University of Maine Director of School of Forest Resources Stephen Shaler Dire stands next to a pile of Norway spruce lumber, which will be tested with a machine which pushes the lumber to its breaking point in Orono. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center Composite Technician Jon Hill (carries lumber from a Norway spruce to be tested at the University of Maine in Orono. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

A piece of lumber from a Norway spruce buckles under the pressure of a machine testing how much weight the wood can sustain at the University of Maine in Orono. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center Composite Technician Jon Hill takes notes on how a piece of lumber from a Norway spruce buckled under weight at the University of Maine in Orono. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center Technician Walter Morris checks the warp on a piece of lumber from a Norway spruce in Orono. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

A branch from a Norwegian spruce hangs down in the University of Maine forest in Orono. The trees were planted during the Depression under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

A Norwegian spruce at University of Maine forest in Orono. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center collection of broken pieces of Norway spruce lumber, used in testing the suitability of the wood in building material at the University of Maine in Orono. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer