In case you’ve forgotten, the U.S. Forest Service does still exist? Many in our industry have forgotten about this agency, perhaps even chosen to forget it, ever since our industry became barely a blip on the Forest Service radar. In fact, “blip” may be too strong. “Blip” would actually indicate the presence of our industry.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell testified before Congress in mid-November on the strengths and efficiencies of the agency’s draft new Planning Rule that, when finalized, will provide a framework for how all of the 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands will be managed in the future.

Kennebec Lumber Co. has been in a state of continuous development practically since Carrier brothers, Denis, Jeannot and Larry, started it up in February 2000. According to Denis, president of the company, their decision to build a hardwood sawmill was just a natural progression for the third generation of the Carrier family, whose history and prosperity have been tied to the forest products industries for decades. Separate enterprises owned by or with other family members include land ownership, timber management services, logging, chipping and trucking operations.

Working at one of the largest single-line sawmills in North America, Steve Newby, head filer at Simpson Lumber Co.’s Commencement Bay operation, emphasizes that “Consistency and quality is really what saw filing and saws is all about.” Newby, a longtime filer who has been at the mill since it started up in 2001 and helped design the filing room layout, says, “When this mill was constructed 10 years ago, it was the largest producing single line saw mill in the world.” He also noted that the record amount cut in a single 10-hour shift is about 928MBF, with a single record year that consisted of approximately 390MMBF. Either way you cut it, that kind of production requires a lot of saw filing.

Looking ahead at the next eight years, significant growth is predicted in wood fuel pellet markets worldwide. Europe will continue as the largest source of demand, with markets also emerging in Asia. Growth in production will continue in North America, but new production is being established in nearly all wood fiber baskets worldwide. In addition, pellets produced from agricultural products and through innovative processes such as torrefaction may also emerge to some degree. However, no region or technology remains the obvious leader for prudent investment decisions. With growth nearly tripling by 2020, each region and technology has its own unique pros and cons.

Can you imagine using a saw with insert shanks as opposed to the high performing carbide tips that are commonplace today? Sawing has experienced a tremendous evolution as a direct result of revolutionary machine technology as well as innovators consistently determined to provide the end user with a product better than the last. Northwest-based Cut Technologies and its research and development (R&D) team are industry leaders in the engineering and execution of new sawing technologies. The value Cut Technologies places upon the R&D component of its business is so great that the term appears in its slogan: “Quality. Innovation. Customer ­Service.”