Army Engineers to Coordinate Lumber Industry Mobilization Program

(From a Notional Lumber Manufacturers' Association Bulletin)

To fight another war-if war should come-the United

2. Should each purchase of lumber be opened up to naStates would need 5 billion board feet of lumber for the tion-wide bidding by including as many species in the first 6 months of fighting ! invitation to bid as will serve the purpose, or should buying

That's a lot of lumber and the Armed Forces know it. be done on a regionalized basis? The big part of the production load wou$ come early.

3. Should all lumber be government-inspected or can we Barracks, warehouses and emergency buildings would have utilize grade marking and certified inspection in whole.' top priority. So would packing boxes, crating, dunnage, or in part? pallets and bulk-heads. All of these essentials require

4. What species and grades should be specified in the lumber. invitation to bid?

To mobilize lumber for a shooting war calls for extensive planning. The Munitions Board has assigned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to handle the mobilization program and supervise purchases of lumber for all Services.

Charles A. Leonard, Chief of the Engineers' St. Louis Procurement Office, outlined the program briefly before the NLMA Advisory Board at its Spring Meeting in Washington May 2-5.

The first step in the program is to determine the amount of lumber required for an initial 3-year period. Actual purchase of lumber would begin on Mobilization Day. The second step is to work out production schedules with designated lumber suppliers. If the schedules are set up NOW they will be converted to purchase orders immediately on M-Day. Thus, the mills can go to work at once and maintain the necessary flow of lumber to the Armed Forces.

At the request of the NLMA Advisory Board, Mr. Leonard followed up this brief description by sending to each of the Federated Associations a statement of the broad general plan of action. In view of the regional nature of lumber production and the nation-wide buying of military lumber, Mr. Leonard listed in his letter to the Regionals the four big procurement problems facing the Corps of Engineers in its mobilization effort.

These four problems are

1. Should lumber be purchased f.o.b. mill or f.o.b. destination.

In his letter, Mr. Leonard said that an industry advisory' committee to work with the Military on the program is under consideration. But until such a .committee is organized, he asked the Regionals to consider setting up an informal interim committee to handle the four immediate problems.

Procurement Chief Leonard indicated in the outline of the program sent to the Regionals that no direct action is yet required by individual manufacturers. They will be contacted by the Procurement Office in the near future.

The Regionals have expressed their willingness to cooperate in every way to assist the Defense Department in the drive to be prepared on the lumber front.

Appointed Sqles Promotion Mcncger

H. J. Rudiger announces the appointment of Robert A. Dier as sales promotion manager for Rudiger-I-arg Co. The firm manufactures Tension-tite frameless window screens, RollAway screens, and R-L metal frame screens at plants located in Berkeley, Calif., and Toccoa, Ga.

Mr. Dier will continue to make his headquarters at the Los Angeles offrce of Rudiger-Lang Co.

One-third of the United States is forest land. Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana have half the timber in the United States'and supply half the nation's demands for wood products.