Forests and Carbon

Check out this story that ran on Minnesota Public Radio on 3/5/09:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/05/northern_forests_global_warming/



Thank you MPR and Stephanie Hemphill for putting this story together.

The more I study the issue of forestry and climate change, the better I feel about Rajala Companies' "Carbon Footprint". Growing forests capture and store Carbon Dioxide. When the forest is harvested the products that are manufactured from the wood fiber store Carbon. The longer the life of the manufactured product, the longer the Carbon will be stored rather than released to the atmoshpere. And the higher the % of solid wood in the prodct, the more Carbon the product stores for its lifetime.

Rajala Companies grows "big tree" forests to long rotation, selectively harvests timber, and manufacturers high quality, enduring wood products which our customers turn into homes, furniture, windows, doors, mouldings... the list goes on.

A good share of our lumber is used by manufacturers of pallets and containers used to ship products such as refrigerators and shingles. The wood used in these pallets and containers will not have a long lifecycle. But that doesn't mean they are "bad" products from a Carbon standpoint. Many pallets and containers are reused or remanufactured, extending the useable life of the wood beyond the initial use. Ultimately, however, all of the wood is scrapped.. but what then? Much of it is burned for energy, as a substitue for fossil fuels. Compared to the alternatives, wood is the clearly the best environmental choice of materials for industrial use.

Finally, a significant portion of a forest harvest will end up directly or indirectly as fuel for combustion in the production of energy. (or in the near future will be converted into biofuels without combustion). The fiber that ends up in this product stream comes from branches, tops, etc. that are a necessary part of a sustainable forest harvest. More wood fiber for combustion is produced as a byproduct of the sawmilling process (sawdust, chips, trim pieces, etc.) When burned by the energy producer, the Carbon in these products is realeased back to the environment. However, unlike non-renewable alternatives, the forest that is growing back to replace the harvested wood, is consuming Carbon through photosynthesis.

This is truly a great thing and more people need to know the full story.

A Simple Walk in the NorthWoods

Today was warm and the telephones being quiet, I decided to take the opportunity to visit our forest area between Irma and Wolf Lakes (what we call the "Big Drive"). I snapped a few pictures which I post below with these observations:

Riparian Areas and White Pine Management

This photo shows young White Pine which we planted underneath mature Red Pine, White Pine, and Red Oak which we thinned carefully some years back. Most of the shoreline of Irma lake is thick with mature Pines, showing of course that "Riparian" areas such this are some of the best areas to grow long rotation species which require lots of sunlight.

To our friends outside of the forestry community, but who love water and shoreline, we want you to know that we value water quality, clarity, and shoreline beauty also. We believe that maintaining a healthy stand of big trees around our lakes and other water bodies is no accident. So we manage and use the timber in our Riparian areas, but we tread softly during the harvest. Minimizing ground disturbance and maintaining an adequate residual basal area (remaining trees) are the main elements of a Riparian area protection during a harvest. The results on our lands have been excellent, as the picture above points out. The entire shoreline of Irma Lake has been thinned and either replanted or allowed to regenerate naturally, yet the lake looks like it is in an old-growth forest preserve.

Shared Challenge: Regenerating White Pine and Red Oak

This next photo shows a couple of important points. First, Red Oak and White Pine grow well together in areas that have been disturbed naturally or by logging. The Red Oak especially requires nearly full sunlight, and the White Pine does well in medium to full sunlight. The White Pine, however, does best under a partial canopy of mature trees, because the overstory provides some protection from tip weevil and also creates a microclimate that is less susceptible to Blister Rust, both killers of White Pine. Too much canopy, however, and the Red Oak will not become established quickly enough to endure its own enemies, specifically other plant species and White Tail Deer.

White Tail Deer browse voraciously on the buds of both of these species. The Red Oak, like other hardwoods, can endure some browsing, but in time will be left as a deformed shrub if repeately browsed. Ultimately it can stretch out and "straighten out", which of course is important from a lumber and veneer quality standpoint. The Red Oak in the photo (the one with the brown leaves still attached) is on the verge of becoming a shrub, but might yet make it.

White Pine will not "straighten out" when the bud on top of the vertical stem (known as the terminal leader) is chewed off by the deer. One of the lower branches must turn upward and take over, setting the tree back both in terms of height and form. Thus it is critical that we help the White Pine get through the deer browse stage with the annual terminal leader intact. Our key weapon in this battle with the deer (other than the bow and rifle) is the "bud cap" which I discuss in more detail below.

