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Colorado State Forest Service News

Forest Products Week Highlights Need for Coloradans to Use Local Wood

Photo: Dan Bihn
Purchasing locally harvested and produced wood products support sawmills and other businesses that are improving forest health. Photo: Dan Bihn

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Coloradans use enough wood fencing to completely enclose the state’s borders with Wyoming, Nebraska and New Mexico, and enough framing lumber in residential construction that, laid end to end, would reach over halfway to the moon. Yet 90 percent of the forest products purchased by Coloradans are imported into the state.

In recognition of the value that wood products play in everyone’s lives and the importance of the local forests that provide them, the Colorado State Forest Service is excited to help recognize National Forest Products Week.

“We’re asking Coloradans to take a few minutes of their time this week to appreciate all the ways wood products make our lives better,” said Tim Reader, CSFS utilization and marketing forester.

Local Forest Products Improve Rural Economies & Forest Health

“Whether for function or appearance, using wood in our agricultural, commercial and residential sectors is truly a way of life for most Coloradans, and this week’s recognition brings attention to the crucial contribution wood products play in improving the health of our forests and the economies of our rural communities.”

Reader says that although most wood products are imported, Colorado’s public and private forests are capable of supplying many of the same products residents currently purchase and use.

Kristina Hughes, another CSFS forester, is the program administrator for the Colorado Forest Products™ program, which encourages consumers to purchase locally made wood products from one of the state’s many wood businesses.

She says that by purchasing locally harvested and produced wood products, citizens support the sawmills and other businesses that are improving forest health, and protecting communities, property and critical infrastructure from wildfire.

“It’s an investment not only in our small businesses and local economies, but in the health of Colorado’s forests,” she says.

More Information

Consumers looking to buy locally produced wood products or businesses interested in joining the program can find out more at Colorado Forest Products™.

Coloradoans also can learn more about the way they can contribute to the wood products economy and how the state is supporting these businesses by visiting CoWood.

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Map powered by the Colorado Forest Atlas from the Colorado State Forest Service