In the News

New Prototype Plywood Panels

There may be a massive plywood building panel on the horizon. Panels as big as 12-feet wide, 48-feet long, and two-feet thick were made by Freres Lumber Company in Lyons, Oregon, and tested at Oregon State University (OSU).

The panels are the result of more than a year of development and performance testing. “The results look very promising,” said Ari Sinha, assistant professor in OSU’s College of Forestry, who oversaw the tests. “This is a unique product with the potential for creating jobs in rural Oregon.”

100 Million Dead Trees

It is estimated that California’s forests hold 100 million dead trees. The mortality rate has skyrocketed over recent years. Judging by surveys, approximately 62 million trees died in 2016.

The trees pose a serious fire hazard. In late November, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to revisit her request for federal aid to help crews clear the dead trees.

The next problem, which California is already running into, is what to do with the dead trees. “There’s not the infrastructure to take on this quantity of trees,” U.S. Forest Service Spokesperson Stephanie Gomes told the LA Times on Wednesday, November 30.

OSU Receives $4 Million Genetic Engineering Grant

With a $4 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation, scientists at Oregon State University (OSU) will develop new approaches to identifying genes that control the ability of a plant to be genetically engineered.

Researchers will create new methods to image and analyze plants undergoing the process of genetic engineering. Their goal is to identify the genes that promote or retard the process.

“Many crop species, and many of the valuable varieties within, remain extremely difficult to genetically engineer,” said project leader Steve Strauss, OSU distinguished professor in the College of Forestry. “This greatly limits the ability of this method to be used for plant breeding and scientific research. There can be blockages at any of the several steps. Regeneration of modified cells into plants is usually the most difficult to overcome.”

In collaboration with Fuxin Li in the OSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the investigators will develop state-of-the-art image analysis to visualize the genetic engineering process.

Rosboro Sells Manufacturing Business

Springfield-based Rosboro announced that Wynnchurch Capital is buying its manufacturing business, which includes seven plants in Oregon.

As early as last April, Rosboro had stated that it would “explore strategic alternatives,” which included a sale. The announcement comes three weeks after the company sold off its timber holdings—95,000 acres.

Canada Hit with U.S. Trade Complaint over Lumber Imports

The Wall Street Journal reported that “the U.S. lumber producers filed a trade complaint over Canadian lumber imports in late November, making good on an earlier threat that could revive a decades-old trade fight at a time when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump seeks major changes to the North American Free-Trade Agreement.”

The lumber producers allege that Canadian lumber is sold at less than market value into the U.S. The coalition would like duties imposed on Canadian imports to make up that difference.

The two countries have been at a standstill since the expiration last year of the Softwood Trade Agreement—a 2006 bilateral deal that ended decades of legal battles over U.S. moves to impose duties on Canadian imports.

Washington State DNR Offering Paid Internships

To help develop future professionals, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) turns to internships—both paid and unpaid—for students pursuing an associate, bachelors, or graduate degree in relevant fields. The DNR currently has several openings for salaried internships: nine in engineering, five in land surveying, and eight in forestry, recreation, agriculture, and other fields. Also available is an unpaid internship in Communications. Most of the interns work between May and September; however, some are year-round opportunities.

To find out more, go to www.dnr.wa.gov/employment/jobs and search on the category Internships. You can also find DNR and other Washington state agency internship opportunities on www.careers.wa.gov.