameter Reidhead Brothers sawmill. The building that houses the new laminating 

press equipment is being built entirely from small-diameter material. The building and installation of the press 

equipment are expected to be completed by early 2006. 

American West Structures plans to be ready to start receiving and shipping orders for laminated decking by 

July 2006. 

Few companies manufacture laminating decking, and 

trends show that this market will continue to grow substantially. There is no doubt that American West Structures 

will continue to succeed. They are a dedicated partner of 

the White Mountain Stewardship Contract, and they will 

not let their partners or their community down. 
30

 Cheyenne Log Homes, Inc.

doing business as Arizona Log & Timberworks

Cheyenne Log Homes, Inc.,

 dba Arizona Log & Timberworks

1990 W. Central Ave. 

Eagar, AZ 85925

Located just outside of Eagar, Arizona, Randy Nicoll and 

his brother Keith own and operate Arizona Log & Timberworks, a division of their Cheyenne Log Homes business. 

Although not the principal contractor for the White Mountain Stewardship Contract (see p. 21), 99% of their wood 

supply is a result of this contract. 

Randy and his four brothers were born and have lived 

most of their lives in this area. For many years, the entire 

family owned and operated a glued-laminated (glu-lam) 

manufacturing business, Nicoll Laminates. In 1990 

Randy and his brothers branched out to start Cheyenne 

Log Homes, Inc., which specializes in custom log home 

construction. At that time, most of their supply for the log 

homes was purchased from the Fort Apache Timber Company in Whiteriver, Arizona. 

Cheyenne Log Homes had about $2 million in sales in 

2004. “We have shipped log home kits all over the United 

States, and even to Japan and Taiwan,” said Randy. After 

the family glu-lam business was sold in 1995, Randy and 

Keith became the sole owners of Cheyenne Log Homes. 

In 2002, Cheyenne Log Homes purchased post and pole 

manufacturing equipment and formed Arizona Log & 

Timberworks as a division of their log construction entity. 

Their intention was to create a sustainable and highly effective business utilizing small-diameter trees and roundwood to produce a family of competitive wood products. 

Since it began, Arizona Log & Timberworks sales have increased each year. “Our biggest problem has been getting 

the small-diameter material that we need to produce our 

products,” commented Randy. “However, since signing 

the White Mountain Stewardship Contract, supply has not 

been a problem for us.” In 2004, Arizona Log & Timberworks did about $400,000 in sales. In 2005, Randy says it 

was closer to $650,000. 

Arizona Log & Timberworks has eight employees working in the yard for them. Current small-diameter products 

include vigas, posts, log railings, gazebos, utility poles, 

and log rail fencing. To increase their product line and 

remain competitive, Randy recently partnered with a successful wood pressure treatment company, Simmons Wood 

Products in Maricopa, Arizona, and made plans to install a 

pressure treatment plant at Arizona Log & Timberworks. 

In 2005, Arizona Log & Timberworks received a National 

Woody Biomass Utilization grant (see p. v) from the 

USDA Forest Service for assistance with their treatment 

facility. Randy explained that this project is adding value 

to his small-diameter product 

material, which in 

turn means he can 

pay more for the raw material, and that ultimately helps 

reduce the cost per acre of forest restoration. 

Dwayne Walker, manager of Future Forests, LLC, and 

principal contractor for the White Mountain Stewardship 

contract, says, “Arizona Log & Timberworks is now able 

to accept mixed loads instead of sorted larger diameter 

material. By reducing the amount of time spent on sorting 

the product to be delivered, we are able to reduce our cost 

significantly in the removal of the biomass material from 

the forest and increase our profit by using more of the 

smaller diameter material that is currently being chipped. 

This in turn allows more woody biomass acres to be 

treated.” 

Arizona Log & Timberworks is in the midst of purchasing 

a few acres right next to their current yard for the treatment facility. They hope to have their treatment facility up 

and running by summer 2006. Randy said that the facility 

will be unique to the western United States in that it will 

Gazebo built by Arizona Log & Timberworks, Eagar, 

Arizona.

Log rail fencing.

Arizona
31

treat wood products from small-diameter trees using a 

borate-based chemical called EnviroSafe PlusTM. 

“This treatment results in wood products that are insectfree; rot-, fungus-, mold-, and fire-resistant; and durable. 

The treatment works especially well on ponderosa pine, 

which is the dominant species coming from the White 

Mountain Stewardship Contract. It is a clear treatment that 

doesn’t stain the wood. The wood looks natural but can 

easily be stained by the user.” Randy is counting on this 

treatment facility to increase his current market for wood 

decking, replacing cedar, redwood, or synthetic materials. 

He says it also allows more uses for pine siding, log railing, log rail fencing, and even whole logs for cabins. 

Randy explained that this treatment facility can be used 

to treat material produced by other local partners of the 

stewardship contract, such as the Reidhead Brothers smalldiameter sawmill (3 miles away), which currently has to 

send many of its finished products 200 miles away to a 

treatment plant, and American West Structures, for their 

treated log siding and laminated decking. With this treating plant, Arizona Log & Timberworks increases their the 

capability of producing almost 39 million board feet of 

treated material a year, operating at a 75% capacity level. 

To be moderately successful, Randy said, “We need to 

treat about a semi-load of material per week or about 

25,000 board feet. We hope to be treating about 3 million board feet a year after the first year. There is a huge 

market potential for this, and we have a major marketing 

campaign planned.” Their marketing area covers about 

a 300-mile radius around Eagar. “People still want real 

wood if they can get it,” added Randy.

Randy wrapped up our interview by telling me something 

that I had already come to understand—the camaraderie 

and noncompetitiveness among all those involved in the 

White Mountain Stewardship Contract. He said, “People 

in this area all work together. By ourselves we can’t make 

it work; it takes everybody. I think you will see that we 

work together here better than anyone else does across 

this country.” 

Arizona Log & Timberworks has indeed created a sustainable and highly effective business using small-diameter 

material from the forest to produce a family of wood 

products. They are proud to be part of the White Mountain 

Stewardship Contract, and they have made a pledge to 

be a business that cooperates, collaborates, and partners 

with others in order to contribute to forest health and the 

economic prosperity of their communities.

Hand-peeled vigas.

Small-diameter log supply.