Steven Apfelbaum, founder of AES Photo: AES

Mitchell writes, “For more than three decades, Steve, and the AES team have developed land-use solutions to help farmers, companies, landowners, and communities around the world strike a balance between cost and ecology. From transforming dismal landfills and dusty iron mines into pristine preserves and prairies, Steve continues to show how ecosystem services result in healthy wild, rural, and urban landscapes while boosting the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.”

She included an article for Green Streets to share that Mr. Apfelbaum recently wrote concerning the Gulf of Mexico and its unhealthy status even before the oil drilling disaster caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident. What he proposes here should be seriously considered by all communities, landowners, businesses and farmers wanting to help turn overwhelming problems into solutions. And while this post is longer than usual, it is very much worth reading and sharing.

Apfelbaum’s article follows (our emphasis marks provided):

Apfebaum offers solid land-use solutions. Photo: AES

“The Gulf of Mexico is sick, but, in fact, it’s been ill for a long time, and it needs a bigger fix. Now is the time to look at the broader picture, which includes water, soil, energy and climate—more broadly, the health of our nation’s natural resources. A National Carbon Reserve would concretely address the source of the Gulf’s maladies and offer myriad side benefits, such as carbon sequestration.

“Before the spill, there was a dead zone in the Gulf that has reached the size of the state of Massachusetts. It is the consequence of eutrophication, the accumulation of the nitrogen and phosphorus common in fertilizers, which creates algal blooms, which, in turn, die, and deplete the oxygen in the water. In these so-called anoxic conditions, marine creatures simply can’t breathe.

“The Gulf Dead Zone’s main artery is the Mississippi River, which dumps its high-nutrient, but deadly, fertilizer runoff some 100 miles south of New Orleans. The problem is that the Mississippi’s vast watershed (covering 43 percent of the entire lower 48 United States) and much of America’s agricultural heartland are sick as well.

“The problems are well understood: years of poor planning for public and private land use; degraded habitat and agricultural tillage of farm fields that contributes to soil erosion and greenhouse gases; excessive dependence on industrial fertilizers on farmlands; dams clogged with sediment that never reaches the Gulf to sustain its wetlands.

“The solutions are clear as well. We need a healthy land ethic that focuses on regrowing soil and replenishing clean water in ways that are more efficient and less costly.

“Fortunately, farmers can improve their soil and increase its carbon content through such techniques as “no-till” farming, in which farm-seeding equipment inserts seeds into small cuts in the earth. Traditional tillage farming, or plowing, on the other hand, releases carbon into the atmosphere.  No-till agriculture can cut costs in as little as two years and can even increase crop yields by up to 10 percent. It leaves leftover plant matter on the land, building the soil, and that added healthy soil acts as a sponge to lessen water runoff and prevents nutrients from entering rivers and lakes (which is what creates dead zones).

“Responsible ecological conservation and restoration of non-farmland is crucial as well. Replanting native grasslands (see recent article on bamboo in America) and restoring drained wetlands, forests, and savannas can also reduce water runoff and erosion of soils, and conserve and store carbon. Land-use policies must change at the national level. Not only has poor land use resulted in habitat degradation, erosion, and the poisoning of our waters, it is a significant contributor to global warming. Yet in discussing measures to curb pollution and GHG emissions, the focus is invariably on the iconic symbols of fossil fuel technology–smoking coal plants, gas-guzzling cars, and, obviously, offshore drilling.

“Think again. From 2000 to 2005, 53 percent of existing GHG emissions were mitigated and stored in the surface soils and vegetation of our planet at no cost to us. This is one of the wonderful things that the right plants planted in the right location and way do for a living.

“The National Carbon Reserve would combine the best of American ecological and conservation thought and practice with classic public-private market values and incentives, creating a model of carbon management tied to land protection and restoration and more productive agricultural management. Here are some specific strategies:

• Use a smart ecosystem service planning process to develop a policy roll-up of private and public conservation and agricultural lands (nearly all of which are already mapped and known) to guide soil rebuilding around simple principles to allow plants to do the work they do so well. This alone could provide profound cost savings by reducing irrigation water and fertilizer needs, improving crop yields and, oh, by the way, encouraging some of the most efficient carbon sequestration benefits imaginable.

