Annual Western Wood Products Association Convention Problems Marked by Struggles with Many Industry

rf.'HE WESTERN WOOD PRODI CTS

I Association. wrt-stling with the thorniest dragon in the businessthe lumber standards -- came up with a new set of sizes at their annual convention, only to see them discarded before the month was out by the American Lumber Standards Com' mittee. (See stand,ards story on page 26).

What the lumbermen had agr'eed to on sizes at their March 9-11 meeting was that thickness {or dry nominal 2" framing lumber be set at a minimum ol l7/2" and the thickness of green at | 9/16" with the widths of both dry and green remaining at 4tt-35/B't, 6-5Y2" , B't-7L/2", )0"-91/2", and 12"-1112". Minimum widths of common and selects would b." 3/g,, ofi nominal Ior 5" and narrower stock, a1ll le" off. nominal for 6" and rvidt-r stock.

The new rules would plovide for a dry s7*" and a dry il/-rtt board and a green ")/*t' board.

Another casualty o{ the ALSC actiott was WWPA's move to go ahead with the publication of a new grading book to includc the sizes adopted at the San Francisco meeting. Thc ALSC meeting passed a resolution forbidding all rules writing agencies {rom publishing non-standard sizes. WWPA had planned to include them, fully marked as such, in a special section of the grading book they publish.

Legat Aspects

In response to these and othcr ALSC ac' tions, Wendell Barnes, executive vice-president of S/WPA, said, "We are seriously concerned over certain legal and technical aspects of SPR as suggested by the Ameri' can Lumber Standards Committee." WWPA legal counsel Manley Strayer had earlier warned the ALSC that he was seriously concerned over the restraint of trade implication of any action prohibiting the publication of non-standard sizes when properly identified.

But all the business at the convention certainly wasn't on the standards, and the giant WWPA again ran a smooth, wellorganized show.

Deater Speaks Out

A Chicago dealer. Robert S. Friedman. of the successful McGrrw Lumber Co. gavc the manufacturers some plain talk to chew on at one of the luncheon meetings.

He pointed out that most any modern dealer will sell whatever building material that gives him the most profit. He warned the lumbermen that, "We'll sell rvall panels with ping-pong balls as insulation if it is profitable to do so."

Regarding distribution. Friedman observed, "if you manufacturers by'pass the dealer, you'll pr<rbably find yourselves still selline to dealers. hecause the dealers will besin to function as builders or as component fabricators, wht-'re brand product specifications are made by the fabricator."

New President

Loran L. Stewart, 55, of Bohemia Lumber Co., a progressive and dynamic lumbermen, was named president of WWPA. Stewart's election to the top post in the nowerful }2-western state association was confirmed at the closing session.

A lumberman's lumberman, he is the son of Lane County, Oregon pioneers, and his grandfather was J. B. Hills, an early-day logger on the Willamette river. Born in Cottage Grove, Oregon, January 19, I9Il, he graduated {rom Oregon State College at Corvallis, with a degree in logging engineering.

At the Friday membership meeting, Irvin H. Luiten, director o[ public affairs for Oregon, Weyerhaeuser Company, told lumbermen that they must initiate a strong grass' roots efiort on governmental and public re-

Iations action within its own membership, and that it rnust educate the public to the benefits derived by society from well-man' aeed forest resources.

Luiten reminded the lum'bermen that the increased governmental regulation of indus' try operations and the threat of recreation' ists' influence on the acquisition of private Iorest land and the use of both private and public land, lvas mounting. He stressed that no lumberman could disregard local land problems in any area of the West, conclud' ing that "When the bell tolls for one of us, it tolls for all of us."

Community Retations

The lumbermcn faced up to thc growing national trend for industrial beautification with a special award to Grant ll. Potter, i)inuba. California lor his imaginative industry leadership in thc bcautification of his Dinuba plant, and in providing Western lumbermen an inspiring example itl com' munity relations.

Frank R. Gilchrist of Gilchrist Timber Co. in Gilchrist, Oregon, was elected vice president and James H. Witty, Al Pierce Lumber Co., Coos Bay, Oregon, treasurer.

Annual meeting date for the 1967 meetine in San Francisco was scheduled for Febr.,ary 28 through March 3. 1968 ses' sion, San Francisco, Nlarch 5-8.

Other Business

In other industry-wide action: The association's powerful forest conservation com' mittee under the chairmanship oI Walter W. Black of Custer, South Dakota urged support for Congressional appropriations {or incrcased forest road construction and encourased thc Chief oI the F-orest Service to requiie timber management assistants to meet regularly and often with industry rep' resentatives; and that the Forest Service stress the compatibility of timber harvesting to recreation in public information pro' srams,

The traffic committee resolved that WV/PA join forces with other forest product associations to do all possi'ble to secure mor'e lumber carrying equipment from all types of carriers

The forest practice committee reaffirmed support o{ oral auction bidding procedures in preference to sealed bidding.

The safety committee approved the State of Oregon division of continuing education as the official training agency for WWPA's program of upgrading the skills of person' nel in the wood products industry.

Retailer John Suverkrup says,

John Suverkrup, president of Southern California's John Suverkrup Lumber Co., selected San Antonio rigid pole warehouses "after discnssing our project with other lumbermen in my area. Turned out that they l.'ere ex:rctly l.hat rve needed for our type of retail operation. Our plans for the future inclnde anothel expansion and you can be sure our u'arehouse problems will be handled by Frank Ruggieri and his fine San Antonio organization."

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