The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that a Williamsburg, Massachusetts, wood business will be getting $300,000 to find a better way to dry wood.

Lashway Lumber Inc. will receive the money for its project, “A Better Approach to Drying Wood in Massachusetts.” The Western Massachusetts company touts “a classic sawmill that has flourished into a diverse forest to wood products business.” It conducts custom kiln drying, woodlot management, and logging.

In the past, the company has used a vacuum kiln to reduce the time needed to market fully dried lumber, as the company explained to Timberline Magazine in 2012. A batch of maple boards would take 1.5 days, compared to 18 days in a conventional kiln, one of the owners told the magazine.

The grant announcement came as part of a $43 million disbursement to expand innovative uses of wood, including as a construction material, an energy source, in manufacturing and processing, as well as for traditional uses, such as in “stick-built” homes and paper products.

Lashway’s project was one of 23 nationwide through Community Wood Grants and Wood Innovations Grants, longstanding U.S. Forest Service grant programs that promote innovation in wood products and renewable wood energy economies. Since 2015, these wood grants have provided more than $93 million to 381 recipients. The money was accounted for in President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

These grants help to restore healthy forests and reduce wildfire risk, protecting communities, infrastructure and resources while curbing climate change. Grant recipients include for-profit entities, state and local governments, tribes, school districts, community-based nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities, and special purpose districts.

Biden’s administration says that $470 billion in private sector manufacturing investments will grow from the Inflation Reduction Act, resulting in jobs, a clean energy economy and resilient communities.

The investments also support the Forest Service’s 10-year plan to fight the wildfire crises in the most at-risk communities.

Other Massachusetts grant awardees are Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment/Leggat McCall Properties, $300,000, for the Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment, and West Work LLC, $300,000, for 1 Elmwood Street, a 40-unit residential and multiuse building in Roxbury.

To learn more about the wood grant programs, visit fs.usda.gov/science-technology/energy-forest-products/wood-innovation/grants.

Published: Jun. 13, 2023, 1:52 p.m
Source: https://www.masslive.com/news/2023/06/lashway-lumber-awarded-300000-grant-to-better-its-wood-drying-capabilities.html