Kansas City, Missouri’s Forestry Division was recently awarded a TRIM (Tree Resource Improvement and Management) grant to establish Kansas City’s Wood Utilization Program by diverting a significant amount of wood material lost due to the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and converting it to high value wood products.
Program
As part of the City’s EAB program ash trees, which cannot be treated against EAB, are removed and ground to mulch. Many of these trees have saw logs (trunks suitable for cutting up into timber) that can be turned in to higher value products. The grant provides funding for utilization of these logs and assists in the immediate implementation of the plan by transporting these logs to The Urban Lumber Company where they are converted to lumber and other high value wood products. The logs are generated from the approximately 1,000 untreated Ash trees Forestry removed last fall and will be removing this spring.
Partnership
The Wood Utilization Project is a partnership between the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the City of Kansas City-Forestry and The Urban Lumber Company. This endeavor will become a leading example of EAB and urban forest management that can be replicated by other communities in Missouri and in other states.