Recently in the news...

US DOE Funds Biomass Particle Optimization and Production Research

The US DOE Small Business Innovation Research program awarded Forest Concepts with a two-year $1,000,000 Phase II contract to devlop new equipment systems for comminution and new feedstock particles that are optimized for preprocessing and conversion to second-generation biofuels.

USDA Funds Sorting Wood from Wood

The USDA Small Business Innovation Research program awarded Forest Concepts with a two-year $350,000 Phase II contract to advance the development of their technologies for reprocessing hog fuel and other chipped woody biomass.

Forest Concepts donates truckload of WoodStraw® mulch to Jesusita fire recovery

Forest Concepts and partner Mt. West Helicopters donated and delievered a full truckload of thier innovative wood-strand erosion control material WoodStraw® to the county of Santa Barbara, CA for use in the Jesusita fire environmental recovery effort.

Forest Products Equipment article mentions baling technology

The April 2009 issue of Forest Products Equipment has an article describing Grays Harbor Paper's bioenergy operations. The article mentions Forest Concepts' baling technology as an additional source of biomass for their electricity generating steam turbines.

Jim Dooley was named co-chair of the Bioenergy Engineering 2009 conference

Jim Dooley was named co-chair of the Bioenergy Engineering 2009 conference to be held in Bellevue, WA on October 11-14, 2009. More information about the conference is available at: www.bioenergyengineering2009.com

Mt. West Helicopters invests in Forest Concepts

On January 9, 2009 Mt. West Helicopters of Alpine, Utah made a minority equity investment in Forest Concepts. Bryan Burr, president and owner of Mountain West Helicopters, stated, "Over the past two years, Forest Concepts' patented WoodStraw® Erosion Control Mulch (ECM) has become an important treatment applied for erosion prevention on critical and sensitive burned areas resulting from wildfires. Mike Perry, CEO of Forest Concepts, adds, "During 2008, Mountain West Helicopters was Forest Concepts' most significant purchaser of WoodStraw® ECM, and Bryan Burr's confidence and support has enabled our company to make improvements to our WoodStraw® ECM production process and capacity, and to build inventory."

Forest Concepts Celebrates 10th Aniversary

Founded on December 11, 1998, Forest Concepts, LLC of Auburn, Washington is celebrating ten years of making it easier for customers to complete environmental restoration, endangered species habitat and erosion control projects with natural wood products. Hundreds of customers across the United States rely on wood products from Forest Concepts. The company's flagship ELWd® habitat structures and WoodStraw® wood strand erosion control materials were developed using sound science and disciplined engineering to meet the critical requirements of natural resource agencies, water and air quality regulators, and to be easily applied by contractors and conservation crews.

WoodStraw® ECM featured in KSL TV news report

KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah included a nearly three-minute news segment today about the effectiveness of WoodStraw® wood strand erosion control material that was being applied by helicopter above Draper, Utah. The WoodStraw® mulch was manufactured and supplied by Forest Concepts, LLC of Auburn, Washington. Mountain West Helicopters applied the material on USDA Forest Service owned hillsides above Draper, Utah to protect the town and speed revegetation of an area burned by wildfire in August 2008.

WoodStraw® specified at the new Kent Washington Event Center

WoodStraw® wood strand erosion control material was specified by the City of Kent, Washington for mulching natural areas adjacent to the new ShoWare Event Center. The WoodStraw® mulch was manufactured and supplied by Forest Concepts, LLC of Auburn, Washington. The baled wood strand material was delivered as-needed from the Forest Concepts warehouse which is only a few miles from the project. Over the course of construction, more than 2,500 bales of WoodStraw® mulch was spread by City of Kent crews.

BLM Boise releases 3 year revegetation report featuring WoodStraw®

The Boise office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has released its three-year performance monitoring report on erosion control and revegetation for the 2005 Snake One fire along the Snake River near Weiser, Idaho. This post-wildfire application was the first operational use of WoodStraw® wood strand erosion control material by the BLM anywhere in the United States. The WoodStraw® mulch was manufactured and supplied by Forest Concepts, LLC of Auburn, Washington.

Forest Concepts wins Rain Bird Engineering Concepts of the Year Award

Forest Concepts, LLC, Auburn, Washington, was awarded the 2008 Rain Bird Engineering Concept of the Year for their innovative wood-strand erosion control material it sells under the WoodStraw® brand. Using laboratory research data and mathematical modeling, the company designed this innovative and effective long-strand material to significantly out-perform agricultural straw in terms of longer functional life, resistance to wind, inherently free of weed seeds, and interlocking ability to cling to steep slopes.

