Building Green with Beetle Kill Wood
By John Twitchell and Lyn Halliday
Overview: The Built Environment And Sustainability
Although it is not the purpose of this article to recapitulate the multitude of published material available on the topic of sustainability and the built environment, it is important to capture the overarching message: our global society needs to find a balance between the natural and built environments if we wish to sustain the planet for future generations. Most believe doing so will require that we address the following:
- reduce impact on ecosystems and humans
- minimize pollution and waste
- maximize the use of renewable resources
- provide aesthetic enrichment and a sense of community.
The debate continues as to whether building codes that will address these issues should be prescriptive or performance-based; most likely both will be required.
Ok, Where Can I Get Local Wood?
Start with the directory in the back of this issue to find local businesses harvesting, milling, and bringing the wood to the market (also available online at www.homelinkmag.com). Also, the Colorado State Forest Service Steamboat Springs District maintains a list of local wood product producers. It can be found at www.csfs.colostate.edu . The list is by no means complete, but it's a great start. The State Forest Service also supports a Colorado-wide list of Colorado forest producers through the Colorado Forest Products program. The web site is www.coloradoforestproducts.org
Local commercial lumberyards may also sell some locally produced wood products. It sure doesn't hurt to ask them, and let them know you're interested in using local wood products.
Make The Choice - Ask For Beetle Kill
Just as a tree is a near-perfect example in nature of a sustainable living structure-it creates its own energy, processes its own food supply, recycles its own water and waste, and at the same time provides a benefit to the ecosystem-the use of native wood will continue to be an important component of sustainable building as the concept continues to evolve.
The choices we make as consumers can make a difference to the environment and to larger social issues as well. There is currently an abundance of beetle kill wood in Northwest Colorado that has productive uses. Consider using this resource if you are involved in any aspect of building-it's a great choice!
- Beetle Trivia
- The mountain pine beetle was once called the Black Hills beetle because of extensive outbreaks in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Foresters once thought that the mountain pine beetle would only attack ponderosa pine, thus its scientific name, Dendroctonus ponderosae.
- Dendroctonus means “tree killer” in Latin.
- What we refer to as bluestain fungi is actually a mix of several fungi and yeasts that the beetle introduces into the tree. Beetles have a complicated relationship with the fungi, and scientists are still unraveling some of these mysteries.
- Bluestain fungi provide a kind of food supplement for the developing beetle larvae, and some studies indicate that larvae and young adults that receive this supplement are more likely to mature sexually and successfully reproduce.
- Mountain pine beetles transport the fungi into the tree through specialized receptacles on their mouthparts called mycangium. The fungi are also transported by small mites that live on the beetles!
- Mountain pine beetles use chemical signals called semiochemicals to determine what trees to attack and to communicate information to other beetles.
- The female mountain pine beetle does most of the work ensuring the survival of the species. She attacks the tree and, if successful, excavates the tunnel (called a gallery) that the eggs are laid in. The male follows the female in only after the tree has been successfully attacked.
- Beetles also use sound to communicate. The male mountain pine beetle uses a chirping sound when mating to keep other male beetles away. The beetle produces the sound by rubbing its hard outer wing against its abdomen.
Features
The Beetle Kill Issue
10 Years Strong
Building Green With Beetle Kill Wood
A Cut Above - Harvesting and Milling
Securing Safer Forests by Salvaging Snags
Stimulus Funding Hits the Ground
Departments
The Green Scene
Builder Perspectives
Decor & Style
Real Estate
Archive
Winter 2007
Archive
Summer 2008