A Lakehead University wood scientist has the map to success for forest products companies looking to source the cream of the fibre crop in northwestern Ontario.
Mat Leitch, an associate professor with the faculty of natural resources management, expects to release forest resource maps this summer showing the value and quality of various underutilized tree species across the region.
Faculty and students have spent the last few years compiling data of the physical and mechanical properties of undervalued tree species in the hopes of matching them with forest producers.
A passionate promoter of a value-added forestry, Leitch has worked with small forest products companies in making better use of often forgotten species like birch, ash, cedar and tamarack which can be used for household decking or mouldings.
“In order to maximize value, we need to know what the inherent properties are along the whole stem.”
“Inherent property mapping” was an idea Leitch dreamed up years ago as a capacity building exercise for his fledgling wood sciences lab.
The forestry companies may count trees in a management unit, but information didn't exist on the physical and mechanical wood properties of certain species, nor how individual trees can be utilized to their maximum value.
“We did intensive maps from pith (the centre of the tree) to bark, stump to top of the tree,” said Leitch.
Faculty and students identified where these species grew on the landscape and harvested a sample collection to measure attributes like hardness, elasticity, and thermal values at their Thunder Bay wood sciences lab.
“If a company comes in and says we produce this product, we need this quality of wood and these volumes, we'll say this is the forest you need to work on,” said Leitch.
For a specific product, not just any tree will do. Pick the wrong type of birch and a company may only be utilizing 20 per cent of the tree.
In one forest management unit, Lakehead showed that lowlands birch was small, had lots of branches and was heavy with heartwood. The mid-slope birch was better but the trees on the ridge tops had the best quality.
The maps they've created will have features like an elevation filter and will pinpoint areas of the heaviest concentration of a particular species.
This year, Leitch's crew will be adding another layer of research by performing chemical testing of tamarack.
“We're doing mining of potentially valuable chemicals that could be commercialized.”
Trees are chock full of chemicals. Some, like lignin, are well-known. Others are not.
“The old saying is the petroleum industry makes money on chemicals, not selling gasoline. And in forestry there's no reason we can't become fairly wealthy through chemical extraction.”
Already some major forestry players have come knocking on Leitch's door to tap into his base of knowledge.
Lakehead hopes to formally publicize the tree maps this summer by marketing through industry groups like the Canada Wood Council.
“We want to show existing companies where the quality is and use it as a tool to encourage investment in the region, showing good quality wood and demonstrate that we have a good grip of what we have out there,” said Leitch.