Radiata pine logs from New Zealand are to be tested at the Ochoco Lumber Company’s Prineville mill this summer.
The mill was closed last year due to a lack of logs from national forests, but now the company is considering the New Zealand imports which, it says, are similar to poderosa pine.
The logs will be shipped to a port on the Columbia River and the milled lumber will be sold to local wood product manufacturing plants.
The test will be whether the radiata pine can match the special grade of lumber used by Oregon manufacturers.
