Page 16 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Third Quarter 2021

Clockwise from above: Joel Cathey
and Amanda Murphy peeling tulip poplar bark. Installed finished product made from poplar bark. Bark weighted and piled to dry flat.
Q:Tell me about your organization, Ontario Hardwood.
A:Ontario Hardwood got its name from the crossroad near our saw mill, which is called Ontario. The organization
was started in 1977 by Clarke Hogan’s father, beginning as a small hardwood sawmill. Later, the sawmill was expanded and a dry kiln facility was added about five miles away. We produce approximately
16 million board feet of lumber per year, consisting of poplar, red oak, white oak, and pine. The sawmill is optimized to get the highest value from each log. We buy the best logs we can find and choose quality over quantity.
When I came to Ontario, we were sawing a lot of cypress and maple. Cypress was phased out because we are too far away from that resource. We added grade pine to our mix to take the place of the cypress and presently saw about 20%
pine and 80% of red oak, white oak,
and poplar. We export about 35% of the lumber we saw out of the port at Norfolk. In the past couple of years, we have
opened a new facility and partnered with another organization to convert lumber to sell as a more finished product.
Q:How has COVID-19 affected your operations?
A:Our employees are considered essential, and most everywhere they
work is outside or in wide-open spaces,
so COVID didn’t stop our operations. The pandemic has affected us mainly because we are seeing a lack of availability of parts and labor. The lumber business is good though, demand is high, and we are seeing a positive impact from people doing home renovations.
Q:What sustainability measures does your organization take?
A:Our sawmill and dry kiln operations always have recovery in mind
because logs are expensive and we want to make sure we get as much as we can out of our investment. Hardwoods are not a scarce resource. They are plentiful
because they regenerate — not as fast as pine regenerates, but faster than most folks realize. The average age of the timber we cut is 60-65 years; the oldest tracts
are 80-90 years old. When we are selling lumber, we generally will get more money for hardwood than pine. Depends on the variation though, so this statement is not absolute. Hardwood is very grade-specific — could be worth $300 per 1,000 board feet (MBF) or $3,000 per MBF. Pine prices don’t vary that widely.
Q:Let’s talk more about the poplar bark siding. What is your process for
removing bark from the trees and turning it into siding for homes?
A: Several years ago, I saw someone peeling a poplar tree in Virginia and
was interested in learning more. We found places in North Carolina that would buy raw poplar bark and then would process it to make siding. John Gee — Procurement Manager for Ontario and past President
of VFA (2020) — and I traveled to three different locations that bought poplar
14 ncforestry.org / THIRD QUARTER 2021