Jim Dooley elected president of ASABE

On July 2, 2008 Dr. James H. (Jim) Dooley PhD, P.E. was installed as the president of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) for 2008-2009. ASABE is an international technical and scientific organization with more than 9,000 members in 104 countries who are dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to biological, food, and agricultural systems. ASABE members are actively engaged in solving critical global issues of our time including production of agricultural commodities to feed a hungry world, leading the conversion from fossil fuels to bioenergy, improving food and water quality, and protecting the environment. Jim Dooley is a co-founder of Forest Concepts and its Chief Technology Officer.

WoodStraw® trademark granted by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

On July 15, 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office completed their review and registered Forest Concepts trademark "WoodStraw" as a protected brand identifier for the company's wood-strand erosion control material. Federal registration enables Forest Concepts to restrict the use of the WoodStraw® mark to only erosion control and mulch products authorized by the company.

Woody biomass baler technology completes testing

Engineers at Forest Concepts recently completed a USDA Phase II SBIR project to 1) develop engineering data related to woody biomass baling; 2) to conduct processing tests with power plants in Washington and Oregon to assess the value of baled woody biomass; and 3) to design/build a full-scale prototype baler to validate the engineering and science for baling woody biomass. The USDA funding was specifically targeted to replace tow-behind chippers with a woody biomass and brush baler that enables cost effective delivery for woody feedstocks from urban and suburban centers to rural cogeneration plants and other wood fiber users. More than six years of experience in baling wood-strand materials (our WoodStraw® erosion control mulch) using industrial balers in a production environment at Forest Concepts guided us to decide that a completely new generation of purpose-built biomass balers would be needed for densification of woody biomass and tough agricultural crop residues. While others were continuing to try to beef-up and adapt ag balers, we embarked on a "sound science-disciplined design" baler development project. The project culminated with construction and testing of an innovative prototype baler. The technology is currently available for licensing to an equipment manufacturer capable of serving the rapidly expanding woody biomass supply industry. Results of the project were presented at the Council on Forest Engineering meeting in Charleston, SC in June of 2008.

USDA SBIR program funds biomass pre-processing development at Forest Concepts

On May 1, 2008, Forest Concepts launched a project to develop improved methods to supply woody biomass feedstocks to the bio-products and bioenergy industries. The core premise of the project is that commingled woody biomass chips and shreds contain significant amounts of bole and branch wood which have economic value. The objective of the SBIR project is to increase the utility of field-processed woody biomass material by separating valuable wood content from other materials. This is Forest Concepts' fourth USDA-SBIR contract related to forest products.

BIOMASS magazine feature article: "Northwest ingenuity takes shape"

In a six-page story titled "Northwest Ingenuity Takes Shape," BIOMASS Magazine profiled Forest Concepts as a leading innovator in the bioenergy feedstocks arena. Bryan Sims, staff writer for the industry leading trade magazine, chose to focus on how our WoodMuncher™ technology was developed and is applicable to produce precision bioenergy feedstocks. Sims also commented on our development of biomass baling as an extension of our experience baling WoodStraw® erosion control materials.

Jim Dooley awarded the Institue of Biological Engineering's highest honor

Dr. James H. Dooley, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer with Forest Concepts, LLC was presented with the Brahm and Sudha Verma Lifetime Visionary Award from the Institute of Biological Engineering at their 2007 annual meeting in St. Louis, MO. The award is the organization's highest honor, and recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of the biological engineering profession over many years. Dr. Dooley was the second person to receive the award during the past ten years.

WoodStraw® ECMrecieved the 2006 AE50 award for innovative technology

ASABE's Resource magazine chose Forest Concepts' WoodStraw® innovative wood-strand erosion control material to receive one of their AE50 Award winners. The judges who chose the winners represent all facets of the agricultural, food, biological, and related systems engineering professions. The expert panel picked the best of products first introduced to the marketplace during 2005. These products are expected to save producers time, costs, and labor while improving user safety.

Smallwood Pallet Bunks recieve 2004 AE50 award for innovative technology

Multi-Modal Wood Bunks for Small Diameter Roundwood enable efficient transport of wood from forest thinning programs and labor-efficient handling of smallwood at community-based forest products firms. The all-steel bunks are designed to hold approximately one-half ton of roundwood. The bunks can be moved by pallet jack or forklift at a production facility. The design facilitates tipping by automated equipment to feed roundwood onto a log deck or into a processing line. The bunks also can be lifted from the top by a log loader for easy stacking, placing or loading in the forest. The bunks can be hauled on a self-loading flatbed trailer, conventional flatbed truck and small trailers. The bunks are designed to nest when empty so they may be efficiently stored or transported back to the forest from town.