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Patrick Chavez, 47, owner of Truss World, Bernalillo, N.M., was killed in a private plane crash March 7 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Mr. Chavez died with friend and pilot Richard Fuller and Fuller's son, Erik, after the single-engine plane crashed into power lines.

Ivan Hanson. 83. retired sales manager for Idaho Forest Products, Coeur d'Alene. Id.. died Feb. 26.

A native of Montana, Hanson moved with his family to Coeur d'Alene when he was two-years old. He served in the Navy as an officer during World War II.

After the war, he worked with Potlatch Corp. and then Atlas Tie Co., which later became Idaho Forest Products. He retired in 1989 after 32 years with IFP.

Barnes Everett Mauk. 89. retired salesman for Mauk Forest Products, Redmond. Wa. died Feb. 22 in Seattle, Wa.

A native of Ohio. Mr. Mauk served as a lieutenant in the Navy during

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World War II.

After college, he joined the Mauk Family Lumber Co., Toledo, Oh., in 1937 He spent 40 years with the Mauk Seattle Lumber Co., Seattle, before joining Mauk Forest Products. He retired in 1996.

Eugene "Gene" A. Yates,91, former owner of Novato Lumber & Fence Co., Novato, Ca., died March 16.

A native of Marin County, Ca., Mr. Yates served as an officer with the Merchant Marines during World War II.

He bought Novato Lumber & Fence in 1960 and operated it until 1992.

Tree Thinner On The Move

Forest researchers in California are working with a new movable sawmill they hope may help out-of-work loggers profit from harvesting small diameter trees.

Members of the non-profit Hayfork Watershed Research Center recently gathered in Williams, Or., to seea demonstration of the Economizer Small Log Mill processing more than 650 trees thinned from a private property owner.

The portable mill, which is compact enough to fit inside a two-car garuge, can handle trees from 3-ll2" to a I ft. in diameter.

"We're making product out of stuff that used to be left as waste," said Hayfork's Dan Naef.

The hope is that the moveable mill will make some thinning projects. which otherwise might not have been undertaken, profitable.

Stands of trees near Medford, Or.'s municipal watershed, full of small diameter firs, are not economically viable by traditional harvesting methods.

"It could cost $800 to $1,000 an acre to get the work done," said Bob Jones with the Medford Water Commission. "With the Economizer. we could recover two-thirds of that."

Jones is looking for a way to have the mill in Rogue Valley where it could cut trees in surrounding public and private forest.

"We're hoping to set up a wood product center in Southern Oregon," said Jones. "It would sort and process small-diameter material and would be a clearinghouse for marketing the product."

War Creates Need For Lumber

Top lumber and building material suppliers have already been contacted by the U.S. Defense Supply Center and told to ramp up their product lines, according to CNN Money.

"About 6O7o of lumber, plywood and other wood products going to the Middle East is for the U.S. Central Command Center in Doha, Qatar," said Frank Johnson of the Defense Supply Center, a unit of the U.S. Department of Defense.

"That material is being used to construct support structures for troops. Lumber hasn't gone into Iraq yet (as of March 28), but we'll need more of it to set up structures for troops in areas like Basra when it's safe to do so."

Tom Laversen said the DOD gets most of its lumber from smaller distributors that subcontract with companies like Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Weyerhaeuser Co.

The Pentagon's annual budget is $7.8 billion for nonweapons related supplies; $2.5 billion is set aside for lumber and other products.

"The wood industry would certainly welcome boosted demand," said financial analyst Steven Chercover. "Especially since the pricing for wood hasn't been strong despite a good housing market."

Portland, Or.-based Sylvan Industries, which is a top DOD supplier, has been asked to ramp up its supply of lumber, according to Cindy Blackman.

"Although it hasn't been substantial yet, we have to be ready to ship within seven days of getting an order," said Blackman in late March. "I don't anticipate the demand spiking significantly in the coming weeks."

As we approach the 2004 transition deadline, rely on us to provide you with fast and accurate information regarding your treated lumber needs,

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