Gustonr \lillinQ Spccialists

The NAWLA Benchmark of Lumber Business Indices is derived from a quarterly survey of over 100 leading lumber wholesalers throughout the United States and Canada. It compares indices for direct lumber shipments and distribution yard lumber shipments to the base year of 1983.

Lumber wholesalers' accounts receivable declined marginally to 31.2 days aging during July. Receivables remain slightly higher than a year ago due to an easing of credit along the East Coast. The percentage of receivables past net terms increased from 15.106 to 11.30h, while the percentage past 60 days rose from 5.8% to 6.90/0. Inventories in lumber distribution yards declined seasonally to 43.9 days sales.

Nationally, NAWLA wholesalers agree business will increase during the second half of 1989 as interest rates decline. However. forecasts of total sales volume for the year compared to 1988 varied by region.

The timber supply issue remains a serious topic. Legislation to release 10 billion board feet of timber in Washington and Oregon goes to the Congress this month. However. NAWLA wholesalers in the West question whether it will be in time to save smaller sawmills dependent upon Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management timber. Besides preparing, auctioning and awarding timber sales, both federal branches must consult with the Fish & Wildlife Service over Northern Spotted Owl habitats.

Preservationists have reacted to the proposed legislation by targeting roadbuilding as a new area of attack. They plan to restrict funding for such roads through legislative efforts. Reports out of New Mexico say timber harvesting restrictions are in place until a survey is complete assessing Mexican Spotted Owl habitats.

Thetimber supply crisis has pushed stumpage bids above the record levels of 1979. These record costs will eventually make their way down the distribution channel from manufacturer to consumer.

While the legislation before Congress may provide relief through the Fall, wholesalers are concerned about next spring. Mills normally purchase timber two to three years out. But today's backlog stands at less than one year, representing its lowest level in history. Many wonder whether lumber can be manufactured at a profit under these conditions. or if more mills will be forced to close compounding an already troubled situation.

For its natural beautY and enduring qualitieg therds never been a better decking lumber than redwood And until now therds never been a redwood decking so affordable to so many. Louisiana-Pacific presents LP Desert Dry Redwood, in construction heart and construction common grades

With tight knots and natural variations of color and patterr! Desert Dry Redwood is easily distinguished from cedar and pressure treated lumber. It's a irestigious look And you can supply it so economically.

LP Desert Dry Redwood is kiln-dried so you can offer economy and performance every step of the way. By taking the moisture content downto 19 percent or less, the load is lightened and you get more board feet on every truck Desert Dry Redwood loses nothing but water in the process On thejob, joints stay tight and shrinkage is controlled" [t also main tains a superior resistance to decay and insects Dried" trimmed, and surhced so sizes are true, ifs paPer wrapped for protection in?" x 4" , 2" x6",2" x8" - 12" dimensions and lengths up to 20 feet. For more information about Desert Drv Redwood or any of our other grades of redwood, call Bob Mosbv. Redwood Sales Manager, at 7 07 -443-7 lIL.

- L-P Desert Drv Redwood. Go ftrst class. But pay boach.

*TREATED

Preston New Name For G&S

The new name for G&S Lumber Co., Inc. in Sebastopol, Ca., is Preston Lumber Corp., according to Preston president Jim Blevins. Preston also owns and operates the former Richardson Lumber mill in Cloverdale, Ca. It purchased the mill in February.

Preston Lumber is cutting 2x4, 2x6 and 4x4 redwood green commons. Sales are handled by Dave Snodgrass from the Cloverdale facility.

Sequoia Adds Truss Products

Sequoia Supply, Fairfield, Ca.. has been selected as a wholesaler of Trus Joist residential structural prod- ucts in the Northern California market.

"We've set up Sequoia to serve the ever-growing Northern California market of lumber yards and truss plants," said Trus Joist technical representative Tom Devlin.

Sequoia Supply will stock Trus Joist's Micro:Lam laminated veneer lumber and The Silent Floor joist system, a structural floor system. Trus Joist's products are engineered wood components for structural application in residential construction.

"Our business is 98% retail lumber yards throughout Northern California. We see great opportunities for the product category," said Bob Riggs, Sequoia's general manager.

Biggest U.S. Population Gainers

Los Angeles, Ca., will add the most people in the next l0 years, an additional 800,000, while the fastest growth in the next 20 years will be Naples, Fl., which will add 700/0, according to NPA Data estimates.

