The Wonder of \(/ood

By Robert E. Mahaffay West Coast Lumbermen's Association

An alarmist is a man who demands that someone begin building an ark when he feels the first drop of rain on his cheek. The pessimist predicts that the granddaddy of all storms is brewing. The optimist declares it wasn't a raindrop at all, but the petal of an apple blossom.

Somewhere between these classifications should lie our attitude toward lumber today.

It is clear that very powerful competition is shaping up between lumber and metat. Steel and aluminum production facilities are being tremendously expanded. The need at the moment is military. If we become involved ina full-scale war, we shall desperately r.eed all these facilities. If we don't, this country is going to have steel and aluminum running out of its ears.

It is probable that the metals people don't feel their product is a "substitute" for lumber. Perhaps we had better forget that description. We aren't going to sell lumber by crying that our competitors are offering a substitute. We are going to sell lumber because it is more useful, or more available, or more economical, or more attractive than other rnaterials. It doesn't seem to me that this is an outlook heavy with gloom. A11 construction cannot be done with lumber any more than all cars can be Cadillacs or all cloth can be l-inen.

We need other materials. We must look at the overall economy ofa sn'iftly expanding nation. Lumbei alone, even if we rvished it to, could not supply all of our requirements. There aren't enough t:ees, if our forests are to be managed for continuous production. If our per capita consumption of lumber had remained as high as it was in 1850, or even in 1900, lve u'ould be in a very Drecarious position so far as the future of lumber is concerned. Our population has doubled in 50 years and tripled in 70 years. And yet, to reverse the coin, in 1951 we produced and sold more lumber than we did in 1900. We produced more lumber, indeed, than during any previous )'ear with the exception of 1909.

Somewhere along the line we must give in. There are some markets we may gracefully surrender. Nletals, and plastics too, have an essential place in our econolny. They are of course, as subject to competition as we are. As an example of the rushing, tumbling, ruggedly exploring nature of our development, we read that a plastic airplane is threatening the supremacy of aluminum in plane buildiag. It is said to be cheapei and capable of being fabricated more swiftly.

What could be more logical? Isn't this the history of America's phenomenal development ? Less than 200 years ago the United States didn't exist. Today it is the greatest production unit on earth.

Exactly what is lumber's place in this picture? Where are we going, and what may we expect? The ansrver is far from discouraging. As a matter of fact, the more closely we inquire into it, the more encouraging the outlook becomes.

First of all, we have a premium product rvhich has been so universally accepted and used that we have not yet completely explored all of its properties and potentialities. It is likely we never will complete the list, for as \\ie open the door on each new use or property, further unknowns are visualized.

No other material has so many qualities as wood. It has great strength with light weight, and is resilient. It is rugged yet easily worked, is resistant to many acids, and does not corrode. It provides both sound and thermal insulation. No other material takes and holds paint so well, while its natural pattern is often copied but never matched. What a list of merits to sell ! For years u,e haven't done more than a half-way job of merchandising. \Are have pro-