When George McKinley looks at the dense stands of small trees in southwestern Oregon, he sees more than forest health and wildfire threats.

He sees opportunity.

"Focusing on these small-diameter trees holds promise — it might even allow us to move forward," he said of the decades-old debate between conservation and cutting.

"It might allow us to take a fresher look at resource management in general," he said. "There is potential as a forest health and community safety issue."

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McKinley is among a growing number of local residents, including environmental activists and timber industry representatives, seeking common ground in the woods.

Although there are still unresolved issues, including how much and where the trees could be harvested, those looking for conflict resolution stand together on logging small trees from overstocked forests.

"Size matters when it comes to finding peace in the woods," said Dominick DellaSala, ecologist with the World Wildlife Fund office in Ashland. "Small trees is one issue where we have agreement across interests."

"It’s the right thing to do," said Ken Cummings, chief forester for Boise Corp. in Southern Oregon. "If there is anyone who can’t get on the side of better utilization, well, I’m not sure where they are at."

An example of broad-based support was illustrated in the 40-acre Boaz project on Bureau of Land Management forestland in the Little Applegate Valley that began early this year.

Officially known as the Boaz Forest Health and Small Diameter Utilization Project, it is expected to produce some 250,000 board feet of small-diameter conifer logs when completed next year.

The project was funded by federal Title II money provided through the 2000 Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. The project contractor was paid $3,000 per acre for the thinning.

The Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, an environmental group known for holding resource management agencies’ feet to the fire, supported it. So did the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, an industry group equally adamant about its views.

All of the Boaz fir, cut into lumber by a portable mill capable of handling up to 9-inch diameter logs, has been sold, said McKinley, who worked on the project. He has a load of incense cedar logs that will soon be delivered to customers to be used for paneling and siding.

In addition to being a small forestland owner in the Greensprings area, McKinley is the project director of Jefferson Sustainable Development Initiative. The new nonprofit group promotes regional sustainability and cooperation.

"We have to find ways to work cooperatively on projects to demonstrate that you can work in the woods, improve forest health and contribute economically in terms of strengthening the rural work force and providing material for regional markets," he said.

Importing wood products from other nations that have no environmental safeguards only transfers environmental problems to those areas, he said.

But he agrees with others that it’s a challenge to find a big market for small-diameter material.

Right now, the small-diameter material is being used locally for posts and poles, firewood, log furniture, log homes, chipping and as fuel for power plants such as Biomass One in White City.

But that limited market could easily be flooded by a glut of material, McKinley said.

"We need to find out where the existing markets are," he said. "What I’ve found with the small-diameter material we’re using now is that most of it is a way to help offset the cost of doing the basic prescription necessary."

Some believe the answer would be to build a local commercial mill in the Rogue Valley capable of cutting lumber out of small-diameter logs.

"It’s a win-win," observed Cummings. "You don’t have to burn it. There is no downside there.

"The problem is handling the material right now," he said. "We’re not talking about pickup loads of firewood you or I may cut on a weekend. We’re talking about billions of board feet."

Even on its second-growth forests, which already have been logged once, Boise is producing between 20 tons and 30 tons of material per acre which could be chipped or used in a small-log operation, Cummings said.

Public forestlands often have a higher stand density, he said.

"If you do the math of burning all that, it creates too much smoke," he said of the region where pollution from wood-burning smoke is already a concern.

"Air quality is as important as water quality," he said.

DellaSala would agree.

Done correctly, removal of small trees from an area can improve forest health and reduce the threat of a devastating fire, DellaSala said. The result would be a boost to the local economy by providing jobs in rural communities, he said.

"But we have a history where the economic cart is put in front of (the) ecological horse," he said, referring to efforts to cut large trees. "Our concern is really size and where you do the work."

Areas such as forest plantations, overstocked stands and the rural interface would be good candidates for thinning small trees, he said.

"The Achilles’ heel is how we are going to pay for it," he said. "There is always the deal to let the big trees pay for the small ones. That’s what the Bush administration wants to do."

Bad idea, said DellaSala, noting that the big trees are vital to maintaining forest health.

He suggests that instead of providing funds for below-cost timber sales, Congress should earmark that money for restoration activities and small-diameter tree-harvest projects.

"Nobody is going to make a killing on small-diameter trees, but they can make a living," he said.

It’s exceedingly difficult to carve a living out of harvesting small-diameter trees, cautioned Amy Wilson, coordinator for the Resource Conservation and Development Council based in Grants Pass. The five-county program was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"It’s almost like recycling," she said. "It’s something that needs to be done. But it’s labor intensive with an end product that is not that valuable."

There is only one large commercial operation using small-diameter logs in Washington and Oregon — Vaagen Brothers Lumber Inc. out of Colville, Wash.

A large commercial enterprise to harvest small-diameter logs locally would need a guaranteed steady source of wood to keep in business, said Dave Schott, executive secretary of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association.

"But it’s a great way to thin forests that need thinning," he said. "You can make great two-by-fours with small logs."

Chris West, vice president of the American Forest Resource Council in Portland, stresses the industry still has plenty of interest in old-growth timber.

"To think that everybody has retooled and is not interested in old-growth timber, that’s a fallacy," West said. "There is still a lot of interest in that product."

Phil Clark, who started Out of the Woods Ecoforestry in the Little Applegate Valley with Joe Schattler more than half a dozen years ago, figures small logs are the future.

"Our perspective is that there is a growing market," Clark said. "My partner says it’s like organic food was 20 to 25 years ago. Now look at organic food. You find it all over."

The firm, which now has nine full-time employees, focuses on thinning to reduce forest fuels, harvesting in an environmentally friendly manner to produce Forest Stewardship Council certified products.

The small-diameter material is processed with a portable bandsaw mill. They are now building a drying kiln for flooring and molding products.

"The challenge is to gear up to use small diameters," he said. "The wood isn’t as clear (as that from larger logs). There are more knots."

But he figures it has a use and beauty all its own.

So does George McKinley.

"The potential is there to move us forward," McKinley said, adding, "We just have to take advantage of the opportunity."

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com