Inside the Portland Airport Renovation: Sustainable Northwest Woods and Xena Forest Products:

In this episode of the ‘In the Woods’ podcast, host Scott Leavengood from Oregon State University’s Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Service dives into the recent renovations at Portland International Airport (PDX). Scott talks with Ryan Temple of Sustainable Northwest Woods and Ben Deunling of Xena Forest Products, two key figures in Oregon’s forest products industry. They discuss the logistics, challenges, and stories behind sourcing and implementing local, sustainable wood products for the airport renovation. Learn about the specifics of sourcing from local forests, dealing with supply chain issues during a pandemic, and the importance of promoting diverse species for fsorest resilience.

At that point, people said, “I don’t know. Now you’re really asking a lot.” We were one of the few voices in the room that said, “These people are out there. The forest managers, the mills behind the logs are out there. We can make this happen. We can make it happen locally, and we’ll even give you one more. Not only can we have it come from these forests, but we can trace it back to the forest.”

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Resources Mentioned

• Sustainable Northwest Wood
• Zena Forest Products
• Forest Stewards Guild
• Sustainable Northwest
• Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities Partnership
• ZGF Architects
• FSC Certification
• PDXnext – Portland Airport Project Information
• Portland Airport Tour with Ben Deumling
• Oregon State University Forestry and Natural Resources Extension
• Oregon Forest Resources Institute
• In the Woods Podcast

Favorite Tree(s)

• Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana) –
• Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)

Interesting/Helpful Tools

• Calculator apps and Google Spreadsheets – Essential business management tools mentioned by Ben Deumling
• Community networks – Ryan Temple’s “tool” for connecting rural producers with consumers.

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