Last week, a new coalition was announced to advance the manufacture of mass timber products using woody biomass across the state of California. The California Mass Coalition was recently formed after several months of discussions between forest land managers, academia, industry, and federal, state and local government to solve California’s dearth of options for utilizing woody byproducts.
RCRC is a founding member of the Coalition and will remain focused on developing industries in the state to utilize the byproducts from forest management and fuels treatment programs in and around rural communities. The Coalition will explore the use and manufacture of mass timber options such as cross-laminated timber, dowel laminated timber, and nail-laminated timber to help boost California’s broader climate and forest resilience goals, including expanding sustainable wood markets, reducing the amount of forest fuel and woody biomass that contributes to catastrophic wildfires, and promoting lower carbon construction materials in both public and private development. Advancing the industry will also create economic opportunities in forested communities, providing new jobs and economic benefits for rural areas.
The press release launching the Coalition can be viewed on the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s website HERE.
Contact Staci Heaton, RCRC Senior Policy Advocate, for more information.