Bud Capping

The bud cap is a simple and effective tool to use as a deterrent to deer browse. In the fall after the growing has stopped and the bud has hardened, we staple a piece of recycled uncoated office paper over the terminal leader. We are careful not to fasten the paper too tight, but yet snug enough to make it difficult for the deer to get at the terminal (top) bud. The needles surrounding

the bud need to be "fanned out" in order to provide something into which the folded paper is stapled.

If you're a little too late, and the deer have already gotten to the terminal bud, locate the strongest and highest lateral branch which still has a bud intact. Cap that bud instead.

The bud cap works well as a deterrent, unless the deer is especially angry at that particular tree, in which case it will tear the paper off. But that is rare.

In the spring, the new "whorl" or group of branches will spring forth from the surviving bud and grow right up and out the bud cap. After a few seasons the bud cap will fall off and disintigrate. I like to remove the bud cap from the previous year to eliminate any risk of mold buildup on the tree from the rotting paper. I honestly don't know if it's a problem, but I'm there anyway, it only takes a second to remove, and it makes the tree look a bit prouder to have the paper from previous years removed.

The bud caps are applied until the tree is tall enough for the terminal bud to be out of the reach of the deer. I've observed that older trees (say 10' tall) that lean over in a snowstorm are often not touched by the deer. My guess is that the older and larger buds of a tree that size are not as tasty or tender to the deer.

Birch Everywhere

Despite warnings that the Birch resource is in decline as a result of climate change, we continue to have success regenerating and growing high quality White Birch. I'll leave the in depth discussion for a later post, but simply point out that the young Paper Birch trees in this photo are straight, free of lower limbs, and quite healthly. We of course are concerned about climate change, and we will continue to watch our Birch stands closely for signs of unnatural stress. In the meantime we will continue to do the things which are within our power to grow healthy and high quality Birch: Site selection, proper harvest planning, proper harvest execution, and maybe even some pre-commercial thinning.

A simple walk in the woods on a Wednesday afternoon can tell a person a lot about what's going on in the forest. Hoping you can get out before winter ends....

Making the most of our timber resource.

We and other resource managers work hard to regenerate and grow high quality timber products. The commitment to good stewardship does not end there, however. Harvesting and utilization of the harvested timber products must be performed with a commitment to making the most of our precious resources.


There are multiple steps in the process of turning timber into useable products. The basic steps are listed in the order in which they are performed:


Felling of the tree.

Cutting the tree to length.

Sorting the cut tree sections (into saw logs, pulpwood, and firewood).

From there the process varies for the different products. This post describes the process of turning logs into plywood veneer faces. This process includes the following steps:


Trucking of saw logs from the forest to the Rajala Mill in Bigfork, MN.

Sawing the logs into "flitches" - sawn boards with rough edges.

Transport to the Rajala veneer plant in Deer River, MN.

Steaming of the flitches to soften the fibers.

Slicing the flitches to into thin veneers (thickness varies from 1/42" to 1/8" depending on use)

Drying, grading, and clipping of the veneers.


The clipped veneers are sold as is, or further processed into sheets called "Faces" which are ready to be applied to plywood cores for use in high end cabinetry, furniture, doors, and architectural millwork.


The following brief video shows the various steps in the process of making high end sliced veneer faces.

The veneer process is an important part of Rajala Companies' commitment to maximizing the value and utilization of our local forest resources. It is the only process of its kind in Minnesota.

Hardwood Management Update

Here's a quick update on the hardwood (Birch) logging project which I described in length in the previous post.

