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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2018)
April 13, 2018 T he C olumbia P ress 4 Tree: Invasive western juniper becomes new wood product Highway 26 Continued from Page 1 ra, California. “Western juniper tends to crash kills 2 nization that helped coordi- Students have a twisted, gnarly grain. nate the tests. As the tree invaded sage- brush areas, it depleted groundwater and changed the hydrology of watersheds, drying up springs and alter- ing plant communities. Despite the potential of an increasing supply, the lack of design standards meant that wood milled from the tree had limited commercial use. “Western juniper has been the black sheep of the wood products industry,” Kruse said. “Our goal is to get it on people’s radar. This could be a great cottage industry for rural Oregon.” prepare to saw a western juniper 4x4 at the Oregon State University Forest Products Lab. Courtesy OSU Recent efforts to spur a western juniper wood prod- ucts industry stem from the creation of the Western Ju- niper Alliance in 2013. Mem- bers of the alliance, including Kruse, found that the wood had not gone through the same rigorous testing proce- dures as softwoods such as Douglas fir, hemlock, pon- derosa pine and western red cedar. Starting in 2015, Byrne Miyamoto, an Oregon State master’s student, began test- ing western juniper wood under the direction of Arijit Sinha, professor of renew- able materials in the College of Forestry. “The biggest challenge was going through the wood to find pieces that had straight grain, no knots or defects and no visible bark,” said Miya- moto, who grew up in Ventu- So in an 8-foot post, you might only find 1 foot of wood that met the testing specifica- tions,” Miyamoto said. It’s unlikely that consumers will find 2x4s made of west- ern juniper at their local lum- ber yard, but since the wood is colorful and rot resistant, it has potential for siding, deck- ing, garden boxes and other outdoor applications. Western juniper bends more easily under pressure than other softwoods, but also is stronger under compression than most, a quality likely re- lated to the cellular properties of the growing tree. That makes the wood par- ticularly useful for a struc- tural component known as a sill plate, which typically sup- ports the weight of a build- ing and is in contact with the foundation. Support for the testing was provided by Sustainable Northwest, the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, ODOT and Business Oregon. Subscribe Good journalism never goes out of style. Stay smart. Read the paper. A full-year subscription to The Columbia Press is just $26 by mail to Clatsop County addresses. A full-year subscription to U.S. locations outside Clatsop County is just $35 by mail. An online subscription is only $22 for a whole year! Name: ___________________________________ Address: _____________________ Please send payment to Phone: ___________________ The Columbia Press Email: ____________________ 5 N Hwy 101 #500 In-county Out-of-county Online subscription ____ ____ ____ Warrenton OR 97146 You can also pay in person at The UPS Store Two Portland-area drivers were killed on Highway 26 Sunday morning when one of them lost control and struck the other head-on, the Ore- gon State Police reported. The crash occurred about 9 a.m. 13 miles east of the Highway 101 junction, an area with two lanes in each direction. Jesus M. Ramirez-Cortes, 19, of Milwaukie was headed west in a 2006 Audi when it crossed into the eastbound lanes and struck an oncom- ing 2009 Jeep Cherokee driv- en by Sylvia L. Kearns, 63, of Vancouver, Wash. Both drivers were alone in their vehicles and each was wearing their seatbelt. Ramirez-Cortes was pro- nounced dead at the scene. A press release from OSP does not say whether Kearns died at the scene or died shortly thereafter. The highway was closed for an hour and then restricted for three hours afterward during the OSP investiga- tion. PUBLIC NOTICE WORK SESSION The Warrenton City Commis- sion will hold a work session at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. The purpose of the work session is to review the Capi- tal Improvement Program. The meeting location is Warrenton City Hall, Commission Cham- bers, 225 S. Main, Warrenton, Oregon. Work Sessions are open to the public. The meeting location is accessi- ble to the disabled. An interpret- er for the hearing impaired may be requested under the terms of ORS 192.630 by contacting Dawne Shaw, Deputy City Re- corder, at 503-861-2233 at least 48 hours in advance of the meet- ing so appropriate assistance can be provided.
