Government forest managers and their political bosses finally appear to recognize that more effective management of public forests is needed to help prevent future wildfires and reduce their severity, reports from Capital Press.

Beyond timber management, however, are innovations that promise new uses for timber in construction. 

Another building planned for Portland will be 12 stories tall and constructed of cross-laminated timber, called CLT. It will dwarf the seven-story building in Minneapolis, Minn., that is currently the tallest mass timber structure in the nation.

To explore the uses and design possibilities of mass timber, the University of Oregon architecture program is combining efforts with Oregon State University’s forestry and engineering programs to create the Tallwood Design Institute.

In other words, wood construction is strong again. Once relegated to home construction and one- or two-story projects, lumber was seen as an excellent material for relatively small structures.