New Year brings good news for sector
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Several recent national-level developments in late 2018 are giving Oregon’s wood products industry and the state’s entire forest sector a good reason to celebrate the arrival of 2019.
The first piece of good news was the release last month of the preliminary voting results from the
International Code Council
, approving all 14 proposed
mass-timber code changes
to the 2021 International Building Code. This is not only a big win for the mass timber industry, which will now likely see an uptick in demand for its products, but also for Oregon. The state is home to two of the three mass-timber-panel-producing facilities in the U.S. certified to make mass timber panels for constructing buildings.
In more good news for mass timber and tall wood construction, the 2018 Farm Bill was signed into law last month. It includes
provisions
from the Timber Innovation Act, which establishes a new research and development program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to focus on developing mass timber products for building construction.
The Farm Bill also
expands
the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. The program helps fund collaborative, community-based forest management, and has a proven track record in Oregon of improving federal forest health, reducing wildlife risk and supporting rural communities. The additional funding for this program ties nicely into the continued growth of the mass timber industry. That’s because the industry has the potential to be a much-needed outlet for the type of timber harvested during forest restoration activities throughout the West.
All in all, a great way to ring in the New Year.
For the forest,
Erin Isselmann
Executive Director
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Mass timber building codes approved
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The
International Code Council
(ICC), which develops building codes used throughout the U.S., released preliminary voting results last month indicating that all 14 code-change proposals related to mass timber construction are slated for inclusion in the 2021 version of the International Building Code.
Once certified by the ICC’s voting committee and board, the provisions will add three new construction types involving mass timber to the 2021 International Building Code (IBC). Those building types will set safety standards for wood buildings up to nine, 12 and 18 stories tall, respectively, that are constructed using mass timber products such as cross-laminated timber.
The results of the ICC vote are being met with enthusiasm by wood products and mass timber industry advocates. “The addition of tall mass timber to the International Building Code provides a comprehensive set of safety standards for these new types of construction,” says
American Wood Council
Vice President Kenneth Bland. “This vote caps off several years of scientific research and testing, and verifies that mass timber meets the robust performance standards called for by our nation’s building codes.”
Although the code changes won’t be published in the IBC until 2021, states and other jurisdictions that use it as a basis for their building codes are free to adopt the new measures sooner. Oregon code officials have already agreed to adopt them into the state’s 2019 structural code. Washington also recently voted to adopt the changes into its building code, and California building-code agencies are considering a similar proposal.
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Farm Bill includes mass timber, forestry provisions
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The 2018 Farm Bill, which President Trump signed into law last month, includes support for mass timber product development, as well as expanded funding for efforts to restore the health and fire-resiliency of federal forests.
The $867 billion bill that provides aid to U.S. farmers also included provisions of the
Timber Innovation Act
, which supports the development of mass timber products for building construction. In addition, the bill doubles the size of the
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program
, which helps fund collaborative, community-based forest management to improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk and support rural communities.
Oregon U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden praised the inclusion of the mass timber provisions and expansion to the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program in the 2018 Farm Bill.
“We have been working to establish Oregon as a hub for mass timber products, using local timber and bolstering our forest products economy,” Merkley said in a statement. “The Timber Innovation Act supports local manufacturing that helps to create jobs in the rural part of the state, and lays the groundwork for future sustainable tall wood building construction across America. This is an exciting development for Oregon’s wood products industry.”
Wyden said expanding federal forest restoration efforts through the Farm Bill could not come at a more critical time. “Collaboration at the local, state and federal level is essential to responsible and effective forest management,” he said. “As the West continues to be devastated by massive wildfires, this win provides rural communities across Oregon the additional support they need to improve the health of our forests and protect local jobs.”
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Web TV series focuses on workforce
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A four-part web TV series that focuses on addressing workforce challenges faced by Pacific Northwest companies that provide logging and forestry contracting services will start later this month.
Convened by the
Associated Oregon Loggers
and OFRI, the “Planning the 2020 Workforce for Oregon/Washington Forest Contractors” educational event will hold its first session on Jan. 24. Three more sessions are planned for Feb. 13, March 13 and April 10.
The web-based series allows participants to watch each two-hour session using their office computer. It is targeted to forest contractors, public-agency forest land managers, state and regional policymakers, and economic development agencies, as well as those who purchase forest contract services, such as forest landowners and mill operators.
Each session will identify ways to address forest contracting workforce and capacity challenges. Session speakers will focus on topics that include getting access to existing workforce services, cultivating and managing the right talent, and finding the means to compete for talent.
The cost to register for the series is $200 and includes access to up to three separate logins to participate in the sessions.
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Smokey Bear license plate coming soon
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Just in time to celebrate the 75
th
anniversary of
Smokey Bear
this year, the wildfire prevention organization
Keep Oregon Green
has launched a new Oregon license plate design featuring the iconic image of Smokey against a green, forested backdrop.
Keep Oregon Green held a successful campaign last month to sell 3,000 vouchers to purchase the plates. Now that all the vouchers have been sold, the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles will begin producing the license plates.
In addition to the image of Smokey, the new plates will include the words “Keep Oregon Green” under the license number, to serve as a reminder of the need to protect Oregon’s scenic landscapes from human-caused wildfires.
“Each year, approximately two-thirds of Oregon’s wildfires are human-caused, and they are all completely preventable,” says Keep Oregon Green CEO Kristin Babbs. “Keep Oregon Green has been a household slogan since its inception in 1941, and this message is more important now than ever. Wildfire awareness opportunities like this will help ingrain it into Oregonians’ DNA.”
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Blog: A big win for tall wood
In his latest blog post, OFRI Director of Forest Products Timm Locke writes about the significance of the recent International Code Council vote approving tall-wood code changes to the 2021 International Building Code.
Read the blog
.
Blog: The readability of Oregon's Forest Protection Laws manual
While at the annual Society of American Foresters National Convention in Portland in October, OFRI Director of Forestry Mike Cloughesy attended a talk about the readability of forest field guides. It made him wonder: How does the OFRI-produced Oregon's Forest Protection Laws manual compare to other similar publications? In a new blog post, he discusses what he learned.
Read the blog
.
WoodsCamp offered in Oregon
The American Forest Foundation’s WoodsCamp online platform for private forest landowners is now available in Oregon. WoodsCamp collects and analyzes data such as forest cover, soil content, wildlife habitats and wildfire threats from each state. By combining this data with responses from landowners about their goals and values for their forests, WoodsCamp matches them with potential management opportunities available in each region.
Learn more
.
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Oregon Forest Resources Institute
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The Oregon Legislature created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute in 1991 to advance public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products and to encourage sound forestry through landowner education.
A 13-member board of directors governs OFRI. It is funded by a portion of the forest products harvest tax.
Copyright © 2019, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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