Determining the Processed Cut Stock Recovery Rate from Standing Dead Beetle-Killed Lodgepole Pine Timber

Abstract

Abstract Colorado's forests have been decimated by a mountain pine beetle outbreak. The mountain pine beetle introduces a blue-stain fungus into the trees, lowering the economic value of the wood. As a result, forest product manufacturing opportunities using beetle-killed trees are limited. One possibility is to use beetle-killed trees to make cut stock, which is lumber that has been cut into specified length, width, and thickness requirements from a cant, lumber, or glued-up panels. The White River Conservation District commissioned this study to determine if a relationship existed between the amount of time beetle-killed trees remain standing dead and the recovery rate for cut stock material from those trees. Conducted in north-central Colorado and south-central Wyoming, this study found that enough material does exist in beetle-killed lodgepole pine trees to produce cut stock but that a tree's diameter at breast height is a better predictor for the cut stock recovery rate from the logs rather than the time spent standing dead on the stump. Given the increasing likelihood that beetle-killed trees will blow down as time passes, incentives for increased beetle-killed wood utilization should be developed quickly.