• Create an incentivized, voluntary initiative in which participants can sell the value of improvements in soil carbon on the open market. The program’s goals would be to rebuild soil carbon and organic matter in agricultural production and ranchlands and other lands, and to reduce storm water runoff and erosion and increase water infiltration, replenishing declining potable ground water supplies in many areas of the U.S.

• Decouple the politics and economics of food from energy by encouraging more locally produced, healthy food grown with sustainable practices to balance our food supplies and reduce time and mileage in its travel from farm to table.

“The Reserve’s system of land-use planning to improve soil and water and to manage carbon would start mitigating GHG emissions quickly, while our economic, financial and policy systems move toward more sustainable energy sources. Progress on many of the issues raised here is being made at the local, state and federal levels and should be encouraged, but a national program remains critical.

“This plan would, in the long term, help heal the Gulf, the Mississippi, and our other rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. Ultimately, it could mitigate climate change—healing earth, water and sky.”

We are glad to pass these words along, Mr. Apfelbaum.

“Steven Apfelbaum is founder, chairman, and senior ecologist of the firm Applied Ecological Services, Inc., based in Brodhead, Wisconsin. He is also the author of Nature’s Second Chance: Restoring the Ecology of Stone Prairie Farm and the co-author, with Alan Haney, of Restoring Ecological Health to Your Land. For more than three decades, Steve and his dynamic team have contributed scientific expertise to more than 1,500 projects around the world.” – Maxine Mitchell

A composting toilet from BioLet in Sweden. Photo: BioLet

For those considering building without a septic tank or access to a sewer line, it might be time to look at composting toilets, especially if putrid smells can be avoided.  Swedish-based BioLet has manufactured waterless toilets for 35 years and indicates odor is not a problem, especially in Sweden where waterless toilet systems are required in many places. Here, the average American uses 7,665 gallons of water each year just flushing the toilet.

Just a few years ago mention of a composting toilet brought far more in the way of frowns than applause. As Peter Andersson, BioLet USA’s president pointed out in a press release, “People would go, “A what toilet…?!?” You either quickly changed the subject, or went into an ever-lasting explanation about what it is, how it works and especially why on earth anybody would want to have a toilet that doesn’t flush. Things are changing.”

Biolet waterless toilet Photo: BioLet

That is certainly true for the number of shopping options that exist today. Try an Internet toilet mall, for instance, called http://www.compostoilet.com/ which offer a variety of composting toilets including Sun-mar and Biolet brands. The green toilets use little water and are designed to help the environment while reducing your water bill.

Another waterless toilet retailer, Letsgogreen.com contends that a composting toilet is the most economical, convenient and environmentally friendly way to process toilet wastes when you can’t connect to a sewer or septic system, or in areas of water shortage.”

As BioLet’s website states, “These days, waterless toilets – and toilets that use less water – have become very common; in some areas they are even considered a necessity. Waterless urinals can be found at many airports or sport arenas, and people are gradually becoming more educated about wise water usage. “

The principle is very simple. Human waste is transformed into a dry, odorless material that can easily be disposed of, or even recycled back to the earth. The toilet consists of various control mechanisms that guarantee an odor free operation and let’s the proud owner of a BioLet appreciate the benefits of having a fully functional toilet while doing his or her part to protect their nation’s precious water resources.

For more information, BioLet’s video archive provides much worth watching.

Mohammed Bin Abubakar, explains nursery to writer, Glenn Meyers. Photo: Oteng Foster

As gardeners go, Mohammed Bin Abubakar holds a unique position. He has built a forest where once there were only rushed rocks and the unsightly remnants of an old gold mine.

He serves as the reclamation coordinator at Newmont Mining Corporation’s Brong Ahafo Gold Mine in Ghana which started production a few years ago. One Newmont employee, Gloria Dwummah-Adu, says Abubakar has made a beautiful forest out of this mining wasteland and that many should follow this model.

Fondly, she refers to this 75-acre site as “Bin’s garden.” Now birds sing and the shade from the rapidly growing forest is a welcome relief to all who enter these woods.

Abubakar’s reclamation work began some time ago when Australian-based Normandy Mining employed him. When Normandy was sold to Newmont in 2002, he began working for Newmont Ghana Gold, Ltd. This is a green, well-designed forest that invites exploration.

Newmont Ghana employee, Gloria Dwummah-Adu in the reclaimed forest. Photo: Oteng Foster

“Wow! This is awesome!” exclaims MS. Dwummah-Adu.

