Enviros threat to industry

By Ernest J. Stebbins Executive Manager National l{ardwood Lumber Assn.

I REMAIN relatively optimistic

I about the prospects for the general economy and for hardwood lumber in 1990. but it's difficult to characterize prospects for NHLA's members over the next year, because so many of them operate in different segments of the industry.

When you focus on the details, you find that an individual businessman is not concerned with the volume that he is selling but his margin. net income expressed as a percentage of his investment. Margin has quite a bit to do with the species that a firm handles, varying from region to region in North America, and whether or not the firm is manufacturing green lumber, drying its own stock, Purchasing, drying and re-selling, buying and re-selling only, exporting, and a number of other factors. While many of the members to whom I've spoken are reluctant to Predict an improved bottom line in 1990, most are confident in the economy and in

The single most important issue on the horizon is the threat that environmental preservationists pose to their businesses. A growing movement of activism has emerged in both the U.S. and Canada. This is similar to the "green party" political movement in the major western European countries.

These enviros put nature first and human beings second on their agenda, and see the world as an arena for conflict between man and his environment. In order to solve this conflict, they believe that man's activities should be excluded from natural areas, that is to say, any area that is green, that has water on it or trees growing on it, or a. striking geographic feature which we would con,sider beautiful. The, enviros believe that man's activitibs. other than to occasionally walk and observe, should be excluded from these areas.

Story at a Glance

Environmentalists are the biggest threat for the industry we must tell our side of the story if we expect to survive.

As ridiculous as this point of view seems to all of us who believe in the wise and multiple use of our natural resources, our national media believes it, our government believes it, and our courts believe it. Why? Because they hear only one side of the storythe enviro side. We as individuals and as an industry have been silent on the issue, believing there's enough wood and water to go around, that "they'll never shut me down." Well, they've shut down over 100 mills in Oregon and Washington during the past year, and they've taken away thousands of acres of hardwood forests from planned harvests in the Lake states. in the Midwest and the Appalachian areas, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. The enviros care about what they believe in and they're not afraid to do something about itattend a hearing, write a letter to the editor, call a congressmanand do it again and again.

The biggest threat is that we haven't taken them seriously until now. The NHLA has committed money, time and people to this forest resource issue. It will be a high priority for us in 1990 and, I'm afraid, in the years ahead.