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Urban Wood Utilization – Giving Community Trees a Second Life

Urban Wood Utilization – Giving Community Trees a Second Life

tree services cutting a tree in the city. Photo taken by Kevin Sayers

What is Urban Wood?

  • Urban wood refers to lumber from community trees that were removed for reasons other than the harvest of their timber. Instead of being chipped, composted or burned, this wood is redirected and repurposed into new products like quality lumber, flooring, furniture and building materials.
  • Common sources of urban wood:
    • Removed street and yard trees 
    • Storm-damaged trees
    • Trees removed for development or safety 

  • Urban Wood Products: 
    • Lumber and slabs 
    • Furniture and cabinetry 
    • Flooring and millwork
    • Mulch, compost, and biomass products
    • Artistic and specialty wood products 

Benefits of use

  • Wooden picnic tables built from local trees

    Community

    • Preserves local tree stories and heritage
    • Supports community projects and public spaces 
    • Increases awareness about uses of urban trees and wood
  • A man wearing a hard hat, safety glasses and gloves runs a saw mill

    Economic

    • Creates local business opportunities 
    • Supports multiple industries (e.g. tree care, wood products)
    • Promotes higher value uses from removed trees
  • Freshly cut down tre laying on the ground in Bay City on grass with the lake in the background.

    Environment

    • Reduces landfill waste
    • Stores carbon in wood products
    • Encourages sustainable resource use

Urban Wood Utilization in Michigan

Aerial view of grand rapids residential area with lots of greenery from the trees in the city

City of Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids manages approximately 67,000 street trees and 20,000 park trees, producing a large amount of urban wood that is currently stored at the city’s yard waste site. The city spends about $20,000 annually to grind or dispose of this material, with an estimated 1,800–2,000 logs currently stored. An Urban Wood Utilization program could improve sustainability, increase carbon sequestration and reduce disposal costs.

Learn more about the benefits and challenges the city of Grand Rapids through the city's storymap.

The inside of the old sawmill on belle isle

History on Belle Isle

The Belle Isle Park sawmill, an 80-year-old historic building in Detroit, began restoration after sitting unused for more than 40 years. The DNR and preservation partners are repairing the roof, structural beams, masonry and other features in phases. Once restored, the sawmill will highlight Detroit’s history of urban forestry and the practice of repurposing trees removed from city streets and parks.

Learn more about this unique project in this Showcasing story.

Lumber cut from tree on bell isle

The impact of urban wood

According to a study by the US Forest Service, 1.7 MILLION METRIC TONNES of urban wood is chipped, burned or composted in Michigan each year. That equals about:

  • 63 MILLION BOARD FEET of lumber that can be produced annually.
  • 383,000* METRIC TONNES of Carbon that can continue to be sequestered (stored) in the wood. (*industry standard dried hardwood weight to carbon calculations less standard average of 40% loss of material during manufacturing).
  • 1.4* MILLION METRIC TONNES of CO₂e emissions that can be avoided annually. (*standard carbon to CO₂e calculations)

Old photograph of men standing at a saw mill near a cutter. The photo is black and white and dates back to 1925.

Resources

TN Department of Agriculture 

Climate Smart Wood Group – Procurement Document Option 1

USDA The Urban Wood Workbook: A Framework for the Baltimore Wood Project

Urban Wood Utilization Guide: A Playbook for Establishing a Municipal Program – CAL FIRE and USDA Forest Service

Urban Wood Network

Society of American Foresters – Forest Proud - Urban Wood Utilization | #forestproud

USDA Forest Service and Partners – Urban Wood Roundtable