The Redwood Situation

By

Shermon A. Bishop, Generol Monoger Colifornio Redwood Associotion

Not too long ago, the lumber industry u'as scolded because it was not providing material for enough houses. In 1950, with an all-time building record in sight, and the lumber industry producing at a rate that would make that record possible, brakes were applied to home building. A while back, rve were struggling to get out from under a controlled economy. Norv, it becomes apparent that controls are coming back. This ever-changing picture makes 1951 predictions a hazardous, if not difficult, problem to handle.

The simplest way to tell you what the redwood industry hopes to do in l95l is to outline the progress it made in 1950 and say, "more of the same."

The year l95O was an extremely active one for the membe: mills, in general, and the Association, in particular. Starting in January, the Association set up 50 major projects and, by the end of this year, these and an additional 25 projects rvill be tagged "accomplished." In addition, another 25 will'be continued through 1951.

Perhaps the most outstanding accomplishment rvas the adoption of a Tree Farm program in the redu'ood region under the sponsorship of the Association. In essence, this vvas the formalization of good forest practices which have been in effect for quite a few years. On August 26, alter five months of intense study and preparation, the first Tree Farm, consisting of 16,000 acres of redwood, was dedicated. Since that time and up to the present, over 108,000 acres have been inspected and certified by the Association. These Tree Farms range in size f:om 27 to 40,000 acres

It is fully expected that, by the end of 1951, there will be in excess of a quarter million acres of Tree Farms.

Another important milestone in 1950 was a series of redwood seminars, which were tried in 1949 and proved to be so effective that the program was continued. For 1951, a series of field trips are planned as a substitute for seminars or possibly the combination of seminars and field trips will be promoted.

During the past year, the Association has given many talks to service clubs, schools, architectural groups and dealers on the subiect of conservation and utilization. The program has been so successful that \ye are booked up many months in advance and certainly this n'ill be a definite part of our program in 1951.

The Research and Technical Division of the Association had its busiest year in 195O. Such studies as barking, chipping, chemical extractives, sarvmilling, seasoning and handling were a few of the many projects undertaken by the Research Division. The technical staff have started and rvill continue studies on nailing, gluing, finishing, painting and miscellaneous industrial studies. The division, in general, has developed so much valuable information that the Association plans to accelerate the work of this division in 1951 and add many new projects.

The Association's Trade Promotion Division has hung up the biggest record in their long history. It is estimated that over 500.000 pieces of literature rvere mailed in direct response to individual requests. In addition, the publication of "Redrvood Nervs" has increased in popularity and can norv boast of a circulation of over 25.0(X). Plans are underrvay for a good many promotions, particularly designed to develop markets and uses for sizes and grades not generally knorvn to the consuming public. Redrrood still continues to ea:n extensive publicity and since 1950 rvill be one of the Association's biggest years on publicitl'. s'e plan to keep redrvood rvell before the public eye in 1951.

The 17 mills that report statistics to the Association plrorv increased productiqn of redwood of about fr7o and the production of Douglas fir and other associated species increased proportionately. These reporting mills u'ill produce more than 49J million feet of redwood in l95O and the indust-y-reporting and non-reporting mills-as a rvhole rvill undoubtedly set another record for production. The last published government estimate was for 1948, rvhen it rvas estimated that 793 million feet of redwood rvas produced.

Member mills spent considerable money in 1950 "tooling up." This embraces better logging practices, heavier and more efficient logging equipment, improved barking methods, investment on head-rigs, better edgers and trim-

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SIMPTIFIED MEIHOD OF APPTICAIION

NO UNUSUAI SKILI

. oR PREVTOUS ACOUSTTCAT EXPERIENCE REOUIRED

SPTINES AUTOIAATICATIY I.EVEI CORNERS AND HEIP KEEP TINES STRAIGHT

SPTINE.NAIIING AVOIDS TAARRED TITES

SEATED TRANSVERSE JOINIS EI.IMINAIE "BREATHING''

ONTY 2 NAITS INSTEAD OF 4 WHEN APPTIED TO FURRING STRIPS