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By DIVIGHT CURRAI| Contributing Editor

Story ol q Glonce

Why what happened this past year happened from log exports, price and profit controls by the government, their squeezing off of the vita I supply of raw material, to an outlook for the balance of this year.

One mill reportedly found itself faced with high profits in a production item and rolled prices back. Then the mill cut production on that item to one shift per week. Other mills raised prices, it is said, regardless of controls. When profits were found to be too great, the mill would close down a shift. Another mill supposedly took an 8-week shutdown for maintenance. A third closed down in late November until the first of the year.

Another problem, and a very real problem, was the lack of price controls on logs. Although many say it is not practical to control the price of logs, the Bureau of Land Management, a government agency, showed receipts of $66 million in L972, an increase of $13 million over 1971, on a smaller volume of logs. Thus, the BLM was responsible for a substantial escalation in lumber prices.

Forest Service Lags

The Forest Service also failed to do its job as well. On those forests that they administer, the annual cut that is permitted (the allowable) is 13,631 billion feet. Congess appropriated