Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) Project Leader Bob Ross demonstrates a piece of field equipment that uses several technologies to evaluate the quality of wood in standing trees. The equipment, which is marketed and sold by fibre-gen, a New Zealand-based company that is majority owned by Connecticut-based International Paper Corporation, employs lasers, ultrasound, vibration properties, and wireless technology. The equipment was developed jointly by FPL, the University of Minnesota–Duluth, and fibre-gen. The evaluation of standing trees permits more efficient timber harvests and better monitoring of forest health.

*This article first appeared in the Summer 2005 issue of the Forest Products Laboratory’s quarterly newsletter, NewsLine.