The other day I attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the world’s largest fuel pellet plant in Waycross, Ga. The Georgia Biomass facility is owned by a large German utility and is consuming more than 1 million tons of pulp-grade timber annually.

There is nothing in a sawmiller’s mind that’s more of a nightmare than a fire, Gilbert Travis observes. The owner of southern pine lumber producer Travis Lumber Co. had been fortunate in more than 40 years in the industry, as he’d never suffered a fire.

In relocating and consolidating much of its West Coast saw production in the former Pacific/Hoe facilities in south Portland less than two years after acquiring it, Simonds International is bringing manufacturing efficiencies to bear that aim to lower costs while increasing quality, saw performance and customer satisfaction.

Erich Sennebogen Sr., the driving force behind Sennebogen Machinenfabrik since 1952, died at age 79 after losing a battle with cancer on March 21.

With demand for hardwood lumber appearing optimistic, we, as stewards, should maintain the attitude that every log counts. Market fluctuations tend to dictate what species are in high demand, thus highlighting only those logs can leave many others to the wayside, unfortunately. During the hot/humid months, especially in the South, both hardwood and softwood logs can deteriorate rather quickly in the dry log (sort) yard.

Conservationists, scientists, industry representatives, community leaders and the U.S. Forest Service signed an agreement to restore ponderosa pine forests in four national forests in northern Arizona. More than 20 organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Four Forest Restoration Initiative Collaborative Stakeholder Group and the Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino, Kaibab and Tonto national forests.

A record crowd of 400 timberland owners and managers, forest industry representatives and investment professionals from 14 countries and all across the U.S. recently assembled at the University of Georgia’s 2011 Timberland Investment Conference in Georgia.

Manufacturers and suppliers of green end scanning and optimization systems were invited to submit the following materials. All statements and claims are attributable to the respective manufacturers and suppliers.