News
Tech Woods USA, LLC (TWU), a small business producing hardwood furniture blanks in Ronan, Montana on the Flathead Reservation of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), announces it is the recipient of a grant from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) through the FY23 Community Wood Grants program to support the new TWU Mission Mountain Wood Innovation Project (MMWIP). Tech Woods was awarded a $997,912 grant.
Link to USFS press release: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $43 Million Investment to Advance Innovation in Wood Products and Wood Energy Economies through Investing in America Agenda | USDA.
USFS awarded 19 Community Wood Grants to entities in 14 states. TWU was the sole recipient in the State of Montana. Community Wood Grants, officially titled the Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Program, awards funding to shovel-ready projects to install a community wood energy system or build an innovative wood product facility. Healthy forests depend on a healthy forest products economy, and these projects directly support forest health and stimulate local economies by expanding renewable wood energy and innovative wood products manufacturing capacity.
You can find the listing of awarded projects for the USFS FY 2023 grant programs by state at this website. [Be sure to scroll down to the listing under Community Wood grants]: https://www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/energy-forest-products/wood-innovation/grants
About MMWIP: MMWIP is an innovative harvest-local/buy-local project run by TWU that aims to build a US market for low-quality wood through the production of locally-produced, thermally-treated wood products using blue-stain wood and low-value timber harvested from forests of the Mission Mountains and throughout the Northern Rockies. By utilizing low-value timber, MMWIP will provide a new business model for restoration efforts needed to improve forest health and reduce wildfire risks. Through the installation of a new Moldrup-SSP18 plant for hydro-thermal treatment of wood, MMWIP will produce innovative, affordable, and environmentally-friendly soft (and hard) wood products entirely on-site at the TWU facility. Products will include blue wood siding, decking, and bridge timbers for use by CSKT, and contractors in and around Flathead Lake and in environmental reconstruction projects in the region. MMWIP will contribute to forest health by creating economic incentives for removing marginally-valued trees, and hence, reducing the risks of catastrophic stand-replacing wildfires. By recruiting, training, and employing Tribal members, descendants, and non-Native youth, MMWIP will contribute to creating jobs and improving the economy on the Flathead Reservation.
To learn more about TWU and MMWIP please go to our website: https://techwoodsusa.com
Contact Information:
Ms. Cari Carter (TWU-MMWIP Communications Coordinator)
Email: cari.techwoods@gmail.com
Mobile: (406) 546-6495
*As mentioned:
-Char-Koosta 9/29/2023 (newspaper)
-Valley Journal 10/4/2023 (newspaper)