Western Juniper, Juniperus occidentalis, has been used in the Pacific Northwest since the pioneer era. It was important as firewood and as poles for fences, corrals, and simple shelters. The heartwood is extremely durable and resistant to rot. In a long term fence post service life study since 1928, Oregon State University reported Western Juniper to last 30+ years, longer than any other untreated western species. Another study has shown that Western Juniper heartwood shows excellent resistance to termite and fungal attack, even in tropical climates.

In California, Western Juniper posts have often been put into duty as end posts in agricultural trellising systems (see photos) and as wire fence posts. Western Juniper boards have been used in stables, fences, and garden beds. The organic farmers and ranchers have been receptive to it.

Western Juniper has had no widespread commercial value for so long due to the fact the logs are difficult to process. They are rough, limby, short, and have rapid taper. So there is a huge cost in the manufacturing of Juniper lumber and posts. Efforts to produce boards, posts, & poles for the lumber & agricultural industry have not all met with success. The Juniper mills that have managed to remain open have a very limited production. These available sizes can be seen below:

Western Red-Cedar, Thuja plicata, is both beautiful and durable. The durability comes without chemical preservatives since the heartwood of Red-Cedar has its own resins, tannins and oils that make it highly resistant to rot, insects, and decay-causing fungus. It is important to note that all studies of durability focus on heartwood. In general, sapwood, regardless of species, has a low resistance to decay. There is no evidence that heartwood improves the performance of adjacent sapwood, and that also goes for the Redwood and Western Juniper species. So when we talk about durability we want to talk directly to the heartwood content.

At this time we are unable to offer peeled or doweled posts, but we are providing Split Cedar posts in 8' and 10' lengths. We stock 4"x5" (nominal size) Split Posts, and provide the 6"x6" (nominal size) posts by special order only.

Post Size	Length	Pcs/Unit
4"x5"	8'	64
4"x5"	10'	64
click on underlined sizes to see stock photo.

Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, became reknowned for its durability and workability when the Euro-Americans swept westward in the 1800s. Extensive efforts have been made to conserve the Old Growth Redwood, and today the Redwood we consume is grown and harvested under the most stringent forestry regulations, almost entirely on private commercial lands zoned specifically for timber production.

Our Redwood posts are milled out of the tops of trees from those lumber operations, tops that are too small to produce lumber and were previously put into the waste stream. After producing the wood posts, the leftover wood particles are then transported next door to supply a biomass-to-fuel cell system that converts the logging waste to essentially carbon-neutral power.

Our Redwood posts are machine doweled, uniform in diameter from tip to butt and so it has a nicer appearance. The poles are graded to contain at least 80% heartwood. The Redwood heartwood is naturally resistant to decay and insects.

Size	Pcs/Unit	Size	Pcs/Unit
4"x 8’	105	5"x 8 ’	68
4"x 10’	105	5"x 10’	68
4"x 12’	105	5"x 12’	68
6"x 8'	46
6"x 10'	46
6"x 12'	46
click on underlined sizes to see stock photo.

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species	scale
Western Juniper = 1 Western Red-Cedar = 2 Redwood = 2 Lodgepole Pine = 3-4	1. Very Resistant 2. Resistant 3. Moderately Resistant 4. Nonresistant