The logging is now complete, the products hauled away to the mills, and the site is prepared for the natural regeneration that we are seeking. We harvested this site very aggressively, leaving a relatively small number of high quality trees for both shelter and seed source. The following is an excerpt of the Forest Management Plan for our Wolf Lake property. It serves as a good summary of what we've done so far, and what we will do with this stand going forward:

"White Birch is found as a component in Northern Hardwood cover types and also as a dominant species in separate stands. When in separate stands it is generally on soils and sites in which it best competes, but will be shorter lived. Best management will likely be growing it even-aged and eventually regenerating it in a new even-aged stand. As the stand is developing there will be mortality from environmental and climate conditions (drought, etc.), pathogens, and natural thinning, creating gaps that likely will fill with Balsam Fir or other early successional species. To keep the stand from succeeding away from Birch a three-step silvicultural technique is required. Once the stand shows clear delineation between healthy prospective crop trees and lower quality trees, a winter entry can be made to thin the stand and remove competition. Care should be taken to not overly open the canopy and cause significant ground temperature rise. After the stand gains maturity, a second entry is made as a shelterwood or seed tree harvest with the bulk of the stand being removed during bare-ground conditions so that a good seed bed is created for regeneration and ground-level herbaceous species and competitive hazel brush are set back. After a good seed drop and confirmed seedling establishment the third step is performed and the seed trees are removed. These should still be healthy because they were originally the highest quality, healthiest trees in the stand."

In the case of this particular stand of timber, which we call "Birch Flats", we modified the management prescription slighty. We retained a significant number of high quality Hard Maple trees which will be left again on the next harvest, to ultimately grow to sawlog trees, and hopefully provide a source of seed with superior genetics. We also left mature Red Oak and White Pine in the shelterwood canopy as a source of acorns and seed. Thus, although we are primarily managing "Birch Flats" as a Birch stand and according to Birch management prescription, we are also retaining the Red Oak, Hard Maple, and White Pine as diverse components of the stand.

Our "yields" from the logging process were more than satisfactory. The total volumes of sawproduct (those logs that go to the sawmill for lumber and veneer) and pulpwood (logs that are manufactured into paper or engineered products like oriented strand board) were as expected. But the percentage of sawlogs in the Birch was higher than we had predicted, which was an encouraging result.

The sawlogs that went to our Rajala Mill in Bigfork MN, have been sawn and processed and shipped off to customers. We made a few value added products from this site also, including Red Premium Knotty Birch plywood which went into a custom kitchen job, along with matching solid lumber from the same job. This cabinet job has received high marks from the local design community and is generating a demand for this local "exotic". Now you know the full story!!

As a final celebration of this successful project, I leave you with some fun images of a Birch bark canoe made by Ray Boesel from Birch bark that he harvested from this site. Ray is world renowned for his skill as an authentic Birch bark canoe builder. Ray is also a sensible "man of the forest" and knows how to work with the landowner to meet his material needs. We were thrilled to be able to have Ray harvest bark on a coordinated basis along with our timber harvest.

Hardwood Management: Challenge and Opportunity

This week we began a major hardwood logging project on a portion of our Wolf Lake Camp timberland.

First a brief history of this stand. Since we purchased the "Hartley Estate" nearly 30 years ago, we have only harvested in this stand one time, back in the early 90's. That harvest was merely a salvage operation in which we picked up a number of mature trees that were either windthrown or damaged by a severe windstorm. At that time we made the risky decision to not harvest the Paper Birch in the stand. Typically most or all Paper Birch is harvested along with other products whenever an entry is made. The reason for this is simple. Paper Birch is considered a high risk "leave" species, because of its reputation of being intolerant of stress and disturbance. We have set out to prove that this assumption is not always correct.

We are in the business of producing high quality Paper Birch products. For that reason, we have developed methods of carrying this species to long rotation. This stand is proof that this can work in the right stand. The photographs which accompany this post show some very nice mature Paper Birch. We are harvesting many of them, but leaving enough to provide seed for the regeneration we are seeking.

The photos also show a number of other products which we are promoting, each of them also challenging but worthwhile. You will notice blue ribbons which mark young White Pine which we planted or seeded in naturally following the logging disturbance in the early 90's. These trees have struggled to establish themselves under the dense foliage of the nearly full hardwood canopy which remained from the salvage harvest. These remaining trees still have vigour, and many of them have good form. These young trees will now take off in growth, and will likely increase in height by over 12" per year. Returning the White Pine component to our hardwood sites is a priority of ours... more on that in later posts.

