Sustainable Lumber

The Paulownia has a working market in the lumber industry and is well sought after America now with a sustainable renewable resource tag. 4 to 5 year old trees yielding a conservative 200 to 300 board feet. Harvests can start as soon as the 1st year harvesting 16 to 30 foot poles at 4” to 5” diameter Paulownia, originally from China, can produce a butt log of mill able quality hardwood timber within four to six years. This compares with a minimum of 18-20 years for other hardwoods.

Characteristics: Wood harvested from faster-growing trees tend to be darker in color whereas slower growing trees from cooler climates produces a finer grained, lighter wood. Paulownia provides the craftsman with a wood that is non-warping, resistant to water damage and rot, unaffected by humidity and does not require kiln drying. Prized in Japan for centuries for it’s beauty, workability and light weight.

Paulownia has the potential to become the wood of choice in the North American market.

Uses: Pauwlonia is widely used in Asia for furniture, decorative paneling and musical instruments. It is light and strong with a silky smooth finish and takes a wide range of stains. Plantation grown timber produces straight grained, knot-free timber. Paulownia timber could substitute for broad leaf timber that is harvested from the tropical rain forests of Asia, South America and Africa.

Veneer: Paulownia can be sliced or peeled finer than any other timber and still maintain its structural integrity. In Taiwan, Paulownia is sliced to 1/1,000 inch and veneered onto paper for decorative purposes. Paulownia veneer can be used to face composite timber products and make them more attractive. Most high quality veneer timbers are becoming increasingly expensive and harder to find as they normally come from broadleaf trees harvested from old growth forests. Veneer is the highest value end uses.

Moldings and Architraves: Paulownia is ideal to use for moldings, architraves and wall paneling as the wood is light, strong and finishes well.

Pulp: Fast grown Paulownia has excellent prospects for pulp as it can be harvested on a three to four year rotation after which it can be coppiced and allowed to re-grow. The timber's long strong fibers are light colored and require little bleaching. The Paulownia pulp yield per cubic meter of timber is comparatively low so it is best mixed with other timber pulps.

Structural Poles: At 3 to 4 years of age Paulownia trees can produce a very straight cylindrical pole with no side branches or deformities 18 feet in height and 10-12" thick. This log is light but very rigid and it will not sag under heavy loads, making it ideal for construction. In Shandon, China 4 year old poles are now used as ridge poles and uprights and 3 year old poles are used as rafters to support concrete and clay tiled roofs. Villagers claim that the poles are stronger and less prone to sagging than the traditional conifer poles.

The supply of lumber and the raw material for wood and paper-related products is forever dwindling. It has been estimated that 95% of our first-growth forests here in the United States have been cut in the last 100 years.

Supplies will continue to erode as a result of:

  1. Human consumption: Tropical forests are being destroyed at alarming rates.
  2. Clearing and burning for grazing land.
  3. Commercial lumber harvesting.
  4. Natural disasters such as fires and floods ravage hundreds of thousands of acres every year. Most of these activities cause serious erosion and loss of topsoil.
  5. Government regulations: In an effort to protect endangered plant and animal species and to comply with the pressures of public opinion, more and more forestlands are being taken out of production by government mandates.
  6. Private and government acquisition.
  7. Very slow replacement time.

With most commodities, when the demand goes up, producers simply plant more acreage of corn or wheat or the oil companies pump more oil. With these examples, and with most commodities, the "turn around time" is a matter of months. In the lumber business, the turn around time from planting to harvesting is usually a matter of decades.

The Opportunity

Basic business economics makes it clear that the most desirable place to be is in the middle between a long term decreasing supply, and a steadily increasing demand. The Paulownia Plantation Program is the easiest way to enter the world lumber market as a producer/supplier without purchasing a forest or waiting 30 to 40 years. To be among those who plant Paulownia as an Agro-forester means you will be able to market the lumber quickly while receiving high prices for your product.

Waiting for forests to naturally regenerate takes far too long, and is not economically feasible. To speed things up, various methods of reforestation are employed (propagating and re-planting harvested forest regions). These practices have shortened the re-growth of a forest region; nonetheless, it still requires 35 to 45 years. To further shorten the time from germination to harvest, scientists have helped to develop faster growing pine varieties. However, this method still takes 20 to 30 years, depending on all the variables (soils, climate, cultural practices, etc.).

Among the fastest growing, wood producing trees in the world are various species of Eucalyptus, poplar and Paulownia. The Eucalyptus wood is primarily used for cellulose and firewood. Poplar wood is used as a low cost wood for doors, windows and molding. Paulownia is the highest quality of the fast growers it has a built in market classified as a light weight hardwood. Like any wood product, the older the wood at harvest the higher the quality (more "character" to the wood) and the higher the price.