With the southeastern U.S. supplying over 80% of America’s wood pellets—most of which are exported to Europe—questions about the sustainability of pellet feedstock harvesting are more relevant than ever.
Archive for 2025
05.06.2025
Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Pellet Feedstock Harvesting in the Southeastern U.S.
A new study by UGA researchers compared 67 harvest sites across the southeastern U.S. to evaluate whether wood pellet feedstock harvesting differs from conventional pulpwood operations in terms of soil disturbance, ground cover, and wildlife habitat.
04.23.2025
Smarter Forest Planning with Heuristic Optimization
Forest managers face a complex puzzle: how to schedule timber harvests that are profitable, sustainable, and legally compliant. Traditional planning methods can be slow and rigid, but threshold accepting, a powerful heuristic optimization technique, can be designed to generate high-quality harvest schedules quickly.
04.18.2025
Student Spotlight: Branch Burns
Branch Burns is a first-year MFR student from Newnan, GA. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business from UGA in May 2024, along with a minor in Agricultural and Applied Economics and a Certificate in Personal and Organizational Leadership. Branch is pursuing a Forest Business Management MFR degree to deepen his knowledge of forestry and natural resource investment.
03.08.2025
Alumni Spotlight: Locke Williamson
Locke Williamson (MFR ’22) Timberland Investment Resources Investment Analyst Hometown: Columbia, SC Favorite Activities and Hobbies: Reading a great book, quail hunting, enjoying a delicious meal here in Atlanta 1. Comment on your years spent at Warnell – any memories or experiences that you cherish to this day? Interacting with numerous incredible researchers and practitioners, […]
03.05.2025
Modernizing Machine Cost Estimation for Logging Equipment in the Southeast
If you’re in the forest industry, you’ve probably used—or at least heard of—the machine-rate method for estimating equipment costs. UGA researchers recently updated the costs for the first time in 20 years.
02.26.2025
Empowering Forest Carbon Decisions: What the Latest Research Means for the Forest Sector
Forests are increasingly recognized as vital players in the global climate solution. A recent study supported by Drs. Bronson Bullock and Stephen Kinane convened over 100 experts to identify the biggest gaps in forest carbon modeling.
02.07.2025
Student Spotlight: Ansley Whitley
Ansley Whitley, a second-year MFR in Forest Business student, has volunteered at numerous Center for Forest Business and Georgia Forestry Association networking and conference events her first three semesters in the program. This past summer she interned with Weyerhaeuser in Georgetown, GA and currently supports Dr. Yanshu Li with taxation research.
01.12.2025
Log Trucking vs. General Freight: What the Forest Industry Needs to Know
The forest products industry in the US South relies heavily on log trucks to move raw timber from forests to mills. But how does this specialized sector compare to general freight trucking? A 2025 review by Jack Derochers, Joe Conrad, and researchers from UGA and the USDA Forest Service provides a comprehensive comparison.
