WESIiERN ASS0elATt[0N NEWS

Lumber Association of Southern California held a management training workshop June 5 at Anderson and

Anderson, Irvine, Ca. Behavioral consultant Scott V. Oxman addressed "The Top 10 Mistakes Leaders Make (And How to

Eliminate Them)," while human resources expert Phil Reyna spoke on "Conflict Resolution."

Lumber Merchants Association has booked Paul Wagner, president and owner, Bal.zac Communications & Marketing, Napa, Ca., to show members how to "Beat the Odds" at its 58th annual convention Nov. 7-9 at John Ascuasa's Nugget, Reno, Nv.

Western Building Material Association's summer program at Idaho's Elkhorn Lodge July 27-30 includes meetings of Young Westerners Club board, insurance/pension trust, long range planning committee, WBMA board and executive board.

Straw Panel Plant Closes

Stramit USA has closed, ceasing production of its 2-114"-thick compressed-straw, paper-faced panels, used as interior partition walls.

tion to Washington, D.C., during National Lumber & Biilding Materiai Dealers Association's recent Leoislative Leadershio Conference included Raidv Destruel. Larrv McFadden, Jan Hansen, Bo[r & Donna'Rossi, Dustv & Kevin Destruel.

The Perryton, Tx., plant began operating in the spring of 1995 (see Sept., p. 13), but was hindered by an expensive two-year start-up and having two years' worth of harvested wheat straw that proved unusable.

The company is considering selling the equipment and plant.

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Big Creek Recognized For Sustainability

Big Creek Lumber Co., Davenport, Ca., has become the first wood products company operating in redwood forests to receive a Well-Managed Forest certification following an independent evaluation by Scientific Certification Systems.

After investigating Big Creek's 6,800 acres comprised of 1l separate land blocks ranging from 20 acres to over 3.700 acres of redwood.

Monterey pine and Douglas fir, SCI deemed the company's management of redwoods "an example of superior forest stewardship."

Among the findings:

Exemplary stand management silviculture (achieving silviculture goals as opposed to merely maximizing economic return and willingly avoiding erosion in average stand diameters);

. A management philosophy placing riparian and aquatic concerns above timber harvesting;

No use of chemical herbicides and pesticides;

Efforts designed to maintain the nutrient capital of the sites and particularly to maintain woody and green retention.

Operating one sawmill and five retail outlets, Big Creek produces approximately 20 million bd. ft. of lumber annually.

Palco Sues Over Headwaters

Pacific Lumber Co., Scotia, Ca., has filed a $500 million lawsuit alleging the federal government has illegally prevented it from logging its own land.

The suit, filed May 7, charges the government has used the Environmental Protection Act to long delay Palco's plans to log Northern California's 3,800-acre Headwaters Forest, the largest intact, privately owned stand of old growth redwoods.

Palco claims such a use of the Act constitutes a de facto "taking" of the land by closing it to harvesting.

On May 8, the ruling prohibiting logging on 137 acres near the Headwaters Forest was upheld by a federal Appeals Court due to the presence. of the marbled murrelet, a member of the federal Endangered Species List. A similar ruling on the Headwaters itself is expected soon.

"Any management decision that does not degenerate to work is, in fact, not a decision at all. It is simply a statement of good intentions."

- Peter Drucker Management guru

Yet senior federal resource managers, noting "takings" lawsuits historically have been difficult for property owners to win, suspect Palco's suit is a bargaining ploy by Charles Hurwitz, chairman and c.e.o. of Palco's parent, Maxxam Inc., to force the government to buy the land or let him log it. The Pacific Lumber Co. has made repeated efforts to sell the property.

The sticking point has been the price: Hurwitz wants close to the $500 million he believes he could net if he harvested the Headwaters, while officials claim the forest is worth several hundred million dollars less since environmental laws make it impossible for it to ever be logged.

Fines For Off-Size Lumber

Responding to customer complaints about misrepresentation of non-standard lumber sizes, the California Division of Measurement Standards has recently been calling on retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers throughout the state.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the actual thickness and width of lumber of non-standard sizes cannot be represented, advertised or invoiced in any way to have dimensions other than their true (net) dimensions. Each violation is subiect to a fine of up ro $ I ,000.

Dolan's Yard Files ChaPter 13

Gary Michael Dolan has filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection to reopen his Richmond, Ca., Yard shut down earlier this year by the state tax board.

Struggling to compete with two nearby Home Depots and to repay a $25,000 sales tax bill, he is seeking permission to use his store's future income to repay more than 20 creditors nearly $370,000 in debts. He expects the yard to reopen shortly now that he has filed the $1,250-a-month payment plan with the bankruptcy court.

