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Calilornia Luntber X'Ierchant's succcss{ul campaign to expand the -"cope trnd territory of the magazinc throughout the cntire wcst has lrccn rt'cognizcd b,v the prestigious \I-r.stern Societr- of Business Puhlications lhich alardcd it first prize [or weslrnr,i uARr(ET IDENTIFICA'f ION.

The contcst. rlhich drerv more than 300 entries. save offcial salute to The llercltant for "the most effective job of identifying and selling the western market."

A Strike This Summer?

Negotiations for a new, three-year contract between most of the West's lumber and plywood producers and the two unions representing 27,000 workcrs, had still not resulted in a settlement at presstime. Despite last minute concessions and meetings, it appearcd that the possibility of a strike would remain unsettled until the last minute,

Some 200 companies are afiected by the nepJotiations over the contract which was scheduled to end June 1. Weyerhaeuser and Crown-Zellerbach arc among the manufacturers involved.

Proposed Merger Collopses

Negotiations preceding a proposed merger of Amt-'rican Forest Products Corporation of San F'rancisco into Reed International, Inc. of Houston, Tex., wcre terminated last month, company spokesmen said.

No rcason was given by the companies for the breakdown of talks. Original talks began April 22 when Recd International announced it had negotiatcd to "acquire firms that would complement and diversify its opcrations."

American Forr:st Products apparently was considered one of those firms.

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