Abubakar discusses how he built the forest. “We were tasked to establish a plantation to convince the locals that surface mining by the company will not destroy their land. And before that we established this nursery that you see here.”

He and his team then applied the knowledge they acquired from his training to reclaim the wasteland. They started with a nursery, which is now being used for other mining reclamation projects. Abubakar says that when they established this nursery, they decided to bring back the original trees, which used to be on the land.

To build this forest, Newmont, led by Abubakar, approached the chief of the town, asking that his village provide an area where the reclamation team could demonstrate its capabilities of reclaiming land. “And fortunately, there was some land – about 75 acres – he gave it to us free of charge to demonstrate to the people that if our company says we are going to reclaim the land it will be true,” says Abubakar. “Lo and behold, we established this forest which you see here.”

Many a mining operation should take a look at how this former mining site has undergone reclamation.

Of the many species of grasses, bamboo provides many uses. Source: Master Garden Products

Who knows? Perhaps one gateway out of America’s economic doldrums will come from a boom. There are plenty of people looking at what was once just regarded as a tropical and oriental product, bamboo.

As writer Harry Sawyers noted over a year ago in Popular Mechanics, “Bamboo has come into vogue as a green, sustainable resource that’s used for everything from cutting boards to clothing to wood floors. But until now, almost all of the bamboo in products sold here has come from overseas. That could change soon, as new planting techniques may lead to millions of new acres of bamboo shoots in the American South.” Some wonder if a plant like bamboo can revitalize farmland on the Mississippi Delta.

The American Bamboo Society (ABS) was formed in 1979. Today it counts over 1,400 members living throughout the U.S. and in 37 other countries. For those who are interested, the ABS issues a bimonthly Magazine and the Journal to disseminate information about the use, care, propagation and beauty of bamboo.

Bamboo forests may soon grow in America, Source: Popular Mechanics

Of interest, bamboo is regarded by many as a wood product, due to its hardness and durability. In reality, though, it is a grass. Considered the largest of the grasses, there are over 1600 species of bamboo, 64 percent of which are native to Southeast Asia. Thirty-three percent grows in Latin America, and the rest in Africa and Oceania. In North America there are only three native species of bamboo as opposed to the 440 species native to Latin America, writes master garden products

Bamboo varies in height from dwarf, one foot (30 cm) plants to giant timber bamboos that can grow to over 100 feet (30 m). It grows in many different climates, from jungles to high on mountainsides. Bamboos are further classified by the types of roots they have. Some, called runners, spread exuberantly, and others are classified as clumpers, which slowly expand from the original planting.

Author Paul Schneider has written prolifically about his love affair with bamboo, providing a cornucopia of information about growing the grass in colder climes.

“Bamboo has proven to be an aesthetic asset to our garden here in Cambridge, New York (north of Albany on the Vermont border; confirmed Zone 4). It mixes well with many other plants both perennial and annual. Depending on the species, it can be used as a tall or medium background plant, a “statement” plant or as a low border or ground cover plant.”

For others, it is grown more as a wood product. “To grow bamboos,” writes Schneider, “New England gardeners must be willing to accept the challenge of working with a plant that normally doesn’t grow in their climactic zone. And they must also understand that the taller bamboos will not grow to the height they would reach in Zones 5 or warmer.”

According to Patrick Malcolm, Golden Bamboo was the first of the Phyllostachys bamboo cultivars to be introduced into the United States, in 1882. In Alabama, where bamboo was to be primarily used as a fast growing windbreak, it was planted by southern tobacco farmers. The poles from the golden bamboo have probably landed more fish in the southeastern U.S. than any other means of fishing, hence the name, fishing pole bamboo.

For those wanting bigger and better, there is Giant Timber bamboo. Its dark green to golden stalks that grow to 100 feet tall, featuring 6 inch poles that are 6 inches in diameter.

There are fundamental ROI issues to regard, writes Sawyers: “Getting the revenue flowing could prove to be the biggest obstacle. Unlike cotton, which promises a return on investment at the end of a single growing season, bamboo crops must mature for three or four years before they’re ready for the first harvest.”

IDE's water technologies have had an important impact on poor rural farmers in developing countries. Photo: IDE

In Denver, an important art exhibition from developing countries opens in Denver, along with another feature concerning sustainability and affordable water technologies. The exhibition, titled, The Art of Dirt, has been organized by Denver-based IDE The exhibition takes place at the EventGallery 910 Arts and will run through September 25.

