Highlighting this recent article about Jay Healy and his sawmill in Charlemont, MA. Jay is a former state legislator and agriculture secretary. What is interesting about his sawmill is not only does it harvest wood from his own family’s 500 acre tree farm (the largest in the state) but it’s extremely efficient. Jay boasts that 80% of his mill’s power comes from solar energy and his wood waste heats his kilns.
Jay is also a big advocate for American sawmilling. He speaks of logs heading north to Canada at the rate of “100 to 1” where Canadian sawmills finish the wood and then it is sold back to the U.S. His goal is to increase the sawmill potential in the state and have American wood sawn and finished in the U.S. The softwood lumber trade issue with Canada is divisive and complicated but you can commend Mr. Healy’s desire for the local industry to thrive.
It’s a good read for anyone interested in private small-business sawmilling and you can read the entire article here.
