Research and Partnerships

$21.5

Million dollars spent on forestry research
in 2011

Sustainable forestry requires continuous improvement built on a foundation of sound scientific research and technological innovation. We believe Weyerhaeuser has the best forestry research organization in the world, with a wealth of environmental research that we use and share.

RESEARCH SPENDING

In 2011, we spent $21.5 million on forestry research done by our own scientists and those at universities and other research organizations. Topics included forest health and productivity, water quality, fish and wildlife, landscape management and biodiversity.

RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS

• Feasibility of producing jet biofuel from woody feedstocks
• Managing migratory bird habitats
• Fostering conservation and sustainable management of biological diversity in managed forests
• Studying the effects of forestry on the Trask River Watershed
• Field testing a habitat-based approach for addressing at-risk biodiversity conservation on commercial forestlands
• Studying the effects of afforestation on hydrology and drainage water quality

Feasibility of producing jet biofuel from woody feedstocks

We are a participant in a portion of the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA) consortium, led by Washington State University (WSU), to study the feasibility of producing jet biofuel from woody feedstocks in the Pacific Northwest. The WSU-led project is one of two five-year, $40 million grants awarded by the USDA.

The WSU-led grant aims to address the urgent national need for a domestic biofuel alternative for U.S. commercial and military air fleets. NARA researchers envision developing a new, viable, aviation fuel industry using wood and wood waste in the Pacific Northwest, where forests cover almost half of the region. The project also will focus on increasing the profitability of wood-based fuels through development of high value, bio-based co-products to replace petrochemicals used in products such as plastics.

As a subcontractor to the WSU-led grant, we will focus on three areas:

• Determining the feasibility of sustainable production of woody feedstocks for use in biofuel and value-added products;
• Understanding how to more cost effectively collect currently under utilized harvest material; and
• Exploring ways to convert woody biomass lignin components into value added bio products.

As part of our involvement, we will establish a new research site near Springfield, Oregon to better understand the effect of forest management practices on soil, water and wildlife. The site is intended to provide information on the effect of biomass removal, compaction and fertilization on soil, water and wildlife. We will also work with collaborators to understand how to develop more cost effective ways to collect currently under-utilized harvest residuals for emerging bio fuel and bio-product applications. We will study ways to create high value bio products from residual lignin, the second most abundant polymer in nature.

Managing migratory bird habitats

In partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada, we are engaged in a five-year, $2.5 million (CA$1.25 million per partner) conservation project that will provide science-based information to help manage migratory bird habitats in all three of our Alberta forest management areas. The partnership will focus on conserving boreal wetland systems, including riparian areas. These watersheds of the western boreal forest are vital to northern communities and provide unparalleled economic, environmental and social benefits to all Canadians.

In addition to supporting Ducks Unlimited Canada's inventory work, which began in July 2006, we will collaborate on research to inform best management practices (e.g., stream and lake buffers, effect of roads on subsurface hydrology). Traditional land use inventories and relationships with local aboriginal groups and woodlot owners are areas that both organizations intend to address through ongoing efforts.

The first collaborative research topic selected will focus on assessing watershed vulnerability and, in turn, determining the resiliency of varying amounts of wetland to harvesting activities.

Fostering conservation and sustainable management of biological diversity in managed forests

Beginning in 1976, we have cooperated on a number of projects with The Nature Conservancy. In early 2007, we accelerated our collaboration with a five-year program and pledged $1 million in funding. The program focused on fostering conservation and sustainable management of biological diversity in managed forests. Through the agreement, we funded projects in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oregon and Washington. Severe economic conditions forced a reduction in 2009, decreasing the total funding to about $600,000.

The Conservancy considers Oregon's Willamette Valley to be one of eight critically endangered ecoregions in the United States. Less than 1.5 percent of the valley is protected and managed for biological diversity. We contributed $90,000 to support the Conservancy's ongoing efforts to address these gaps. Also in Oregon, we have agreements with The Nature Conservancy to manage three conservation easements on our land, totaling 229 acres. The company consults on management of an additional 638 acres to help protect unique ecological sites. One of the unique sites being protected has populations of Kincaid lupine, a plant that is habitat for the rare Fender's blue butterfly. Another example is a coastal bog that provides many ecological functions. In 2004 and 2005, the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation donated a total of $100,000 to The Nature Conservancy to assist in the conservancy's site management.

In Mississippi, the mission of The Nature Conservancy is to find, protect and maintain the best examples of natural communities, ecosystems and endangered species in the state. To help achieve these goals, we worked with The Nature Conservancy on the Tombigbee River Watershed Program, in the Old Cove area of Webster County, and in a partnership to protect unique land on the Buttahatchie River. This land is in the northeast region of the state, near the Mississippi-Alabama state line. The protected area includes dramatic sandstone bluffs that drop 30 to 40 feet to the river's floodplain.

