The Packwood Forestry Bill

The "Forest and Families Protection Act of 1991" (see editorial, p. 6) was introduced May 23 in both houses of Congress. Senator Bob Packwood (R-Or.) introduced the bill in the Senate, with Congressmen Jerry Huckaby (D-La.) and Al Swift (D-Wa.) sponsoring the House bill. Between the two bills, nine Republicans and six Democrats signed as co-sponsors.

The legislation would have two principal parts - interim and longterm - to address forest management problems on federal lands in California, Oregon and Washington.

The interim program would last for three years and provide for old growth and spotted owl protection and an assured timber sale level. It would establish an economic adjustment program to provide economic diversification and stabilization grants to communities and unemployment retraining and relocation benefits to adversely affected workers. lt would also provide for development of an old-growth research program.

During the interim, a long-term program would be developed to: (l) establish an Old Growth Reserve.

(2) designate ecologically significant old growth areas to the reserve, (3) provide for protection and management of reserve areas, (4) ensure conservation of old growth dependent species, and (5) provide a degree of certainty under the Endangered Species Act and other wildlife laws. New procedures, standards, and guidelines would be developed to strengthen revision and implementation of National Forest and Bureau of Land Management plans. The research program would continue for two more years for basic research and monitoring. The economic adjustment program would continue for three years.

This legislation is supported by NLBMDA and the Timber Industry Labor-Management Committee, consisting of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of Americal Western Council of Industrial Workers; International Woodworkers of America. U.S.:

AFL-CIO; American Forest Resource Alliance. and the National Forest Products Association.

Decks Have Excellent ROI

A deck can bring about a 75% return on investment, providing retailers with a strong selling point for deck kits, pressure treated lumber, redwood and cedar.

This figure made decks one of the most profitable projects of 27 home improvement jobs surveyed in l0 cities by Practical Homeowner magazine.

Home Depot Hits Jackpot

Home Depot's 1990 earnings were over the top at $3.82 billion. Chairman and ceo Bernard Marcus and president Arthur Blank sweetened this announcement to stockholders with news that the company plans to grow flrom 148 stores to 355 within four years.

In unrelated action, Cobb County, Ca., named Bernard Marcus its highest paid executive at $1.587 million with Blank second at $1.378 million.

Engineered Wood Products

(Continued from page 9) xl2 has a2,900 psibending strength rating.

These products can be attractive and suitable for exposed application such as cathedral ceilings or skylight headers as well as structural uses. They also come in a variety of sizes with lengths up to 66 feet and standard widths up to 5-l/2 inches.

The markets for engineered products are growing rapidly. The LVL

BE Refocuses To Expand

A redirection of Builders Emporium, Irvine, Ca., to become more a convenient neighborhood store and give up the larger markets to the warehouse competitors is underway.

The program includes an aggressive store opening plan, mostly in California, with some less profitable stores closed. Stores ooened June 29 in Beaumont. Ca.. and Rancho Sierra (Las Vegas), Nv. BE may open two or three more this year and, beginning in 1992, seven to l0 stores a year for the next several years.

"For the first time we've defined a new store market for us." said John Kearney, executive vice president, administration. "lt's a smaller town orientation. This protects us from warehouse-type competitors, who need different demographics and higher density."

Home Depot Fwy. Next?

For a mere $100,000 to $l 50,000, Home Depot has a Home Depot street sign.

The entrance to an Anaheim, Ca., unit is a private driveway into a business development on Lincoln Ave., but because of traffic, a signal is needed. Home Depot paid for four traffic signals and two street signs at the entrance which serves several other businesses.

Precedent for doing this was established by a former tenant, explained Don Dey, Anaheim traffic engineer. "We usually have a street name that we can use, but in this case, there was no street and we just duplicated what had been done for Gemco."

market is expected to double within l0 years and the demand for l-beams is projected to double in just five years. We will be seeing more usage of untraditional species.

The fourth paradigm shift in the industry is that of delighting the customer instead of racing towards production records. Historically, the forest products industry has been production driven with little distinction between competitors' products, a deafear towards requests for customer service and sometimes only a passing interest in product quality.

For those who want a tomorrow in the industry, those days will have to be history. We have to find ways to delight the customer with our products and services. We must learn their needs and satisfy them. Changes in our industry's raw materials, markets and products will not allow for business as usual. We must become adversaries to those who would lock up our forests, be unrelenting in our pursuit to find new and better ways to utilize timber species and wood products, and seek ways to satisfy our customers.