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Activists Pressure TP To Back Off Alaska Project

For the last several years, Timber Products Co., Springfield, Or., has been evaluating whether or not to buy and restart a bankrupt veneer mill in Ketchikan, Ak. The National Resources Defense Council is rallying public sentiment to convince TP it's a bad idea.

TP, owned by the Gonyea family, was the subject of NRDC's February newsletter in which the environmental organization called for a letter writing campaign to deter the company from resunecting the mill. NRDC believes that restartins the mill would cause the

New Mexico Mill Eyes Growth

A small new lumber mill in Reserve, N.M., has big plans to eventually match the output of the large operation it replaced.

In three to five years, TFA Inc. ("The Forestry Association") wants to increase its payroll from the small diameter mill's current five workers to 40 to 50 positions-the number employed at the large diameter mill it replaced, the long-closed Stone Container sawmill. TFA will achieve the job growth by boosting the mill's production from its current 5 million bd. ft. a year-Stone Container produced 30 million bd. ft. annually-and by creating specialized wood product spin-off firms.

The new facility uses selectively cut small diameter timbers (typically 9" to 12", but up to 16"), while the old mill consumed larger logs ( 18" to 20" up to 34").

The head of TFA, former forestry consultant Bob Moore, wants the mill to emphasize processing the timber on-site into value-added materials where a demand now exists rather than shipping out the raw material. To that end, TFA has begun installing a dry kiln. By lowering the moisture content in the wood, the company can transition from selling vigas, latillas and post poles to tongue-and-groove siding and interior log cabin siding.

According to Moore, a few small operations have contacted him to discuss also locating their companies on the county-owned, 2O-acre property. They include a company that would sell firewood and other waste products for fuel, and a custom door/moulding manufacturer.

But Moore says that the new tasks will require more skilled labor.

U.S. Forest Service to begin logging in areas of the neighboring l7-millionacre Tongass National Forest.

At the very least, the NRDC wants TP to promise not to use Tongass timber should it buy the mill, which it has been eyeing for several years.

Five months ago, the Bush Administration exempted the Tongass from the roadless rule, a ban on construction of new roads in many portions of national forests that didn't already have substantial road networks.

NRDC this year has already used a letter-writing campaign that resulted in more than 40,000 letters and faxes from across the U.S. asking TP president and c.e.o. Joe Gonyea II, not to use Tongass timber in the mill.

Roger Rutan, TP assistant v.p. or marketing, said that the company would not depend on Tongass National Forest timber.

"There's enough second growth timber on (Alaskan) Native and private lands to fully wood the mill," Rutan said. "Not for two or three years, but for the long haul."

He added that the mill is set up to process small-diameter trees, and cannot handle logs larger than 24" in diameter. "There are no old growth issues with this mill," he said.