According to IDE, The Art of Dirt allows visitors to learn how simple, affordable technology design has improved the incomes and lives of the millions of people at the base of the economic pyramid. The exhibition includes photographs, videos and a tomato garden growing in the gallery that has been irrigated using IDE water technology.

IDE drip irrigation system in use. Photo: IDE

IDE, founded in 1982, strives to create income opportunities for poor, rural households in the developing world. This exhibition showcases some simple, pattern-changing technologies, such as IDE’s foot-powered treadle pump, and low-pressure micro-sprinkler and affordable drip irrigation that IDE has made available in developing countries.  This technologies have helped poor, rural families gain control over their water supply and opening up a new world of income-generating possibilities.

Dealing with water technologies like these started when IDE worked in Bangladesh in the 1980s, where the lack of access to water in rural villages was a widespread problem. IDE personnel believed that manually powered irrigation pumps could solve some of the water problem and allow farmers to increase productivity. As a result, IDE increased annual sales of manual irrigation pumps from 14,000 to 75,000 in a five-year period. After that initial success, IDE found a better solution in the treadle pump, which is more efficient and easier to operate than manual pumps. To date, more than 1.5 million treadle pumps have been sold in Bangladesh, creating 1.4 billion dollars in net additional income per year.

Today, IDE uses a market oriented development model to increase the income of the rural poor by improving market access, increasing agricultural production, and creating sustainable local businesses. IDE’s projects are country specific, aimed at increasing income for those living on less than a dollar a day in the most efficient and viable manner possible according to each region’s unique opportunities.

Over the last 28 years we have worked with more than 3.8 million families, increasing their aggregate income by over one billion dollars. Kudos!

i-plas makes lovely products from recycled plastics. Source: i-plas

Massachusetts’s grocers are decreasing the number of disposable bags being used in an effort to develop sounder approaches for waste management. At the same time, the use of recycled plastics products in the construction field is growing.

Waste & Recycling News reports that early results show the number of disposable plastic and paper bags has dropped significantly in Massachusetts following the implementation of a public-private partnership aimed at discouraging plastic bag use at grocery stores.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Massachusetts Food Association began the program in 2009. The joint initiative to reduce the distribution of disposable bags shows 12 supermarket chains, covering 384 stores report the 25% disposable bag distribution reduction. The state and grocers have a goal of reaching at least 33% by 2013.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the innovative recycling technology at i-plas is being used to develop many attractive commercial and residential building products that may otherwise have gone to landfills. The UK company reports or plastic waste that other recyclers cannot handle are being used to produce a range of recycled plastic products which outperform the traditional alternatives of wood, steel and concrete; products which are technically advanced, commercially successful and environmentally responsible.

Innovative recycling in action, c/o i-plas. Source: i-plas

UK-based i-plas has developed a comprehensive range of sustainable building products for use in construction projects for both home and export markets. Many of these recycled plastics have been developed in conjunction with major building and civil partners and effectively offer an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods where timber, concrete and steel are used.

One product category includes a range of fences that offer environmental, aesthetic, commercial and economic solutions. The company’s encouraging marketing claims for fencing products include:

• Lasts five times longer than timber,
• Reduces whole life cost.
• Minimal maintenance and easy to clean.
• Labor saving.
• Less flammable than timber.
• Can be cut, screwed, nailed and bolted.
• Will not rot, crack, split or splinter and is resistant to algae.
• Reduces the carbon footprint of any project.
• Is 100% recycled and can be recycled.
• UV resistant.
• Diverts material from landfill.

Enel Archimede plant in Italy. Photo: Enel

This July the Italian utility Enel unveiled “Archimede”, one of the most important developments in the emerging field of concentrating solar power (CSP). The launch showcases this power plant as the first CSP  plant in the world to use molten salts for heat transfer and storage.

Archimede, a 5 MW plant located in Priolo Gargallo (Sicily). The breakthrough project was co-developed by the utility, Enel, and ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. The name, “Archimede,” refers to the rows of huge parabolic mirrors used to capture the sun’s rays, recalling the “burning mirrors” that Archimedes is said to have used to set fire to the Roman ships besieging Syracuse during the Punic War of 212 BC.