Metropolitan areas adding the most people in the next l0 years are:

Within the next 20 years, the fastest growth in the West will be in Wa.: Olympia (up 5l %) and Bremerton (41%): Ca.: Santa Cruz (4506), Santa Rosa (4301r), Riverside/San Bernardino @2%) and Vallejo/Fairfield/Napa (400/o)', Co.: Fort Collins @20D, Nv.: Las Yegas (420/o) and Reno (40%), and Az.: Phoenix (38%) and Tucson (36%).

Within the next 20 years, the fastest growth in the South will be in Tx.: Bryan/College Station (up 4601,), and Fl.: Naples (70%), Fort Pierce (61%), Fort Myers $'70/o\. Ocala (51%) and West Palm Beach (480/o).

Trade Data Goes Metric

The Harmonized System, a uniform set of worldwide customs classification codes, took effect in the U.S. on Jan. l. The most noticeable impact on the forest industry will be the requirement that export volumes be expressed in metric units on customs declarations.

The Bureau of the Census, which compiles trade data, uses a statistical screening model based on value and volume to detect errors in data. However, some errors may be undetectable by this method. Any errors will result in either faulty data or delays in getting data published. This happened when Canada switched to the Harmonized Systent this year. Due to incorrect information on customs declarations earlier in the year, Canada still does not have any forest products trade statistics for 1988. Normally data for nine months would be available at this time.

To get a list of Harmonized System product codes corresponding to the current Schedule B codes, write to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 and request "Schedule B, 1988 Edition: Statistical Classification of Domestic and Foreign Exports" (cost is $46).

o o o

Lud McCrary

(4OB) 423-4A9a &OB) 423-4756

FAX: 4O&423-2AOO

Big Creek Lumber Co., 3564 IIwg. 7, Dauenport, Ca.95077

SPECTALTZING IN A COMPLETE LINE OF THE FOLLOWING:

TREATED LUIIIBER & PLYWOOD

M€ats soecif ications: AWPA C- 27 -84 & C20-84, ASTM E-84, MIL-L-1 91 40 Type 1,

REDWOOD

CONSTRUCTION HEART ROUGH

1x4,1x6,1x8,1x12

2x4,2x6,2x8,2x1 2

3x6,3x8,3x.| 2

4x4,4x8,4x8,4x1 2

6x6,6x8,6xl 2,8x8

CONSTRUCTION COMMON ROUGH

1x4,1x6,1x8,1xl2

2x4,2x6,2x8,2x12

1 xO Dog Ear Fencing

4x4 - 8' Post Grade

CONSTRUCTION HEART S4S

2x4,2x6,2x8,2x1 2

4x4

DECKINO S4S

2x4 BEE KD S4S

2x6 BEE KD S4S

CLEAR DOUGLAS FIR

CLEAR VO DOUG FIR S4S KD

1x6, 1x8, 1xl0, 1xl 2

ROUGH DOUGLAS FIR #1 DOUG FIR ROUGH

#2 & #3 rough Douglas flr timbers also available t3 Shlplap: 1x6, 1x8

#2 Com S4S: 1 x4 thru 1 x1 2. 2x1 2

#3 Com Sugar Pln6 S4S 1 x4 thru 1 xl 2

#4 Com S4S 1 xl 2

HARIIWARE Industry Week and the National Hardware Show attracted 70,000 to McCormick Place Complex in Chicago, ll., Aug. 1316, including: lll John Cashmore, Mark Pembrooke. 12l Steve Wolfe, Joseph Benetka. l3l Neil Maglous, William Farrell,. AHMA exec. directbr,0onald Adams. l4l Pat ll4l Don Johnson. Il5l Charles McFarland, Jell Gavin, Jack Martin. ll6l Ron Beal, Joe witdman. Jim Tioton. llTl Richard Bohl. llSl our sales mgr. Jean Gogerty, Kermit Tucker, Nelson Russell.

Simpson. l5l our columnist Bill Fishman. l6f Dick Passaglia, Rick Kost. l7l Bill Donovan, Carmen Fraser. l8l Thomas McKelvey, Julian Scruggs. (91 Sylvia Puffelis, Jerry Sporich. ll0l Jim Henderson, Randy Konkel, John Pond. ll ll Sara Bills, Cheryl Wald. ll2l Dave & Shirlev Norcross. Il3l William Younger Jr.

Personals

(Continued front page 31)

John Campbell is the new sales mgr. at Setzer Forest Products, Sacramento, Ca., according to Mark Setzer.

