Trees, Animals, and Mankind

Since we started our program in Eugene we have been so fascinated by the fact that Oregon is so green. We have been in the forests to see the Oregon environment in depth, but we were still wondering how all this biomass resource can be used in a sustainable way.

Today we had the opportunity to visit the Eugene plant of Seneca Jones Timber Company where cut trees become not only timber for construction, but also electric energy, hot water and fertilizer for crops. Every part of the tree is used, resulting in zero waste for the environment. Also, for each tree the company cut, four are planted, ensuring a sustainable business. We saw the automatic process of cutting the logs in different shapes, then we saw how the residual parts are burned in the cogeneration plant to produce both electricity and hot water for heating. We left Seneca Timber Company convinced that a sustainable use of the forest and the generation of renewable energy are fundamentals way to reduce our impact on the environment.

After leaving Seneca plant we had lunch with the biologist Karen Austin. Everyone helped in preparing the meal and then we listened Karen talking about the Spotted Owl, a bird which lives in the Pacific Northwest, threatened by other spices of owls and by logging. She shared with us her experience as a biologist on the field, going into the forest to record the sound of the owl.

Today we heard different voices, we saw environment from two different positions, the economical and the natural one; we concluded that this two should be in a strong relationship, for a better environment.