Energy writer Carlo Ombello writes that while several CSP plants already operate (see graphic above)  in the world, mainly in the US and Spain, they use synthetic oils to capture the Sun’s energy in the form of heat, using mirrors that beam sunlight onto a pipe where pressurized oil heats up. A heat exchanger is then used to boil water and run a conventional steam turbine cycle. Older CSP plants only operate at daytime – when direct sunlight is available.

In its press release, Enel writes that the Archimede plant is “the first in the world to use molten salts as the heat transfer fluid and is also the first in the world to integrate a combined-cycle gas facility and a solar thermal power plant for electricity generation.”

Because molten salts can operate at higher temperatures than oils (up to 550°C instead of 390°C), they increase efficiency and power output of a plant. With the higher-temperature heat storage that is allowed, the plant can also extend its operating hours to a 24-hour day. From an environmental and cost perspective, this news is good. A simplified plant design that does not use avoids the need for oil-to-salts heat exchangers eliminate the safety and environmental concerns of using oils. Molten salts are inexpensive and do not catch on fire like synthetic oils currently that are used in current CSP plants. In addition, the high temperatures of molten salts enable the use of steam turbines at the standard pressure/temperature parameters as used in most common gas-cycle fossil power plants. Translated, this means that conventional power plants can be integrated replaced with this technology without expensive retrofits to the existing assets.

Carlo Rubbia -- Molten salt pioneer. Source: Enel

The concept for using molten salts dates back to 2001. The Italian nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Carlo Rubbia (left photo), ENEA’s President at the time, started research and development on molten salt technology. One problem encountered in using molten salts is that they freeze pr solidify at around 220°C.

ENEA and Archimede Solar Energy, a private company focusing on receiver pipes, have developed several patents in order to improve the pipes’ ability to absorb heat and maximize the heat transfer to the fluid carrier.

Insiders believe the result of these and several other technological improvements create a state-of-the-art CSP plant at a price 60 million Euros. While the price is high for a 5 MW power plant, energy officials believe this model is scalable for a roll-out there is overwhelming scope for a massive roll-out in sunny regions like Northern Africa, the Middle East, Australia and the United States.

TSC Global's hypar roof is located next to the light ril tracks, just south of downtown Denver

Evidence of new buildings featuring an innovative and cost-effective roof can now be seen in a growing number of African nations, including Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Sudan, as part of a Roofs for the World initiative.

This roof is called a Thin Shell Composite Hyperbolic Paraboloid, or TSC Hypar, thus the name, TSC Global, which proclaims  the building methodology using this roof has the potential for revolutionizing roofing and construction in the most impoverished and remote parts of the globe. TSC Global executive director, Brad Wells, says that compared to the corrugated steel roof structures seen everywhere in the developing world, TSC roof construction requires a minimum in cut lumber, demands no power machinery for construction, and leaves almost no carbon footprint. In addition, buildings featuring these roofs are significantly quieter in rain and windstorms, and can be earthquake resistant.

Denver-based TSC Global was created to build, promote and fully develop this construction method, with the belief that there is real potential to dramatically enhance the overall quality and affordability of structures used by millions if not billions of people worldwide. It is now focusing on a potential rebuilding program for Haiti.

Photos: Brad Wells, TSC Global

A TSC roof is constructed as follows: an acrylic cement composite is applied to an arched hyperbolic paraboloid shaped cloth that has been stretched across a four-sided pyramid framework using wood or bamboo. When the acrylic and cement composite cures, the product is a far superior roofing alternative to corrugated metal and other roofs, contends Wells.

Even with a final thickness of approximately one centimeter, a TSC Hypar roof is strong enough to hold heavy weights. Hypar structures have been built for decades but the most closely observed demo structure was built in 1996 by habitat pioneer, George Nez, who has worked on United Nations and USAID emergency relief projects. The TSC website reports Mr. Nez’s structure has endured Colorado winds, freezes and thaws of as much as three feet of. In warmer climates, these roofs should last many decades.

Importantly, a venting and circulation system has been added to the hypar roof in hot climates, allowing air and cooking exhaust to escape. The top vent and cap is an important and simple modification, says Mr. Nez. Adding a ceiling and sealing off the attic space will also enhance cooling.

