Industry Watch: Spring 2000

Wood Campaign Chairmen Named
Steve Rogel, president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser Company, Tacoma, WA, and Don Gould, president and COO of The Pas Lumber Company Ltd., Prince George, BC, have agreed to serve as co-chairmen of a three-year, $45 million industry campaign to champion the performance and environmental merits of wood products among building design and construction professionals, retailers, government agencies, public policy groups, the media, and general public.

As co-chairs, Rogel and Gould lead an industry CEO Council in charge of the program's overall direction and performance evaluation. The council is comprised of approximately 15 chief executives of both large and small forest products firms in the U.S. and Canada.

It was also announced recently that Kelly McCloskey, president of the Canadian Wood Council, has been hired to direct the day-to-day operations of the program.

The campaign is designed to secure wood markets against the twin threats of competitive products and the anti-wood programs of preservationist groups.

Study Dismisses Siding-Mold Link
A Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services study has found no cause-and-effect relationship between the observance of mold on exterior composite wood siding and elevated levels of mold spores indoors.

"Mold spore levels in 10 Wisconsin test homes were not significantly higher than those measured in nine control homes from the same area," a department media release on the study findings stated. The study concluded that mold types found indoors at both control and test homes are common throughout Wisconsin, and recommended standard mitigation procedures, such as removing mold with bleach solutions, vacuuming regularly, venting exhaust fans to the outside, and replacing water-damaged materials.

The study was requested by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection as part of an investigation of the performance of composite building materials. That investigation is not expected to be completed until later this year.

Wickes Pledges Wood Products Policy Change
Facing continued protests by environmental groups, another major wood products supplier has pledged to go "green" in its wood product purchasing practices.

Wickes Lumber, the primary operating entity of Wickes Inc., announced that by 2001 it will "phase out purchasing wood products from endangerd forests in North America and around the world." Wickes operates more than 100 building centers in 24 states in the Midwest, Northeast and South. It serves primarily building and remodeling professionals.

The announcement followed a similar pledge by The Home Depot.

Michael Brune of the Rainforest Action Network, meanwhile, said Menards, HomeBase, Payless Cashways and 84 Lumber remain on the group's protest target list.

"Washington Watch" Website Developed
The American Forest & Paper Association has added a section to its website that tracks federal legislation and regulatory activities affecting the forest products industry.

Called "Washington Watch," the site is updated regularly and provides viewers the opportunity to email their views on issues to the administration and/or their members of Congress.

The AF&PA site is located at www.afandpa.org.

Building Product Durability Protocol in Development
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been designated the lead federal agency in connection with efforts to develop a durability and service life protocol for building products under the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH).

PATH is a private public sector initiative with the goal of developing new residential construction technologies.

The National Evaluation Service's (NES) Building Innovation Center, which was established to accelerate market acceptance of new and innovative building technologies, will employ the protocol as a framework for designing and for conducting subsequent evaluations for durability.

Developing a durability protocol is fraught with difficulties, including gaining agreement on meaningful criteria and assuring fair and equitable treatment of products. The interests of the engineered wood products industry are represented in the process by APA-The Engineered Wood Association, a member of the PATH Consortium for Wood Frame Housing.

New Book Explores Financial Support of Enviro Groups
Ron Arnold, executive director of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, Bellevue, WA, has authored a book that explores the financial relationships of wealthy foundations, grant-supported environmental groups, and government bureaucracies.

Titled Undue Influence, the book investigates what Arnold calls "an extraordinarily incestuous 'iron triangle'" as revealed by White House memos, internal green group documents and closed-door meeting tapes.

Arnold is also the author of Ecology Wars and Trashing the Economy. Undue Influence is available from Amazon.comor directly from the publisher, Merril Press, at 425-454-7009.

Clinton Roadless Area Proposal Rallies Opposition
Outrage but not surprise followed President Clinton's recent proposal to preserve as many as 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas and other national forest acreage. The acreage potentially at risk of lock-up represents almost one-third of the 192-million-acre national forest system.

The proposal, which effectively bypasses what many lawmakers contend is congressional authority, has rallied strong opposition both within Congress and among forest community and industry groups.

"Communities throughout the West are becoming ghost towns because of this administration's timber policies," said Northwest Forestry Association spokesman Chris West. The policy could also "make it illegal to fight forest fires; illegal to protect our forests from disease and insect infestation; even illegal to enter our forests on horseback or a bicycle," an American Forest & Paper Association position statement noted.

According to Forest Service estimates, 39 million acres of national forestland are already at high risk of catastrophic wildfire and another 26 million acres are in jeopardy of disease and insect infestation.

Also See

Endangered Species

Emissions Control

Help Wanted

Forest Certification Part II

Technology Management

It's the Moisture Stupid

Power in Numbers: A Call to Rural Americans