WoodLots News Archive October 2001 - Issue 37
Demand for Chestnut Palings
Opportunity to Improve Coppice Cutting Efficiency
Removing the mystery around Timber Harvesting & Sales Course
Wood Fuel Buyers Clubs seek suppliers
The Timber Sellers Puzzle
An opportunity has come up for chestnut palings to be supplied for a 'Challenge' project in Scotland where they will be used to mark deer fences to prevent capercaillie from flying into them. Required quantities not known until mid October but a strong demand for bundles of 3ft pales is likely this winter. If you can supply these please contact: Debbie Bartlett on 01622 221565 or Matthew Woodcock on 01420 23337 for more details.
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Removing the Mystery around Timber Harvesting & Sales A one day course for managers and owners who feel they lack experience in marketing their timber. The day will cover:
It is widely acknowledged that our woodland resource must be managed in a responsible and sustainable way and great effort is put into blending the often-complex mix of constraints into appropriate management plans. However, when it comes to translating plans into action, whether woodland is managed primarily for conservation or for production, managers must inevitably deal with those who make a living from the felling, processing and sale of timber. This despite the fact that for the first time in our history many management activities are frequently carried out without the aim of producing a usable product. In conservation and amenity woodland management, timber marketing may only be viewed as a difficult task of little benefit or as just compromising the main objectives, yet all woodlands can still produce timber to help offset costs. Who wants the timber and how much is it actually worth are the two key questions Course to be held on Friday 30th November 2001 at Bore Place, Chiddingstone, Kent, 9am to 4.30pm. Cost is £35.00 + VAT per person (£41.12). Please note that places are limited. For further information or to book on the course please contact: David Rossney, Esus Forestry & Woodlands Ltd, The Beeches, Station Road, Pluckley, Ashford TN27 0QU Tel: 01580 892180 |
Opportunity to Improve Your Coppice Cutting Efficiency
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Following a recent study*, some methods have been developed that have been shown to make chestnut coppice cutting safer, less hard work and faster. |
With a view to offering subsidised training in these methods to cutters in the South East, funding is being actively sought. We need to know if you are interested and where you are based so that we can target funding effectively. Please let me know: Debbie Bartlett, Tel 01622 221565, EMU 2nd Floor, Invicta House, Maidstone ME14 1XX. Email debbie.bartlett@kent.gov.uk. (*Research by the partnership set up for the Multipurpose Woodlands in Kent/Nord-Pas de Calais INTERREG project)
Fire Wood Suppliers Sought for Wood Fuel Buyers' Clubs
NEF Renewables, a department within the National Energy Foundation, are looking for firewood suppliers for their new project, the Wood Fuel Buyers' Clubs and are maintaining a database of wood fuel suppliers as part of their Renewable Energy for the Home project. Wood provides a particularly accessible and cost effective source of renewable energy for heating homes and the Buyers’ Clubs aim to:
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help identify local, sustainable sources of wood.
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increase the purchasing power of individual members to gain consistency in terms of quality, price and quantity.
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provide training to members.
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assist with the delivery and storage of wood
If you would like to be included in this database please contact: Jenny Martin, Weald WoodNet, Woodland Enterprise Centre, Hastings Road, Flimwell, East Sussex, TN5 7PR, Tel: 01580 879552 and I will pass your details onto NEF Renewables. Both the Wood Fuel Buyers' Clubs and Renewable Energy for the Homes projects are part supported by DEFRA's Environmental Action Fund.
The Timber Sellers PuzzleIf millers and carpenters use only the heartwood of oak, why do they need the tree to be felled in winter when the sap is ‘down’? This question has a new importance because of climate change. In the South East it is now almost unknown to have a period of frost that hardens the wet winter ground to allow clean timber extraction. Without that spell, winter hauling may badly disturb the ground, an important factor because of today’s aim of conserving the whole woodland. Should we leave the felled trees until next summer? Oak, possibly, but that wouldn’t do for beech and some other species. An Occasional Seller (If you have a comment that you would like to include in WoodLots please forward to the editor 23rd November 2001) |