Dolan yards operated by his uncles in Concord, Pinole, Benicia and Dublin, Ca., are unaffected by the filing. He took over the Richmond yard from his father, J.P. Dolan, who started the Dolan lumber empire in San Pablo in 1952 and retired in 1994.

To compete with the warehouse competition, he plans to specialize in redwood.

Red Cedar

BMC West Goes All Cotter

To streamline operations and consolidate its buying power, BMC West has finalized a purchasing agreement making Cotter & Co. the primary hardlines wholesaler for all of its 52 stores.

Half of BMC West's stores are currently supplied by Ace and HWI, and the chain also discussed the potential for consolidation with these co-ops before selecting Cotter.

"We have had a strong partnering relationship with True Value since the formation of BMC West in 1987," said John Sieggreen, general merchandise director for BMC West. "More BMC locations (26) are currently affil-

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iated with True Value than with anv other cooperative, and this is a nuturul extension of our association."

According to the agreement, BMC West will purchase hardlines merchandise from Cotter & Co. and have access to the buying group's services such as marketing, technical and software support, store planning and field support, but BMC West stores will not be branded True Value.

BMC West expects the changeover to take about 18 months, since it will evaluate product lines on a store-bystore basis.

Based in Boise, Id., publicly owned BMC West operates stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington.

Cotter & Co. supplies nearly 6,000 True Value stores worldwide.

HWI Stores ln Cyberspace

Hardware Wholesalers Inc. is putting its retail members on the Internet through its new Do-it Best home page (http://www.doitbest.com).

Every HWI member's store name, address and phone number is listed as part of a store locator, allowing consumers to find the closest store when searching by zip codes or area codes. A click of a mouse on a specially designed U.S. map generates a list of all HWI locations within a state.

"Whether you are a professional retailer or a do-it-yourselfer, our site is a great place to find useful information," says retail marketing manager Larry Pensinger. "Consumers can find out store locations, hours and spe- cial prices. We have information of interest to any retailer, and members have access to downloadable store layout plan-o-grams, or a copy of the annual report."

Other features include an Internet version of the company's book, People...Building a Great American Success Story, full-color photography of nationally advertised specials, downloadable movies, recordings and a picture of mascot DIY Sam.

On a test basis, the company is also providing retailers with the opportunity to create their own home page, featuring a store photo and customized information. Available for a minimal set-up charge and small monthly fee, store home pages will be accessible directly from the store locator, or with their own Internet address.

Distribution Teleconference

The North American Building Material Distribution Association's Education Foundation will present its next seminar, "The Dead Inventory Challenge," July 16 via teleconference.

Needing only a speaker phone, companies pay one connection fee for their entire staff, eliminating travel, multiple registration fees and time out of the office. The presentation is supplemented by interactive handouts distributed beforehand and followed by a question and answer session.

Featured speaker Dr. Albert Bates, Profit Planning Group, Boulder, Co., will present suggestions for eliminating or minimizing the number of dead items, approaches for analyzing items and the impact on profitability.

Building Products Expo Expands in '96

More than 10,000 are expected to converge on Chicago's Navy Pier Aug. 10-13 to preview this industry's latest at the National Building Products Exposition & Conference.

"The show floor well represents all of the products categories that are important in the industry including flooring, doors, lumber, wall coverings, windows and roofing," said show spokesman Dennis MacDonald.

In its fifth year, the Expo has grown from 100 exhibits on 15,000 sq. ft. to over 400 exhibitors on 104,000 sq. ft.

Held in conjunction with the Aug. ll-14 National Hardware Show at Chicago's McCormick Place Complex, the Expo will showcase wares from hundreds of suppliers.

Six one-hour-long seminars will be held Aug. 10-12, tackling the topics: "Learn From the Winners: How to Design, Build & Market Energy Pack- ages," "Special Order Programs," "Cutting Edge Strategies for ProOriented Dealers," "Expectations of Our Business Partners," "Make Your Customers Rich - and Loyal," and "The Future of the Residential Remodeling Industry."

The event will be previewed in Expo Preview, a full-color special section in the July issue of The Merchant Magazine.

L-P Braces For Big Growth

Louisiana-Pacific is preparing to double in size by the year 2000, announced Mark A. Suwyn at his first stockholders meeting as the company's new chairman and c.e.o.

"We have the financial strength to double the size and enhance the quality of the company by the end of the decade," he said. "We are now devel-