Forest Concepts, LLC, a small business in Auburn, Washington granted a license today to Mountain Pine Manufacturing, Inc., of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, for the exclusive right to manufacture, distribute and sell Engineered Wood-based Mulch within a five state area. Mountain Pine Manufacturing will be producing the engineered mulch from the tremendous supply of Beetle-Kill Pine in the area, and in doing so will be making an environmentally friendly use of the trees while creating jobs in Routt County.
Trent Jones, President of Mountain Pine Manufacturing, said, “It makes perfect sense to convert beetle-kill trees into an engineered mulch that will promote regeneration of new living trees. WoodStraw® historically produced from Douglas Fir has already been used on projects in Colorado such as the Fourmile Canyon Fire near Boulder. The only difference between the WoodStraw® provided by Forest Concepts in past years, and Mountain Pine Manufacturing’s new engineered mulch is that it is now available from Beetle-Kill Pine.
We are extremely excited about working with Forest Concepts to bring new industry to Steamboat Springs, and to help answer Colorado’s Beetle-Kill epidemic.” Forest Concepts developed the engineered wood based mulch with assistance from the USDA SBIR Program and the Forest Service, which they trademarked WoodStraw®. Forest Concepts owns US patent 6,729,068, ENGINEERED WOOD-BASED MULCH PRODUCT, which expires on August 21, 2022. Since June 2006 at their facility near Seattle, Forest Concepts has produced more than 14,000 tons of WoodStraw® used on projects in the forest service, BLM, national parks, state, county and city DOTs and parks. WoodStraw® is approved for use by the Washington State Department of Ecology, WS DOT, OR DOT and ID DOT and has been used on more than 30 post-wildfire projects to protect critical areas from erosion.
About WoodStraw® Engineered Wood-based Mulch:
Our patented WoodStraw® ECM is manufactured (recycled) from “green” industrial grade veneer and has been proven to be:
- An effective water & wind erosion control
- 100% weed and seed-free
- Chemical and herbicide free
- Resistant to high winds
- Minimizes dust-PM10 (USFS recent publication)
- Long lasting for 4 or more years
- Does not require staples or tackifiers
- Promotes revegetation (BLM 3 year report)
- Easily applied by hand, blower or helicopter
- Durable-can be walked or driven on
- Successful use on slopes up to 70%
- Animals will not eat it
- Attractive and ecologically preferable
For more information on WoodStraw® visit www.woodstraw.com.
About Forest Concepts LLC:
Established in 1998, Forest Concepts, LLC has a mission of developing novel technologies that create high valued uses for the millions of tons of unused woody biomass available today. We apply a deep understanding of plant biology, renewable resource production, and disciplined engineering development to create transformational and paradigm-changing solutions. Deployment of Forest Concepts’ novel technologies will help reduce dependence on domestic and imported fossil fuels, improve the atmospheric carbon balance, and create sustainable jobs throughout the biomass production and supply industry.
For more information visit our corporate web site www.forestconcepts.com.
Michael C. (Mike) Perry
C.E.O., Forest Concepts, LLC President
(253) 333-9663
mperry@forestconcepts.com
Trent Jones
Mountain Pine Manufacturing
(970) 879-0962
trent@rogueinc.us