Download or read book Improved Use of Ponderosa Pine in Glulam Beams written by Roland Hernandez and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 1 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, almost 300 million acres of forests are severely overcrowded with small-diameter, densely stocked trees. These forests need to be thinned to improve their health and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. However, thinning is an expensive task, costing from $200 to $1,500 per acre. Traditionally, there has not been a market for this material once it has been thinned. Uses for small-diameter wood must be found and markets for the products created in order to offset the cost of thinning. For several years, the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) has conducted cooperative studies with local communities and industry to improve the use of wood from small-diameter trees. One of the most common species in these stands is ponderosa pine. Preliminary testing on ponderosa pine lumber indicates that if mechanical grading technology is applied, this material could be used in higher valued structural applications such as glued-laminated timber (glulam).