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Killer May Be In Redwoods

Forest pathologists at UC Berkeley have extracted DNA from redwood sprouts that have tested positive for Phytophthora ramorum-more commonly known as sudden oak death.

The spores, taken from redwoods in Big Sur, Ca., and from the campus in Berkeley, Ca., have alarmed officials in the timber, environmental and scientific communities.

The disease-causing organism is a type of brown algae and has been responsible for the death of tens of thousands of black oak, coast live oak, and tan oak trees from Monterey County, Ca., to southern Oregon.

Scientists caution that they don't know whether redwoods are being killed by the spores or simply acting as hosts for them.

Laboratory tests on seedlings will soon determine the nature of the threat facing redwoods.

"We don't know what the ramifications are or whether the disease is killing redwoods, but, if so, imagine California without redwoods," said UC Berkeley forest pathologist Matteo Garboletto.

State officials theorize that a true infestation would lead to a statewide quarantine of wood products containing the pathogen-creating a bureaucratic nightmare for timber companies.

They caution that actions as simple as getting wood to a mill would become nearly impossible, particularly if it had to cross county lines.

TVBS Settles Ex-Worker Suit

Tualatin Valley Builders Supply, Lake Oswego, Wa., has agreed to pay $35,000 to a former female employee who filed a federal sex discrimination lawsuit this past summer.

Julie Needham of Vancouver. Wa.. who worked as a receptionist at the Vancouver location for almost a year, alleged the company created a hostile work environment in which sexual harassment by co-workers and managers was allowed.

Needham also claimed that her repeated complaints to management led not only to retaliation, but ultimately to her being terminated.

Although TVBS settled the lawsuit, it still denies the allegations.

"The cost of litigation is substantial," said TVBS's attorney Caroline Guest. "The company admits no wrongdoing and instead chose to pay the settlement."

TVBS operates three contractor service centers and d-i-y centers. in addition to three truss plants and centers for cabinets, windows and doors in Washington state.

NW Plywood MillTo Close

SDS Lumber Co. has begun laying off workers as part of the planned closure of its plywood operation in Bingen, Wa.

President Jason Spadaro said the closing of the mill is due mainly to imported Canadian products and the popularity of OSB.

SDS has no plans to sell its plywood machinery. "If plywood markets return," said Spadaro, "there is a possibility we would resume plywood reduction."

Seventy-five workers will be laid off in stages through mid-March. SDS's lumber mill and veneer operation will not be affected by the closure.

The closure is a serious blow to Washington's mid-Columbia region, which has already seen Broughton Lumber Co. and Stevenson Co-Ply of Underwood close during the past several years.

Arson Strikes Montana Yards

Lumber Yard Supply Co., Great Falls, Mt., was ravaged by a blaze last month that fire officials have labeled arson.

The Jan. 6 fire began in a truss plant used for storage, before spreading to a brick office building that housed three carpentry shops. Winds quickly blew flames into the company's 35,000-sq. ft. warehouse.

It is estimated that $3.7 million in property and inventory were destroyed.

Following the incident, fire officials looked at four other area fires that led up to the Lumber Yard Supply blaze, including a stack of siding that was torched Jan. 4 at Johnson-Madison Lumber Co.. Great Falls.

Fire Marshall Joe Lelievre said of the Jan. 6 fire, that there were no heat sources in the area, the gas was turned off and electricity ran only inside the building-leaving arson as the most likely explanation.

Lumber Yard Supply president Owen Robinson reported that although three buildings were destroyed, two others on the west side of the lot and a storage yard were saved. He also added that no one was injured.

Lumber Yard's Jason Bake said the company plans to completely rebuild the yard. They are now working out of temporary offices downtown.

A $5,000 reward was posted for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist.

Mills Lose lnmate Workers

Two Oregon mills last month had their supply of prison workers cut off in the face of criticism that local job seekers were being displaced.

Since the fall of 2000. Mid Willamette Precut, Scio, Or., and Shaniko, Lyons, Or., have been using prison workers at their mills to produce garden stakes, lath and other fin-

N.M. Board Plant Closes

After nearly three decades, Ponderosa Products' particleboard plant in Albuquerque, N.M., closed permanently last month.

"We fought the battle," said president Jim D. Harrison. "I'm actually pretty proud of how long we lasted."

Harrison said the 250,000-sq. ft plant has been struggling since the late 1980s, having been forced to use wood from builders' scraps, moulding

EvencRAtN Decrcruc

ished products.

Although some county residents felt the prisoners and their low wages kept the mills from going under, others, like Scio businesswoman Marguerite Totten, felt the arrangement was seriously flawed.

"They're taking jobs away from the community and a lot of people are upset," she said. "This is a poor com- leftovers and recycled wood pallets. munity that needs jobs."

