This is Day 2 of the WV Forestry and Rail project. Because many industries in West Virginia are extraction industries like coal and gas, a diverse economy has been elusive for much of our state. The timber industry, however, is an example of an industry that is based on a natural resource where trees are further processed into products that add employment and additional income to the people of our state. Wilson Lumber Company is a company that takes trees from our forests and processes the logs into lumber that other companies turn into furniture and cabinets.
The planers shown above take rough, high quality lumber and plane the surface smooth enough for other companies to turn into furniture and cabinets. Everything the company produces is a special order made to a customer's specifications. Why is a value-added product from an extraction industry important for economic development?
The kilns shown above are examples of taking the waste produced by one step in the process and using it in another step of the process. Why is this both economical and ecological?
Trobology is a relatively new science that studies how disposal of a product at the end of its useful life is included as a factor in its initial production. Hamer Wood Pellets is a company that closes the loop by taking waste sawdust and turning it into fuel used to heat homes. This is a value-added product that creates jobs and income while disposing of the waste material of another process.
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