15-0316 v3.X Down and Dead Trees from Neighbor
Question:
We are writing to request exceptions to allow our project to use down and dead trees donated by a neighboring property owner and intentionally harvested trees from an off-site habitat restoration project for milled wood products (I12-E1 8/2008).The first source of wood consists of down and dead trees from a nearby donor’s yard. These large walnut trees came down during an ice storm, and the property owner has donated them to the project. The logs were dragged onto a trailer by hand and were cut by a sawyer on a Woodmizer, which is a bandsaw that minimizes waste. He cut random widths so that we could get as much as possible out of every log. The wood has not yet been planed, but we intend to use it for interior trim. If we had not taken these walnut trees, they would have been used for fire wood since the property owner has no other way of disposing of them.The second source of wood consists of white pines that were intentionally harvested from a Nature Conservancy prairie restoration project (Kanakee Sands) about 50 miles away from the project site. We would like to use them as exterior siding for the project. The Nature Conservancy has a stand of white pines which were planted in the 1930’s as a windbreak that they plan to cut down to make way for the prairie. While the white pines are native to the upper Midwest, they do not occur naturally in Indiana. This is an 8,000 acre prairie restoration project and these white pines are neither native vegetation nor compatible with the restored vegetation. The Nature Conservancy has offered to donate them to the project, and we will actually be promoting the prairie restoration by removing the pines. If we do not use them for this project, they will likely become firewood. We have discussed these sources of wood with LBC Staff in a phone call and would like to confirm that these exceptions will be granted and confirm that a narrative and letter from the donors will be acceptable documentation for the wood products.We understand that these exceptions are granted on a case by case basis, but believe that using these sources of wood productively improves the ecosystems from which they are removed. Additionally, our case is very similar to the Dancing Rabbit Common House down and dead trees exception
https://living-future.org/dancing-rabbit-common-house/documenting-storm-killed-trees-salvaged-wood-part-i
Answer:
It is acceptable to use the downed and dead trees from the neighbor’s yard. Please provide a brief description, signed by the neighbor, describing the date of the storm, number of downed trees and why they needed to be removed. The use of wood from The Nature Conservancy's trees is also acceptable if the project can meet the requirements of the following new ecological conservation compliance path:
I12-E1 Intentional Harvest Ecological Conservation compliance path
Timber that is intentionally harvested as part of a coordinated restoration effort by an environmental non-profit is allowed if the wood is harvested & milled within 500 km of the project site (Zone 1 of I-13 Living Economy Sourcing). The team must provide a letter from the conservation organization explaining why the trees were removed and how it will be beneficial to the local ecology and restoration effort. Neither downed and dead trees, nor wood harvested under Ecological Conservation, qualify for a multiplier under I-13 Living Economy Sourcing.
Post ID 2747