Unlocking of Hqrdwood Reserve Predicted

California's little-known hardwood lum' ber industry has a real potential, which can be unlocked by a combination of research and market development, advisors to the University of California Forest Products Laboratory were told at the most recent meeting.

Forest Products Specialist William A. Dost said he expects to spend a substantial portion of his time on development of a hardwood industry.

ooPotential users are not aware of California hardwood characteristics, and some producers need production help," he said.

Dost said there is a lack of trade channels that can bring users and producers of the state's hardwoods together.

Drying and shrinkage studies in the Forest Products Laboratory already have made a major contribution to the marketing of a two billion board-foot stand of tanoak in the north coastal area, Dr. Helmuth Resch told the advisory group. He said the Union Lumber Company at Fort Bragg, Mendocino county, using a drying method worked out in the University laboratory at Richmond, has gone into production of tanoak boxcar flooring.

Resch said the process, which includes a low-temperature pre-drying before the lumber goes in the kiln, will bring the tanoak stock down from its original 90 to 95 per cent moisture to 10 per cent in four weeks. working out the drying method required establishing basic knowledge of shrinkage values in tanoak, the UC wood technologist said. The company, which helped in the drying study with funds and materials, mills the oak into tongue-and-groove pieces of varying length. These are assembled and doweled into larger boards.

California's tanoak will apparently yield as much number one common lumber as eastern black oak, and madrone may produce a considerably higher percentage, said Dean R. Prestemon, Forest Products Laboratory specialist.

Working with the Coombs Lumber Company at Garberville and State Division of Forestry, Prestemon brought in tanoak and madrone logs, milled them in the Universitv laboratory, graded them by standards of the National Hardwood Lumber Associaion. and checked them with records on the lumber yields of eastern hardwoods. None of the eastern woods yielded as well as madrone, he told the advisory council members.

From number one tanoak logs he obtained 64 percent recovery in nurnber one common lumber or better, Prestemon reported. Number two logs yielded 3l percent and number three logs 22 percent.

With madrone, he said, the yields were 68 percent for number one logs, 55 percent for number two, and 37 percent for number three, in spite of the fact that comparatively small logs, averaging l6'inch diameter, were cut.

The UC forest products technician told the council the experimental cutting will be expanded to get better estimates on both tanoak and madrone, and other studies will be made with white oak.

IHPA Welcomes Horper, Robinson & Co. qs Associole Member

Eric W'agner, president of the Imported Hardwood Plywood Association, has extended a welcome hand to Harper, Robinson & Co., the rtewest associate member of the Imported Hardwood Plywood Association. R. C. Robinson, Jr., is vice-president of the customs brokerage and freight forwarding firm which is located at 545 Sansome Street, San Francisco.

Foresl Fire Donger Predicted

The Oregon State Forester has warned that the state could be headed this summer for one of the worst periods of forest fires in its history.

The forests are filled with huge quantiites of ooslash," the debris from last October's storm, according to Dwight Phipps. In many areas it is 15 to 20 feet deep, and this debris is o'a tinderbox, highly resistant to any sort of fire control."

"All tl-ris points toward a fire potential of slash during the coming summer and subsequent fire seasons such as the forest protection forces of Oregon have never known," Phipps declared. (A f963 forest fire conflagration potential for California of 6 to 100 times more serious than experienced in the 1930s has been predicted at meetings of the California Fire Prevention Committee in Los Angeles.)

"No single storm in recorded history ever did as much damage to forests anywlere in the United States," Phipps said. He estimated that the Columbus Day storm and +ubsequent fall and winter blows have extensively damaged or blown down $270 million worth of tiniber in Oregon and Washington-nearly as much as the total anrrual harvest of the two states combined.

Forest landowners and logging operators .rre exerting a tremendous efiort to salvage the ll billion board feet of timber blowdown, Phipps sar'd. On state owned areas, it is expected that 70 per cent will have been salvaged by the end of this year, and another 20 per cent by 1964.

Nevertheless, Phipps warned, an enormous acreage of remaining slash will present a problem this fire season and for some years hence. In order to provide maximum protection, forest protection forces in high hazard areas are being increased. Plans for aerial attack are being perfected and trained fire control people will be on the alert to head up the attack if fire does come in. Travel in high hazard slash areas will be limited during the fire season.

On the same panel was Royce Cornelius, managing forester of the Weyerhauser Company, who described forest protection on private lands.

The key to this protection, he said, is cooperation between all public and private interests in prevention measures and in "immediate action on any woods fire."

"During the critieal fire season, the difference between a big and a small forest fire is effective control action within five minutes or less." Cornelius said.

L.A. Home Show "Best Ever," Exhibitors Soy

Los Angeles Home Show and building industry executives today are looking forward to the 1964 edition of the multi-million dollar building exposition at the Spods Arena foilowing the successful conclusion of the annual show. Exhibitors enthusiastically proclaimed this year's show the "best ever" from a standpoint of crowds and sales volume.

Carl F. Kraatz, Home Show executive director, said a total of 264,838 people visited the show during its ll-day run. This, he said is a 20/o gain over last year and attendance topped any similar show in the nation this year.

Kraatz revealed yesterday that the 1963 Horne Show had 26/o more individual exhibitors taking 36/o more space than in any previous exposition. "Our attendance set a national record for the year," he said. "And it channeled millions of dollars into the Southern California economy plus millions more on a national level."

Both national and Iocal manufacturers and builders exhibiting at the Home Show expressed great satisfaction with this year's crowds plus sales volume.

In the forests of coastal British Columbia, the giant Red Cedar often survives centuries of time, wind and weather. Little wonder, then, that lumber cut from this naturally timeless wood will beautify and protect homes in the most severe climates for decades more.

ITS BEAUTY IS AGED-IN-TI{E-WOOD:

Manufactured by:

Sales Agents:

Representabhtc:

wtruTs REDwooD

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For More Pictures See Opposite

Since the days the headrig bit into the first log, Willits Redwood has shipped over 300,000,000 feet of redwood lumber. The company specializes in redwood only: its fir logs are sold to local fir producers. The plant presently covers some 40 acres, employs 150 people, and keeps 8,000,000 bf. on sticks in its dry yard at all times.

Annual production is now running 22,000,000 bf. of redwood, all of which is graded under California Redwood Association rules. Right from the beginning the management recognized the importance of association affiliation, so Willits Redwood has been an active member of CRA since the business first started. Russell Ells is a past president of CRA, and Leo Hulett, vice-president in charge of sales, is a past chairman and present member of the CRA promotion committee.

Mixed loads are no problem with this operation; in fact, the company is geared so special attention can be given to each order. Willits Redwood rnanufactures all sizes and siding patterns, certified KD finish, timbers up to 12" x 12" x 24', redwood lath, sawn stakes, and air dried & green commons.

Additional services include water repellent treatment, pre-priming and paper wrapping.

And Willits Redwood must be a pretty good place to work too. Of the 150 people the company employs, 95 of them have worked for the company seven years or longer-I5 of them since the company's inception.