Vilsack and Timber

A chat with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. When we talk about biofuels, there are new forest products in the bio preferred program. "We are now recognizing the role that forest products woody biomass can play, not just in the production of fuel and energy but again in the production of a wide variety of products. We are exploring the ability to bring into the United States the cross laminated timber industry. This takes some of the disease to wood that we have in the western part of the United States and converting it into structural materials that can be used for multistory buildings. At the end of the summer we are going to announce the awarding of quite a bit of money to help with the design, engineering and construction of one of these structures. I would be very surprised if at least one of these awards doesn't go to an opportunity somewhere in the Northwest. That is because of your access to timber. It is a brand-new industry.