awmilling has been a rapidly growing, albeit under-the-radar, technology for some years. Portable sawmills and fixed-in-place very thin kerf band industrial sawmills that process a few million board feet per year have been growth industries even during the recession. The growth is because small mills thrive on milling material and dimensions that are typically of no interest to larger, conventional mills.
Recent research from Auburn University points to both the fiscal and enhanced management potential smaller sawmills provide. Portable mills, Auburn researchers say, provide an important management tool for small parcel forestry as “…the availability of this new technology provided a tool to profitably turn previously ‘useless and worthless’ trees into valuable lumber with an initial investment less than the cost of a small tractor.”
New U.S. Forest Service approaches promise considerable opportunity to the owner of small-scale family forests throughout the United States. Through approaches — including providing advice, building markets for forest products, and assisting land owners in developing management plans — the Service appears to be well along the road to helping individual land owners achieve both personal and community goals for family forest holdings by promoting management actions that are potentially financially rewarding.
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