The Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC), a partnership between Lane County and the Cities of Eugene and Springfield, grows hundreds of acres of poplar trees. The trees are grown as an agriculture crop using recycled water and biosolids, a nutrient-rich byproduct of the regional wastewater treatment processes.
The MWMC has entered into a contract with Lane Forest Products to harvest a 52-acre portion of the Biocycle Farm, MWMC’s poplar plantation. As an agricultural crop, the first management unit (156 acres) must be harvested by the fall of 2015. This first, smaller harvest will help the MWMC test the market for poplar wood products and evaluate the process prior to harvesting the remaining 104 acres of management unit one.
Lane Forest Products began work the week of August 19 and will work through the fall. The on-site work hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, harvesting operations are limited to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The trees will be removed, including root wad, and will be chipped on-site, or hauled to a different location prior to chipping. The site will be left readied for planting at a later time.
For additional information view an online flier.