Established in 2017 via charter from the Council of Western State Foresters (CWSF), the Forest Utilization Network (FUN) addresses a range of forest utilization issues of regional significance. Our state members are working to support sustainable forest management, the forest industry and communities in concert with the CWSF leadership.
FUN also informs the CWSF about issues and opportunities for leadership action.
| Chair | Tom Perry Wood Products & Renewable Energy, Montana Dept. of Natural Resources & Conservation, Forestry Division |
| Vice Chair | Tim Reader Wood Products Utilization & Marketing Program Specialist, Colorado State Forest Service |
| Past Chair | Marcus Kauffman Biomass Resource Specialist, Oregon Dept. of Forestry |
| State Forester Representative | Peter Daugherty State Forester, Oregon Dept. of Forestry |
| Laura Schweitzer Executive Director, CWSF |
FUN leadership is rotated on an annual basis among member states to assure the widest diversity of expertise and representation. Membership consists of one representative from each CWSF member state and islands. Appointments are made on a voluntary basis by state foresters.
CWSF Biochar Market Analysis – The main objective of this project is to provide a comprehensive outlook of the potential of biochar development within the western region of the U.S in a question-and-answer format. The report (PDF from CWSF) also touches on economic and regulatory incentives and barriers to biochar production and use.
Mass Timber Market Analysis – This analysis (PDF from the Oregon Department of Forestry) summarizes:
Forest Utilization Network: Success Stories 2020 is a new publication from CWSF that features utilization success stories from across the West highlighting the efforts of state forestry agencies to build new markets for timber and non-timber forest products.
CoWood’s Forest Business Loan Fund is featured in the Colorado section of the publication.
Taken together, the stories show the innovation and ingenuity at work across the region, from biochar on the Great Plains to jet fuel in the Pacific Northwest.
Mobile Biochar Demonstration – In 2019, FUN hosted on-site demonstrations of a mobile biochar production technology from Ragnar Original Innovation to help address a range of woody debris waste streams, such as:
Contact Tim Reader for information on the Forest Utilization Network.
The map below displays the participating members of the Forest Utilization Network (FUN) by state, with links to each state’s wood utilization/biomass webpage.
If the map is not displaying for you, try to refresh the page by using Shift-F5, or view the map on the Esri website.