Portland, Oregon, lumber wholesaler finds distinctive look of beetle-killed 'blue pine' attracting interest from designers, furniture makers

Wendy Lisney

LOS ANGELES , June 28, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) –

A new blue-hued type of pine lumber is gaining a lot of interest because of its distinctive look, according to a top executive at a Portland, Oregon, lumber wholesaler, reported Sustainable Business Oregon on June 27.

Ryan Temple, president of Sustainable Northwest Wood Inc., which was spun off from the nonprofit Sustainable Northwest and supports small sawmills and a conservation-based economy, said designers and furniture makers were especially excited about the new-look wood.

The company is now stocking Campground Blue Pine, a salvaged wood that comes from the mountain pine beetle epidemic that has decimated 150 million acres of pine throughout the West, from Mexico through Canada, Sustainable Business Oregon reported. The beetle-killed trees turn an especially striking blue color, caused by a blue fungus in dead trees.

Harvesting trees killed by the infestation can mitigate the risk from the dead trees, which are more prone to catch fire and burn hotter and faster than living trees.

The primary source of this article is Sustainable Business Oregon, Portland, Oregon, on June 27, 2012.
 

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