We toured a "chip mill" in Conway, Arkansas yesterday. We flew on our corporate jet - I sat in the co-pilot's seat.
When we arrived, I was given a hardhat and earplugs and we climbed this crane and stood behind the operator as he unloaded a log truck in just two bites. He then continued to feed the logs into a drum system with a chipper and --finally ---shooting out the other end of the process are huge streams of tiny chips like you would find in a bag near a BBQ grill. The pile in the first picture is as tall as a two-story building. This plant is not for sale but equipment similar to it is.
.... Hardwoods such as oak, sweet gum, and hickory are chipped to become raw material for copy paper, paper cups, diapers, etc. Pine becomes cardboard and post board.
Our company, Nulyne, is in the pallet business ---but to obtain a steady source of raw material (cut trees brought in by independent loggers on semi-trucks), they are proposing that we enter the chip and sawmill business. The loggers will sell to the company that pays the highest price. Even if we paid the highest price, we would still have parts of that load that we could not use (currently). So....our company is asking for an investment of over a million dollars to vertically integrate and develop the ability to use all parts of the load purchased from the loggers. The various names of logs that might be mixed in a single load are pulpwood, saw logs, mini-wood, post logs etc. and describe the type and/or size of the log. We use mostly mini-wood.
It's been a tough business for the last four years.
Reports by the forestry service and independent surveys are in agreement - there is no lack of hardwood in the Ozark and Ouachita forests as well as the private land in central, southwest, and northwest Arkansas. The national forests must be managed, and that often includes logging operations, (controlled burns are another method).
I love hardwood trees alive, but as long as I know that the forest is sustainable and that there are organizations and processes in place to protect and manage them, I don't mind being in the lumber business.
