Is This the Future of Small-Scale Forestry in Maine?

I have always been intrigued by the small-scale. Don’t misunderstand—industrial-scale sawmills, for example, are absolutely astonishing, and I have had many hours of enjoyment touring and observing the production processes at such facilities. Even so, nothing piques my interest quite like the guy with a portable gas-powered sawmill cutting boards for a friend of a […]

Does The Future of Maine’s Biomass Lie in Europe?

Over the past week, I have enjoyed reading the debate surrounding Maine’s biomass and the proposed bailout of the utility. Simply defined, biomass is the term given for unused portions of the tree, such as tops and branches, as well as unused residue from milling, such as sawdust. This waste wood is mostly used for […]

Miscommunication and the Language of the Maine Woods

  Every industry has its jargon and the kind of terminology that will baffle an outside listener and forestry is no exception. But what’s unique about this in forestry is that all the technical jargon is nearly overwhelmed by an immense amount of slang and colloquialisms that vary vastly across geographical regions and occasionally have, […]

Housing: Dissecting The Data And The Risk Of Recession

  Sawn timber at a sawmill in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland, summer 2013. Wikimedia Commons The economic benefits of a healthy and robust housing market are well known. The construction of new homes has ripple effects that are felt throughout the entire economy: manufacturing benefits from materials purchased to build the home, construction benefits, of course, […]