A TSC roof, reinforced with embedded chicken wire mesh demonstrates resilience to failure or collapse, says the TSC website, adding that the lightweight roof can decrease chances of injury or worse in earthquake scenarios, even in the most severe earthquake. Recent work in overall building design by Colorado School of Mines structural engineering professor, Panos Kiousis, suggests that simple wall-embedded cross-braced panels secured to a ring beam, with adequate fastening of roofs to posts, should create an earthquake resistant building, still at low costs.

TSC structures can be constructed easily in the most remote settings with no transport of large building materials or equipment. Wells says his target populations include refugee and post-disaster projects, urban “shantytown” replacement, and general commercial and residential building construction. He adds that a further goal for his organization is to offer training and micro-finance networks.

Vertical garden on French building from Patrick Blanc Photo: Blanc

Credit for inventing the vertical wall goes to French botanist and inventor, Patrick Blanc,  shown in this building photo.  According to Blanc’s website, the vertical garden was conceived from watching natural environments – many in jungle locations – and watching how plants can grow without soil. The vertical wall can also functions as an air purification system.

Vertical garden options from Vertigarden

One up and coming vertical gardening company in America, PlantsOnWalls, based in San Francisco, is developing and marketing numerous vertical wall applications for interior and exterior walls, calling them living walls (lower photos). Another vertical gardening company of note is a UK-based VertiGarden, whose work is shown here.

PlantsOnWalls system for growing herbs vertically. Source: PlantsOnWalls

PlantsOnWalls states that its panels are made with 100% recycled water bottle PET plastic fiber felt that is non-toxic, UV stable and will last a lifetime. The felt pockets that are part of the wall system are mounted to a lightweight recyclable plastic board that provides support, while keeping the back dry.

Many observers might ask how a vertical garden can be watered. Simply water the top row of pockets that are part of the wall system, the company Website says. This patent pending design is intended to keep the interior moist while keeping the front dry. And in cases of overwatering, excess moisture not absorbed by the plants will drip from the bottom of the panel. Runoff can be collected in drip trays to be recirculated or drained away. A video of how this system works can be seen here.

Plants that can be grown in such a wall system include succulents, various ivies, herbs and low-light ferns. The company adds that most plants can be grown where it receives its proper light, water and nutrient requirements.

What is being done with beetle-killed forests. Photo: CSU

From the bark beetle epidemic that has already destroyed millions of acres of trees in Western states, good uses for the dead trees are now becoming more widespread as the wood is harvested.

Even with such huge damage, the wood, when harvested, has been put to striking uses in furniture, flooring, and paneling applications. It has also been used for  structural beams.  The list of structures built using beetle-kill pine includes everything from outhouses to garden sheds and benches. On a more expansive level, dead forests are now being considered as a source of biomass production to generate electricity.

As Colorado Senator Mark Udall has said, “Wood is the most renewable resource we have and as an energy source, it’s carbon neutral. Biomass generators can efficiently turn dead trees into electricity for our homes and offices, and new technologies have shown the potential to turn biomass into liquid fuels.

“Using these trees as a source of energy may be the scalable solution we need, but the key will be demonstrating the profitability of these technologies and in doing so unleashing the private sector. I am working every day to pass a bill in the Senate to give the Forest Service the tools and resources it needs to protect at-risk cities and watersheds, and to provide incentives to spur innovation that will lead to the large-scale solutions we need to address this problem.”

Bark beetles have destroyed almost 1.6 million acres of lodgepole pines just in Colorado’s mountains. The epidemic now includes almost all Western states, in addition to Mexico and British Columbia.  Now that harvesting of dead wood is beginning to expand, many alternative uses are available on the Web. Additionally, various trade organizations, such as the as the Colorado Beetle Kill Trade Association, are becoming active in addressing the numerous issues involved in managing the problem of dead forests.

Many options — or opportunities — are available to builders, cabinetmakers, farmers and ranchers. In this photo, Steamboat Springs district forester John Twitchell shows an attractive blue-stained desk built from beetle-kill pine.

Mills stay busy with beetle-kill pines.

“It’s the most inexpensive wood you can get right now,” said Jimmy Morton, a woodworker near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He  recently completed a bench featuring the bluish, or multicolored beetle-killed pine that will sell for around $600.  The material cost is significantly less than most other milled woods.

The problem of dead trees is enormous. Some officials estimate as many as 100,000 beetle kill pine trees fall daily.