A cedar deck is an amazLngplace.

No imitation wood or chemically treated lumber can substitute for the character, the warmth and the charm of genuine'Western Red Cedar. 'With natural durabiliry and long lasting beaury thatt easy to maintain, cedar turns your outdoor spaces into places of wonder and discovery.

We must win

Economic news improves. Housing numbers are high, interest rates stay at record low levels, and in general, industry smiles seem quite broad for now. Talking around the country these past few weeks, almost every sector is reporting high volume levels. Some have indicated the highest level of business they have ever seen. Yet, while still very early in the season in some parts of the country, there are clearly some issues developing that will impact one end of the channel or the other. or the entire channel.

Clearly prices are rising in almost all product categories. In some areas, like OSB and panels, prices have doubled and almost tripled since last year. I am hearing in almost every category issues such as a lack of logs, lack of capacity or finished product, product allocations, no new customer capacity, lack of commitments for product two months out, higher freight costs, lack of freight carriers, and cash flow issues that higher prices bring, etc., etc. For

ALAN OAKES publisher ajoakes@aol.com

so early in the season, this will be a concern as the year oeaks a few months from norv.

However. there will be two issues in the second half of the year that will perhaps define the year of 2004. First, it is, of course, an election year. This column is not political, but this will be a year when every vote will count, as in 2000. There are some very large issues on which voters will need to decide. While taxes, health care costs, government spending, jobs, outsourcing, workers compensation will be major domestic issues, the one issue that stand over all of us is the war on terrorism.

The recent train bombings in Spain clearly show that terrorists can still strike at any time, in any place. Now, each of us as individuals might have our own personal opinions about whether the war in Iraq was right or not. But, if we have learned anything as we watch our television screens nightly and watch the murder of our troops and civilian contractors, it is that the thought of a stable democratic govemment in Iraq is troubling to the terrorist community. It is the sign that they know they are losing the war.

As I write this column, the 9ll l Commission spectaclefull of sound bites, backside covering, and pass the blamegrinds on. We watch nightly as the news seems to get worse. There is no doubt that not one of us wants to watch our brave troops come home in body bags, but let us clearly understand our will is being tested to the limit. There are some, who want us to pull out, and this is exactly what our enemies expect us to do.

The turnover of authority on June 30, will give the lraqi people the opportunity to take control of their own destiny, and we know from our own history that democracy does not come easily. and does not come without a price. We will need to be there to hold their hands through the troubled time they will inevitably go through.

This will be a bloody year, and unfortunately in an election year, there will be those who will try to profit from the bad news. Our enemies will no doubt try to commit some atrocities that will sway the vote as in Spain recently. If we fall for that we will pay a price the likes of which we perhaps cannot fathom. We need a government that will not shirk their responsibility in hounding down our enemies, and going after them, and doing what it takes.

Our weakness was exploited on 9/l 1, and every government since 1993 takes responsibility for what happened that day. We turned a blind eye over and over again to events such as the earlier bombings of the World Trade Center, U.S. Embassy in Kenya, and the SS Cole. Be sure that the government we elect in November will take on our enemies head on. The economic aftermath of another 9/11 can and will derail us all.

And the rnountains are irnpressive, too.

Conrl-rosite deckins is reaching new hcights. Unlike other "grained" products, EuerGrain'" Decking is the onlv corlposite created through a r"rnique compression molding process rvhich procluces an irrcrcdibly tnre-to-litc, deep lastinq gain vour custonlers will love l)lus, Evcr(lrain cbesn't retyuirc p.rintin!{, strirrirrg, or sealing - so it saves tinte :rnd nloney.

Your custorlcrs can choose lronr four colors that n:rtrlrally weather to a lighter shade* includinrr lledrvoocl, Cedar', (irey, ancl Cape Ood Grey. Build a deck rvith EverGrain, and you'll scc that it looks so nnrch likc r.'ood, it nray even upstage nature.

80().1( )5.05-tr(r u'u'x'.cvelqr.rin.conr

Prodttcts