Experts Present ‘Innovations In Forestry’ at Expo

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The sequestration of carbon dioxide from local forests — intended to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere — and the benefits of drone imagery technology were topics of interest discussed at a forestry breakout session during Thursday’s Regional Economic Forecast & Innovation Expo at Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound. 

Port Blakely Director of Forestry Gareth Waugh shared his organization’s strategy to address greenhouse emissions by highlighting the Winston Creek Project, a forest management initiative that is seeking to increase the ability of sequestering — or capturing — carbon dioxide in 10,088 acres of woodland area in Mossyrock. 

By extending the forest harvest rotation by 20 years at the site, according to Waugh, the tree-farming company plans to capture 853,572 net metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next two decades. 

Port Blakely’s approach, he continued, certifies that trees aren’t cut down for timber production  during their peak years of sequestering carbon dioxide. This method will reportedly ensure a greater presence of older, larger trees that have a much greater capacity to store carbon dioxide and make oxygen.

“A 20-year difference in rotation age doubles the amount of biomass (mass of organisms) that’s accumulated in the forest,” explained Waugh. “Our vision is to cultivate a healthy world and this is a big step in the right direction. If we can show that by buying a little bit of carbon credit, you can create this incentive to manage the forest longer for a healthier forest, a healthier environment … this is a big one for everybody.” 

The carbon credits he referenced are essentially permits or certificates — provided by The American Carbon Registry for the California Cap-and-Trade program — that authorizes a company to limit its emission to equal to one ton of carbon dioxide.  

Finding partners to sell their credits to, continued Waugh, “will help us bridge the gap for the cost of maintaining those longer rotations.” 

It was noted that Port Blakley has sold carbon credits to Puget Sound Energy and a local brewery thus far and are in negotiations with other entities. 



“The company has been around for a long time; we love forestry. We want to make sure forests stay as forests,” said Waugh, a New Zealand native who first began working for Port Blakely as an area forester in 2000. 

Joining Waugh in speaking about the carbon market was Green Diamond Resource Co. Public Affairs Manager Patti Case, who was followed by Weyerhaeuser Company’s Remote Sensing Specialist Glenn Cattnach, who revealed how the timberland owner and wood products manufacturer is looking for new ways to help foresters access data through drone technology. 

He discussed how using drones — also referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs — to photograph local woodlands is a relatively inexpensive way to produce images to define boundary areas, calculating areas of interest and assessing the amount of diseased trees in any given section. 

“They’re just an extension of your forester’s eyes or a replacement for their legs. So, it’s not uncommon for a forester to have to go through a clear-cut to check for a soil disturbance, boundary violations, a whole host of things,” Cattnach said. “They don’t necessarily have to walk through it; they can set up a drone and fly through the area in 15 minutes rather than spending two hours walking through dangerous terrain. So, not only do you reduce their time by 68 percent on some tasks of inspection, you’ve also made their job safer.” 

Furthermore, the Weyerhaeuser spokesperson touched on FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) rules that foresters must abide by that restrict how, where and when drones can be flown. 

Any drone operator, Cattnach said, must be licensed to perform commercial duties. He also stated that the drones cannot fly above 400 feet. 

“Most of these devices don’t operate in the rain. Extreme temperatures can affect your battery life at times (and) they can’t carry big payloads,” he added. “Your insurance company is going to want to know how many drones you have and how often they are flying and where.”