Sierra Institute for Community and Environment announces that Mosaic Timber LLC, a capstone Sierra Institute project, has received a shipment of cross-laminated timber manufacturing equipment — the first of its kind in the state of California. Last month a specialized XE press, planer and supporting equipment manufactured by Ledinek Engineering arrived in Crescent Mills from Slovenia. It took 12 trucks to transport more than 200 tons of equipment.
This equipment arrival heralds a significant step forward in the development of Mosaic Timber, poised to be California’s first CLT manufacturing facility, said Sierra Institute. Mosaic will produce lightweight, fire-resistant, carbon-sequestering housing panels from small-diameter trees. This facility exists on the Indian Valley Wood Utilization Campus, which was previously a Louisiana-Pacific mill site that has undergone years of Environmental Protection Agency brownfield remediation cleanup led by Sierra Institute.
Mosaic Timber is a community-based business that will produce panels for California homes using California wood. With a vision of revival and reinvention for timber industry jobs in the North State region, organizers plan to provide CLT panels for easy-to-assemble, safe, high-quality homes and create more than 50 full-time jobs within the first five years.
Partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and local mills, Mosaic Timber will improve forest health by utilizing overstocked trees and thus decrease the risks of catastrophic wildfire, said Sierra Pacific. “Building with fire-resistant, seismically sound materials is good for California — both for pos-wildfire rebuilding and as a means to prevent it,” said Sierra Institute.
Sierra Institute for Community and Environment has been committed to forest and watershed restoration and rural community development since 1995. The nonprofit says it prioritizes collaboration and community-led restoration work that invests in the well-being of rural communities and brings multiple stakeholders into the decision-making process.