In the photos you will also see young Hard (Sugar) Maple trees with blue ribbons. These trees were selected by my father (Jack Rajala) and me as the best candidates to become valuable crop trees. This is almost unheard of in the northern Minnesota forest. Hard Maple is a wonderful and valuable wood species, and a valuable component of a mixed hardwood forest. The species benefits from being able to regenerate well following a light thinning, because it is the most shade tolerant of our hardwood species. However, the species faces tough challenges from a quality standpoint. Overcrowding of the thriving young Maple stems and deer browse (a tough challenge for many of our desired species) are the major challenges we face. Only a small percentage (less than 10%) of the Hard Maple poles are viable candidates for carrying to maturity for sawtimber. Dad and I inspected every pole in this stand and selected the trees that you see ribboned in blue. This is a time-consuming process but well worth the effort.

Also, please note that we have left numerous "snag" trees for insect and wildlife purposes. We have also left the best of the Red Oak for both an acorn crop, and ultimately a few spectactular veneer and sawlog trees. Some of these will die before the next harvest - that is the chance we take and again is worth the risk.

That leads finally back to the desired future of the Paper Birch component of this stand. We are purposely cutting this stand aggressively, in order to provide plenty of sunlight to the forest floor. This will give the Paper Birch a fighting chance to compete with the Hard Maple regeneration. Without the canopy opening and resulting sunlight, the shade tolerant Hard Maple will choke out the Paper Birch. In some sites that is OK. But not here - we want this stand to maintain a high percentage of Paper Birch. Leaving some of the best of the medium and large diameter Paper Birch in this cut is yet another level of risk. We need the best of the trees to maintain the best genetics in the seed source. But doing so means that we are leaving Birch behind for a SECOND time. Unheard of!!!

There will be 3 possible outcomes for the Paper Birch trees we leave. One is that they will die and fall down before we get back them. This will happen to at least 1/4 of them. That's a calculated risk we are willing to take. Another possibility is that the tree will survive to the next harvest, but will be affected by the stress of warmer soil temperatures, resulting in increased red-heart, "fleck", and other lumber "defects". The final and most desired outcome is that the red-heart will stay confined to the very center of the tree, and the final years of growth will be snow-white, for which our Paper Birch is famous. I have included photos which show both types of color. Note the phot of the 3 harvested Birch trees that have been bunched together after felling by the "feller-buncher". The butts of these trees show red centers and white outer rings. The veneers shown in the next product photo are from the Red Heart center of the tree. This photo was taken at the outfeed of the drier at the Rajala Veneer Company operation in Deer River, MN. They are strikingly beautiful. We are having some success in marketing this as a great look in its own right. (These veneers are destined for plywood for cabinet and door manufacturers). However, there's no denying that the ultimate and classic look which we desire is the clear white fiber that is shown in the final photograph - a package of 16' Select Grade lumber (quite rare and valuable) at our planer mill at the Rajala Mill Company operation in Bigfork, MN.

This process is important. If the future of the Northern Minnesota forest is to include long rotation hardwood and pine forests, and if quality Paper Birch, Hard Maple, Red Oak, and White Pine is to be a part of that forest, we must continue to increase our ability to both grow the trees and make valuable products from them. The investment that we have made in the management of our hardwood and pine stands is immense. It is truly the opposite of "walk-away forestry". The investments we have made in unique manufacturing and marketing processes to take advantage of all parts of the harvested trees is equally great. This is truly a win-win for the community, the forest and the economy. We are succeeding, and we will continue to improve. We hope and trust that others will continue to be encouraged to do the same. Feel free to contact us at any time for more information.

Fishing with Sarah

One of the great joys in life is fishing with our children. This morning I had the pleasure of sharing a few hours on Little Wolf Lake with our oldest child, Sarah (age 14). The fishing was great. The conversation was better. We talked about our observations of the natural world around us. The loons that swam right up next to the boat. The fish and why they behave the way they do. The 150+ year old White Pine tree (one of the largest on our timberlands) recently scarred by lightning; and whether or not it was time to harvest that tree. How could I be so fortunate to have a daughter like Sarah and a natural environment like this in which to live and raise children?

For Starters

My life is all about family, trees, making wood, enjoying the forest life (and an occasional trip out of the forest), and being ultimately thankful to God from Whom all of these gifts are received.

It is my hope that documenting my journey will inspire others to search for sustainability and meaning. We are not here long, but our legacies in large part will determine the opportunities and challenges of future generations.

Please forgive my use of forest metaphors. The forest is where I was born and where I learned to live. The forest is how I feed my family. The forest is how I interact with the new world of global commerce. The forest is the place I find peace and recreation. For me the health, use, and enjoyment of forests will determine the future.