Prior to the Jan.9 closure, Ponderosa had sales of $20 million annually and was producing nearly 50 million bd. ft a year.

Harrison noted that once the national forests had closed, sawmills in Arizona and New Mexico followed suit, drying up his company's source of scrap wood.

The equipment and plant will be sold at auction in March.

During the last year, the two mills used inmates for a total of 104,800 hours-which equals year-round, fulltime work for 50 people.

A spokesman for both mills-they share the same ownership-said the company has failed to attract and retain employees in the area.

Most local residents and business people argue that the company has made no honest effort to attract local workers.

"They've found a way to use extremely cheap labor-no workers' comp, nothing," said Jon Carey of Frank Lumber, Mill City, Or.

Oregon Correction officials say that it cost the mills $400 a day for a crew of l0 workers-saving $466,000 off the cost of minimum wage, plus 3OVo payroll taxes over a year's time.

The Oregon Department of Corrections terminated the labor contract Jan. l, saying that its intention is not to displace workers.

Montana Timber Sale Halted

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A federal judge has blocked a timber sale in Montana's Bitterroot National Forest, citing a lack of citizen review in the Forest Service's plan.

The Jan. 7 decision was a serious setback for the U.S. Forest Service, which had planned to sell approximately 45,000 acres of timber damaged during summer wildfires in 2000.

The plan would have allowed for the harvest of 116 million bd. ft. of timber over three years-more than double the amount harvested there over the past decade.

Environmentalists claimed in a lawsuit that logging would further harm endangered species, including the threatened bull trout.

The Forest Service contends that leaving downed trees on the forest floor only invites more disastrous forest fires. In addition, it speculated that the termination of the sale would result in lost revenue of $11 million and the loss of local timber jobs.

Darby, Mt., logger Bob Walker and Pyramid Mountain Lumber Co., Seeley, Mt., filed briefs Jan. 3 in support of the Forest Service's plan. Pyramid was logging in the Bitterroot before the wildfires forced them out.

Oregon Facility Takes On Juniper

An Oregon non-profit organization is using disabled workers to mill the state's increasingly unwanted juniper trees.

Since 1997, Reach, Inc., Klamath Falls, Or., has been producing juniper fence posts and planks that have won praise for reportedly weathering the elements better than traditional cedar products.

Some forestry experts say this use of the state's pesky juniper trees may present a blueprint of how best to deal with the tree.

Juniper forests have been spreading like a plague across Eastern Oregon's high desert, drinking up scarce water and running rampant over native grasses.

The most troublesome juniper forests in Eastern Oregon have grown fivefold since the 1930s and now cover 2 million acres. The U.S. Forest Service projects that by 2050, juniper woodlands will blanket about 6 million acres across the state.

"We like to say that we're helping the land by removing the juniper, we're making products that help the land, and we're putting productive people to work," said executive director Marc Kane.

The Klamath Falls mill employs 60 people, two-thirds of them with disabilities. It also produces pallets and other products from fir and pine.

Seventeen percent of Reach's funding comes from public donations and grants.

Western Cedar School Set For April

The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association's cedar school will present its spring training program April 7-11 in Vancouver, B.C.

Executive director Arnie Nebelsick said that the goal of the program is to present "information that's practical and pertinent to what (attendees) are doing."

More than 630 attendees have graduated from the cedar school since it was established in the fall of 1995.

Thieves Snatch Mill's Flag

Local police are investigating the theft of a huge l0'xl5' American flag from Nu Forest Products.

During the early morning hours of Jan. I I. culprits cut an opening in a chainlink fence on the north side of the Healdsburg, Ca., mill.

The flag flew about 150 feet above the mill, where it was visible citywide. "Everyone at Nu Forest Products and the town of Healdsburg are very upset," said George W. McConnell,

Jr., noting a new flag has been ordered to replace the stolen one.

Power Tools To Keep Selling

Power and hand tools purchases will experience a 47o annual increase over the next four years with forecasted sales of $15.5 billion by 2005 according to new study.

The demand for power tools is expected to grow 5% annually through 2005 to an estimated $9.4 billion. Cordless electric tools are forecasted to be particularly popular, with electric drills, saws and screwdrivers making up most of the demand.

Hand tool demand will experience only a modest gain with an annual rate of 3.27o anticipated-primarily due to the durability of such products.

Professional customers are expected to comprise two-thirds of the total value over the next four years, as they generally buy more expensive tools.

Consumers trading up for more expensive models coupled with the popularity of d-i-y should push the consumer market past the pro market in terms of number of buyers during the next four years, predicted the Freedonia Group Inc.

New Name For NOFMA

National Oak Flooring Manufacturers Association will change its name to "NOFMA, the Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association."

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NOF/V\A L L$trrrr o rI onHnG GRADE

NOFMA has new name, new logo.