Redwood to stay A:::"::":

D EDWOOD lumber shipments

Tl for the first time in 30 years have exceeded I billion board feet, climaxing almost l0 years of steady growth, and easing any fears that redwood supplies were dwindling.

Dealers can be assured that the industry guarantees them a steady supply of redwood, due in great part to redwood being the fastest growing North American conifer. The phenomenal growth and production from young redwood forests have brought about many changes in the industry.

To stay in step, the California Redwood Association is making changes in its membership and structure. "The major change the California Redwood Association has made is the addition of three new member mills to its roster," explained Keith Lanning, executive vice president and general manager of the Mill Valley, Ca., association.

New members Arcata Redwood Co., Louisiana-Pacific Corp. and Redwood Empire have joined old members Georgia-Pacific Corp., Miller Redwood Co.. The Pacific Lumber Co. and Simpson Timber Co. In addition, the Redwood Inspection Service, the CRA division responsible for quality control, has added Beaver Lumber Co., Capital Lumber Co. and Little Lake Industries to its membership.

"This is a substantial increase in industry support for the CRA and all the promotional and technical services we perform," Lanning added. "Last year CRA's members repre- sented only 550/o of the total redwood shipments. This year they will be responsible for a full 85% of redwood lumber shipments."

Story at a Glance

Despite record shipments of redwood a steady supply for the future is well assured . how the California Redwood Association has evolved and strengthened in response to these market changes.

Industry and association changes are significant to those who sell redwood as well as redwood manufacturers, according to Lanning. He emphasizes that lumber dealers can look forward to a strong supply of redwood products including new products such as rustic siding and air seasoned redwood dimension lumber for decks. These new entries to the market will be manufactured from the ever-increasing harvests of young growth timber.

"The effectiveness of quality control will bestronger than ever," promises Lanning, "with more members in the Redwood Inspection Service." In addition, he anticipates the fuller industry representation in the CRA will result in more effective and more unified product and sales support.

Specialized promotion programs funded by members interested in developing sales of specific products are now underway. These enable the association to provide a wider range of promotions as well as more regional programs, according to Lanning. Since promotions in the past were supported by all members as a group, they were usually limited to products produced by all members. The change, if adopted, will allow companies to select individual product promotions which they wish to support.

Internal changes are also underway in the structure of both the California Redwood Association and the Redwood Inspection Service, merged to reduce the costs of administration and management. "This will not affect the quality of service provided by either of theseorganizations," Lanning stressed. "Rather, they will be better equipped to work together on both technical and promotional projects."

More eflicient operation is the restructuring goal of the promotion division: to respond more quickly to the marketplace, the particular needs of member mills and their customers. "As a result, I feel confident that there will be greater product and market specialization in CRA promotional efforts," Lanning added. "By prornoting the many virtues of redwood as a generic product, we can build redwood's reputation and create a strong market."