The Old Cove area is located in a 12,000-acre forested landscape that includes the headwaters of three rivers, the ecologically unique Shelton Mountain, Old Cove, and Magnolia cove, and at least 12 rare or little-known invertebrate species. The 350-acre Old Cove area is inside a large working forest used to produce timber for lumber and other forest products. Several rare plant species have been documented there, including Maple Leaf Viburnum, Star Vine and Yellow Lady's Slippers. A cooperative study between The Nature Conservancy, Mississippi State University, and us was recently completed and final results relative to the biodiversity value of the Old Cove landscape including plantation stands, riparian areas, and the ecologically unique areas will soon be available. Researchers documented 21 species of reptiles and amphibians and 48 species of birds with species contributions from all forest types. Data from an initial rare plant survey further documented a number of rare plant species.

Studying the effects of forestry on the Trask River Watershed

Along with the Oregon Department of Forestry and other agencies, we are conducting an integrated, multi-disciplinary study on the effects of forest management on fish and the aquatic ecosystems of the Trask River Watershed. This study involves the close cooperation of scientists, land-use managers and planners in design and implementation of watershed treatments. The two main objectives of the study are to determine:

• The effects of forest harvest on the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of small headwater streams.
• The extent to which potential stream alterations caused by timber harvest along headwater channels influence the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of downstream fish-bearing streams.

The Trask River Watershed Study (North-Coast) is part of a research cooperative including two other watershed studies in Oregon- Hinkle Creek (Cascades) and Alsea Revisited (Mid-Coast). The three studies include research projects that both complement each other by using similar designs and methods, and that differ according to the objectives of the study area. The Trask River Watershed study uses a replicated, paired watershed approach to examine the effects of public and private forestland harvest practice at two spatial scales: at the local small stream scale and downstream on fish-bearing streams. The Trask Watershed Study, along with the other research cooperative studies, will provide important information on the effects of contemporary forest practices on aquatic ecosystems under different landowner management objectives. Further, the integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to the research allows for greater understanding of complex physical, chemical and biological responses to management.

Field testing a habitat-based approach for addressing at-risk biodiversity conservation on commercial forestlands

In 2010, we collaborated on a pilot project with NatureServe and state Natural Heritage programs, the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative certification program to document habitat associations for at-risk biodiversity areas in the U.S. Through this pilot project, it was determined that if these habitat associations could be reliably discerned in the field or from existing maps and other information sources (e.g., remote sensing, forest inventory systems), it would enhance the ability to efficiently apply standards for conserving at-risk biodiversity.

If successfully validated, a habitat-based approach to conserving at-risk species and communities would allow foresters and landowners to more easily identify where at-risk biodiversity is most or least likely to occur on lands they manage; focus new survey effort more efficiently to determine whether the modeled habitat contains occurrences of the target species/communities; focus conservation efforts on selected habitat types or habitat attributes; and supply foresters and landowners with regionally appropriate information for field identification and compatible management practices.

Phase 2 of the project is now underway and will provide:

• Reports 1) listing forestry practices which have been used at these sites, and characterizing the extent to which past and current forest stewardship practices may be compatible with the presence of target at-risk plant species and 2) describing a generalized process that can be used elsewhere in North America to apply a habitat-based approach to conserving at-risk species / communities.
• A refined database developed in 2010 for three pilot areas describing habitat relationships of at-risk species / communities.
• A sample educational brochure for one or more of the habitat types describing at-risk species and communities of interest, the primary indicators for their recognition, and conservation and management practices that currently address these species and communities.

Studying the effects of afforestation on hydrology and drainage water quality

We are working with North Carolina State University's Biological & Agricultural Engineering Department to quantify the impact of forestry and biomass crop production on hydrology and drainage water quality in both Uruguay and North Carolina.

Growing trees and other crops to produce forest and energy products is a promising method of improving local economies and contributing to energy security, with the added potential of sequestering carbon dioxide and reducing the effects of climate change. However, introduction of trees and improved crops may have high impact on water yield due to higher transpiration rates. While studies reaching this conclusion have typically been conducted in water-limited environments, afforestation is expected to have some effect on water yield, regardless of location. This is important to understand because water availability and water-quality decline have increasingly become a worldwide issue as human population rises.

Specific objectives of this project are:

• Determine the hydrologic and water quality effects of afforestation of grass lands in Uruguay by conducting long-term paired watershed studies.
• Determine impacts of land use, including managed forestry, biomass crops for energy and managed forests with interplanted biomass crops on hydrology, water yield, and drainage water quality in Uruguay and North Carolina.
• Develop and test models to predict the hydrology and water quality impacts of land use and management practices including afforestation and biomass crop production on lands that were historically in pasture, native grassland, or poorly drained agricultural lands.
• Incorporate the information derived from this research into useable concepts and materials for stakeholders leading to improved management of forest land, biomass crop land, and pasture land.

Learn more about this project.