Western red cedat manufacturers team up to grow

THE ACQUISITION of Skookum

I Lumber Co.. Olympia. Wa.. by Welco Lumber Co., Marysville, Wa., last September brought together two firms that specialize in western red cedar manufacturing.

According to Skookum's marketing director Jim Mace, a study revealed that the two businesses would become stronger if they were operated as one firm rather than run separately.

"The Skookum plant in Shelton, Wa., has an efficient small log fencing sawmill along with a remanufacturing facility for producing high quality kiln dried bevel sidings," Mace says. "The four steam-heated dry kilns have waste wood fired boilers that produce the steam to kiln dry the knotty western red cedar products. The Welco sawmill in Marysville is a modern state-of-the-art facility that produces 66 million ft. of western red cedar annually. Welco can receive logs by water or by truck, extending the distance logs can come from to serve the sawmill."

Grown mostly in coastal forests from Northern California to Southwest Alaska, western red cedar also grows in the drier interior forests of Washington, Idaho and British Columbia. Despite being a durable and exceptionally beautiful wood, western red cedar can be somewhat of a riddle to unknowing buyers who can become lost in the wood's many specialty products and grading rules. These products are valued primarily for their appearance. Therefore, cedar grading rules are based on appearance more than on structural strength.

"The key to the quality of knotty products lies in the quality of the logs," Mace says. "The logs we use are from new growth trees from the Puget Sound basin. The source of the raw logs is vital in determining the end product." He adds that while second-growth cedar, which is found mostly in Washington, has less heartwood, the wood does contain more material suitable for tight knot sidings. In addition, western red cedar can have varying characteristics due to regional differences in soil and climate conditions, a point buyers should be informed of when they are choosing products made from the wood.

Established in 1976 at the base of the Olympic Peninsula, Skookum Lumber Co. specializes in kiln-dried, tight-knot bevel siding, better known as lap siding or clapboard siding. Bevel siding is a traditional pattern that has been used in North America for well over 200 years and remains a popular siding style today. Skookum bevel sidings come in a variety of thicknesses from 1 12" to 7 18" , and feature appearances from rustic to a more refined, traditional look that can be used with most contemporary architecture.

"Welco will market about one half of its production to remanufacturers throughout the U.S. as well as British Columbia," Mace says. "The other half will be shipped by truck to Shelton to be manufactured into select tight knot western red cedar products."

Welco operates three western red cedar fencing sawmills, Mace says. "The fencing sawmill at Shelton is a small log mill," he says. "The mill in Marysville is a large log fencing mill. The mill in Naples, Id., cuts a wider range of logs up to 29" in diameter."

He adds that the combined capacity of fencing is "roughly 500,000 ft. per day."