Vaagen Brothers Lumber on Adaptation and Collaboration

Worth a look: “ADAPTATION AND COLLABORATION: A Western Lumber Business Confronts Timber Withdrawal,” written by  Russ Vaagen, Vice President, Vaagen Brothers Lumber, on the Forest Resources Association’s web site.

I’ve seen Vaagen’s Colville mill. Amazing what they can do with small logs. A few years ago, they were selling chips to a power plant, Avista’s Kettle Falls Generating Station. At the time, biomass power from the plant was more expensive than power from “cheap” natural gas plants. However, the state’s renewable portfolio standard required the use of biomass and other renewable fuels. In effect, Avista’s rate payers were subsidizing the use of wood chips at the Kettle Falls Generating Station.

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