Debbie Lathrop has joined Fontana Wholesale Lumber Inc., Ijontana, Ca., according to Gene Pietila. She had been with Koppers ('o., Ontario. (la.

Sterling Wolfe, Marquart-Wolfe Lumber (1o.. Costa Mesa, ('a.. and his wife, Loraine, are currently relaxing in Hawaii.

James Quinn has been named pres. and c.e.o. of Collins Pine (-o., Portland, Or., succeeding Robert Lastofka, who has retired.

Martin Schaeffer has left llome( lub, ljullerton, (la., to join lluilders t:mrrorium, lrvine. ('a.. as senior v.D.

The Merchant Magazine

Steve Putney, Gary Reynolds and Brett Spellman have been added to the ('hino, Ca., sales div. olThe Kelleher ('orp., Sacramento, Ca. Pete Fleming and Chris Shively are new to sales in San Ralael. Ca.

Steve Thurgood, Jones Wholesale Lumber Co.. Lynwood, (ia., enjoyed a recent Baja (lalilornia vacation.

Hal Smith and Neal DeWitt have joined the sales force at Product Sales (io., Orange, Ca. Smith had been with Weyerhaeuser. (-erritos, (-a.. l)eWitt with Marquart-Wolfe Lumber Co., Costa Mesa, ('a.

Jana McCullough is now asst. sales mgr. for Pacific ('rown Timber Products. Plummer. Id.

Al Beasley and Frank Fleisig are new to the trading staff at lllue Sky liorest Products, Bend. Or.

Jeff James and Mac l,ewman are new to sales at Hearin l'orest lndustries, Porlland. Or.

Glen Weible has been appointed operations mgr. for the Idaho div. of ('anfor USA. Meridian. Id.

Joseph Heitz has been added to the editorial staff at Random Lengths, ['-ugene, Or.

Bill Perkins, pres., Burns Lumber Co., Van Nuys, Ca., and his wife Cris were at Sea World last month and witnessed the collision of killer whales that left 4,600-lb. Kandu dead.

Patric Taylor, Cal State Forest Products, Anaheim. Ca.. is a new papa. his wile Denise gave birth to a boy, Ryan Nicholas, Aug. 30, 1989.

Owl Hearings A Bag Draw

More than 3,500 logging industry supporters attended a recent public hearing in Redding, (1a., aimed at ilIustrating the hunran side of the spotted owl controversy.

Over a dozen local mills closed for the day, freeing thousands of workers to bring their families to the August 17 hearing. Dozens of fullyloaded logging trucks also joined the parade of sympathizers, many of whom wore yellow shirts, caps and ribbons and carried banners and mock headstones to commemorate

IBM Honors Computer Co.

Dimensions, a Salt Lake City, Ut., provider of hardware and software solutions to the lumber. building materials and hardware industries, has been selected as an IBM Industry Remarketer (business partner).

"Dimensions was approved by IBM due to its excellent customer support, financial stability and its software solution that meets the unique needs of the lumber and building material industry," said Joseph Savino, closed mills. an IBM marketing representative, in announcing the award to the 20 year old company.

Most of the speakers supported the timber industry, citing recent studies of spotted owl habitats in second growth forests. In addition to a reported 1,500 owl pairs in old growth forests in California, Oregon and Washington, as many as 2,300 uncounted pairs may be living in younger stands, an industry-sponsored researcher said.

Other hearings on the spotted owl were held August 14 in Portland, Or.; August 2l in Olympia, Wa., and August 22 in Eugene, Or.

Starts Hit 6-Year Low

Home construction plummeted to its lowest level in six years, falling 80/o in the second quarter of 1989, reports F.W. Dodge Group.

Dodge attributes thedrop in house, apartment and condominium building to rising mortgage rates.

Reel Splits& Expands

Reel Lumber Service, Anaheim, Ca., has moved its retail store about five miles away, to a new 18,000 sq. ft. facility. The mill at the previous site has been expanded into the vacated 8,000 sq. ft. space.

The new location. at l32l N. Kraemer, Anaheim, offers mouldings, plywood and lumber to cabinet shops and the retail trade.

Contractor Referral Service

Property Doctors, a network of building and home service contractors, is expanding its customer referral service through home centers.

With over 160 contractor members in the San Diego, Ca., area, the company plans on entering several other states. Currently Western Lumber's seven Southern California stores refer buy-it-yourself customers to the contractor network.

Property Doctors also acts as a liaison between home center and customer, using its computer system to offer one stop shopping to the homeowner.