Marketing Forest Products

Birch bark is used throughout the northern forests for crafts and materials. Learn more about its use and how to harvest birch bark in this great article from Julie Miedtke!

This guest post by Ellen O'Donnell was first published in Forest Stewardship Quarterly. Her delightful prose broadly covers everything from fungi ecology and phenotypes to chemistry and helpful indicators.

At the annual Idaho Forest Owners Association Field Day event in 2011, I had the pleasure of hearing Washington State University Extension Forester James Freed speak about non-timber products. In the Pacific Northwest and beyond his enthusiasm is legendary and contagious... Freed says that Americans will “pay whatever it takes to keep Fido happy.” He means that there is a market for Fido’s restful snooze, specifically, western red cedar shavings used in doggy beds. Pet supplies are a fast-growing market even in slow economic times, as we buy for our pets but not for ourselves.

The non-timber forest products you have on your property and their potential value varies greatly across the country. What doesn’t, is that most NTFP marketing opportunities are very specific and can be hard to get into. The Oregon Woodland Coop (OWC) model is working to help landowners team up for NTFPs.

A guest post by Lisa Lee, MS ED, Eden Again Eco-Sanctuary, Salem, OR

A guest post by Deborah B. Hill, Extension Professor at the University of Kentucky.

Many of you probably have heard the word “permaculture.” My personal definition is "an holistic land use management system focused on sustainable food production," but that can be a bit cumbersome.

Reminder that bugs travel in cut wood. Please do your part and buy firewood where you burn it.

To understand what inspires me you have to understand my background. I am a city girl. I try to deny it, but I spent my early life in large cities: Dallas and Tulsa.

There are many organizational resources for forest landowners in the Inland Pacific Northwest, and I'd like to bring three to your attention here: Idaho Forest Owners Association; Inland Northwest Land Trust; and University of Idaho Extension.

On a chilly morning in January, I interviewed Fran Wunderlich, a Pennsylvania landowner whom I met in October at the Pennsylvania Women and Their Woods retreat. Fran and I enjoyed a long conversation about tax breaks, Marcellus shale, and the advice she has for fellow women woodland owners.