Sustainability question: What happens to all that blue-stained pine?

It is no mystery that the recent outbreak of mountain pine beetle has affected British Columbia forests and will continue for the following years as it continues to consume many more millions of hectares of forest lands.

Mountain pine beetles successfully kill trees by laying eggs into pine bark and transmitting blue-stain fungi. This blue-stain fungus in the tree’s sapwood prevents the tree from fighting back the beetle using pitch flow. Ultimately the fungus blocks nutrient and water flow within the tree until the tree turns red and eventually dies. The beetles then move to other trees and the cycle starts all over again.

Pictured above are British Columbia lodgepole pine trees killed by the mountain pine beetle. Without new products and technologies that drive demand for products made from blue-stained wood, these trees are just left to rot, carbon stored in the wood is released back into the atmosphere, and the resources are lost.

Although many customers frown upon the appearance of a blue or grayish stain on their wood, fortunately the wood’s strength is not adversely affected by the blue-stain fungi. If the wood is harvested sufficiently on time, the wood quality is just as good as a harvested ‘healthy tree’ that was harvested normally. Many companies attempt to recover the value from this pine beetle wood, mainly because it is perfectly good wood and because by doing so, the carbon is trapped in the wood for decades in the form of products instead of being released back into the atmosphere as it rots.

.

Blue-stained fungi carried by mountain pine beetle does not adversely affect wood strength but wood must be harvested early enough.

SeasonWood utilizes a new European technology that is called thermal modification. Originated in Europe because wood in Europe is expensive and longevity is imperative, this technology works by subjecting wood to steam and high temperatures to produce a darker, more durable, and more stable wood product.

Thermal modification has been used in mountain pine beetle killed trees to produce many products. The blue-stain left by the fungi is virtually masked by the darkening from thermal modification, and the enhanced durability and stability properties of thermally modified wood seriously challenge the properties of species such as western red cedar. By taking commodity lumber and modifying it using green technologies, SeasonWood provides customers with a sustainable, chemical-free, and affordable alternative for great wood products. SeasonWood has utilized thermally mountain pine beetle stock to produce beautiful lumber for thermally modified decking, siding, and various other outdoor products requiring durability, stability, and a visually appealing characteristic.

Softwoods have been thermally modified to produce outdoor products such as beveled siding and wall paneling. Those thermally modified species include lodgepole pine, hemlock, white spruce, black spruce, engelmann spruce, larch, mountain pine beetle wood, southern yellow pine, ponderosa pine, and douglas fir. Some enhanced wood properties are more rot resistance, better stain performance, and masking of blue stain in pine beetle wood. This allows lower value species to be enhanced to compete with more expensive tropical woods.Thermal modification has been used to manufacture products such as gunstocks and fine cabinetry by using species like aspen, hickory, elm, white oak, poplar, ash, birch, maple, red oak, and alder.