By Thembi Borras
Tanoak is a beautiful wood, we used it in our home for trim, baseboard and cabinet stock. Tanoak is hard and either clear boards or boards complex in character can be made from it. However, tanoak is a labor of love to process, minimizing the defect during drying being the trickiest part. Several attempts have been made to develop the infrastructure for processing tanoak into a viable product, foremost among them was Mendocino Redwood Company's attempt to make tanoak into tongue and groove flooring. Regardless of the many failed attempts to create a viable market for tanoak, landowners and forest managers continue to seek an economical means to balance the large amount of tanoak in certain landscapes with the desired conifer component.
Some forest managers use herbicides to gain this balance. Firewood operations are limited by the number of reputable firewood cutters, logistics, and that many small timers can't afford liability insurance. The best time to remove tanoak is when logging conifers, because the roads are open, the equipment is on site and the CDF plan under which you are operating is active. To do this however, you need some place to sell it and at this time, there is no viable market. Occasionally the chip market will pay enough per ton to justify hauling it to the closest pulp mill in Humboldt County, but this is usually at a net loss.
Recently, I was asked by a reader in Irmulco with a tanoak rich property, "How about conducting a poll to see how many folks would support the county pursuing a hardwood for biofuel project?".
One type of biofuel project could be a cogeneration plant that would burn wood to generate electricity. Another might be to convert biomass to biofuel. One advantage this market has over the furniture or flooring markets is the size and quality of the tree matters less, so there is less incentive to high grade the biggest and best trees from a managed forest. My guess is as much tanoak as conifer could be harvested in the County each year. If this were an adequate resource base, there are at least two inactive industrial sites previously used to process forest products that could serve as potential locations. Given that this topic has been penetrated to various depths over the last several decades, old-timers may already have answers to obvious questions like can it be done cleanly, is it cost-effective and is there public support? Given the high price of oil and interest in self-sufficiency, this may be a good time to once again consider this option for turning tanoak into energy.
Showing posts with label tanoak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tanoak. Show all posts
February 19, 2006
December 11, 2005
Best Wood for Burning
By Thembi Borras
What is the best tree species for firewood? The answer is a function of abundance, availability, splitability, presence or lack thereof of messy sap, density and energy content.
The most abundant hardwood in the managed timberland on which I work is tanoak. The most available species for a low price or free are the less dense hardwoods and conifers, in fact I have found it hard to give pine and willow away. The most splitable woods are species that tend to have straight grain. Others have entangled fibers and can be very difficult to split. Some wood splits easiest when green such as live oak, madrone and tanoak and some split much easier when dry and brittle, such as fir and some pines. Obviously the conifers have the messy sap, and are not preferred because of their sap. Many people believe that burning sap will lead to excessive accumulations of creosote. However, if the wood burning system is functioning properly, above normal levels of creosote should not accumulate. The easiest and best fire is built by using a mixture of both softwoods and hardwoods. Softwoods start burning easily, and the hardwoods provide for long burning and good "coaling" qualities.
All wood, regardless of species, has about the same energy content per pound. The different species vary only in density. The higher the density, the higher the energy content per cord. A cord is 4' high by 4' deep and is 8' long. Energy content is often measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs). The following are the approximate number of BTUs produced per cord burned of local species: willow 18, redwood and grand fir 19, big leaf maple 22, western hemlock 23, California bay, black walnut and Douglas-fir 25, tanoak, white oak and black oak 27, madrone 30 and live oak 35.
Most folks will say madrone is the best tree species for firewood, but I encourage you to consider other species, which may be more available, less expensive and may be burnt regardless, in slash piles or wildland fires, without the benefit of heating your home. Ultimately, it is more important to have wood that is cut and split to the right size and properly dried than it is to get the most dense wood available.
For more information, visit the website http://www.woodheat.org/ and http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/homeandwork/homes/inside/heatandcool/fireplaces.html, from which this production was gleaned.
What is the best tree species for firewood? The answer is a function of abundance, availability, splitability, presence or lack thereof of messy sap, density and energy content.
The most abundant hardwood in the managed timberland on which I work is tanoak. The most available species for a low price or free are the less dense hardwoods and conifers, in fact I have found it hard to give pine and willow away. The most splitable woods are species that tend to have straight grain. Others have entangled fibers and can be very difficult to split. Some wood splits easiest when green such as live oak, madrone and tanoak and some split much easier when dry and brittle, such as fir and some pines. Obviously the conifers have the messy sap, and are not preferred because of their sap. Many people believe that burning sap will lead to excessive accumulations of creosote. However, if the wood burning system is functioning properly, above normal levels of creosote should not accumulate. The easiest and best fire is built by using a mixture of both softwoods and hardwoods. Softwoods start burning easily, and the hardwoods provide for long burning and good "coaling" qualities.
All wood, regardless of species, has about the same energy content per pound. The different species vary only in density. The higher the density, the higher the energy content per cord. A cord is 4' high by 4' deep and is 8' long. Energy content is often measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs). The following are the approximate number of BTUs produced per cord burned of local species: willow 18, redwood and grand fir 19, big leaf maple 22, western hemlock 23, California bay, black walnut and Douglas-fir 25, tanoak, white oak and black oak 27, madrone 30 and live oak 35.
Most folks will say madrone is the best tree species for firewood, but I encourage you to consider other species, which may be more available, less expensive and may be burnt regardless, in slash piles or wildland fires, without the benefit of heating your home. Ultimately, it is more important to have wood that is cut and split to the right size and properly dried than it is to get the most dense wood available.
For more information, visit the website http://www.woodheat.org/ and http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/homeandwork/homes/inside/heatandcool/fireplaces.html, from which this production was gleaned.
August 7, 2005
Sudden Oak Death
By Thembi Borras
Sudden Oak Death (SOD) is a forest disease caused by a water mold fungus (Phytophthora ramorum). This fungus will cause SOD in hosts including tanoak, coast live oak and California black oak and a foliar/twig disease in other hosts including California bay laurel.
The most useful diagnostic symptom for Phytophthora ramorum in mature oaks and tanoak is cankers on the trunk from which dark black to red or amber sap exudes. Diagnosis of the disease is not always easy, for example, a tanoak tree may be infected but the symptoms do not show. The sudden browning of the tree crown, for which the "sudden" part of "sudden oak death" was derived, may occur several years after the onset of infection and not all trees end in a sudden browning, some have gradual leaf loss. Black charcoal bubbles, a fungus know as Hypoxylon decays sapwood and may move into a tree weakened by Phytophthora ramorum, but presence of Hypoxylon does not mean the tree has Phytophthora ramorum.
A common diagnostic symptom of Phytophthora ramorum in California bay laurel is dead areas on the leaves, where water collects. No bay laurel trees have reportedly died from this fungus. However, bay laurels are thought to be very important in spreading the disease as the fungus readily produces spores on moist bay leaves. The vectors of Phytophthora ramorum are wind and water.
By answering the following questions you can get an idea if a tree you suspect, is infected with Phytophthora ramorum: Is the tree a host species? Is it located in an infected area? Does it have the symptoms? The only way to be certain that a plant has Phytophthora ramorum is to have a tissue sample laboratory-tested. If you determine a tree is infected, what should you do? It depends, see " A Homeowner's Guide to Sudden Oak Death" at the website http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/. The fungus can be killed by burning infected wood or composting it very well. Moving infected wood can spread the fungus especially if conditions are wet. Remember, when leaving an infected area; disinfect your shoes or other wet muddy transport mechanisms.
The website http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/ is an excellent resource as are the County Agricultural Departments.
Sudden Oak Death (SOD) is a forest disease caused by a water mold fungus (Phytophthora ramorum). This fungus will cause SOD in hosts including tanoak, coast live oak and California black oak and a foliar/twig disease in other hosts including California bay laurel.
The most useful diagnostic symptom for Phytophthora ramorum in mature oaks and tanoak is cankers on the trunk from which dark black to red or amber sap exudes. Diagnosis of the disease is not always easy, for example, a tanoak tree may be infected but the symptoms do not show. The sudden browning of the tree crown, for which the "sudden" part of "sudden oak death" was derived, may occur several years after the onset of infection and not all trees end in a sudden browning, some have gradual leaf loss. Black charcoal bubbles, a fungus know as Hypoxylon decays sapwood and may move into a tree weakened by Phytophthora ramorum, but presence of Hypoxylon does not mean the tree has Phytophthora ramorum.
A common diagnostic symptom of Phytophthora ramorum in California bay laurel is dead areas on the leaves, where water collects. No bay laurel trees have reportedly died from this fungus. However, bay laurels are thought to be very important in spreading the disease as the fungus readily produces spores on moist bay leaves. The vectors of Phytophthora ramorum are wind and water.
By answering the following questions you can get an idea if a tree you suspect, is infected with Phytophthora ramorum: Is the tree a host species? Is it located in an infected area? Does it have the symptoms? The only way to be certain that a plant has Phytophthora ramorum is to have a tissue sample laboratory-tested. If you determine a tree is infected, what should you do? It depends, see " A Homeowner's Guide to Sudden Oak Death" at the website http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/. The fungus can be killed by burning infected wood or composting it very well. Moving infected wood can spread the fungus especially if conditions are wet. Remember, when leaving an infected area; disinfect your shoes or other wet muddy transport mechanisms.
The website http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/ is an excellent resource as are the County Agricultural Departments.
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