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"The time will come, in two or three decades, when we will look at the days of only sawing boards and making paper as the Dark Ages," says Robert G. Wagner, a professor of forestry at the University of Maine. "The chemical versatility of wood is so great, we will cringe at the idea we were once wasting it."

Wagner is one of more than 20 scientists who are involved in the FOrest Bio-products Research Initiative, the largest public research project in Maine's history. The project brings together some of the brightest people in the state to answer two core questions: Can we do more than make forest products with the vast quantity of wood harvested in Maine each year? If so, what would the impact be on the economy and environment?