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.
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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.