April 2003

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President's Corner


As I write this it is snowing like crazy right outside my window. We already have 2" on the ground and more on the way. Yes, kids, snow in April here in the Gold Country! However, this allows me to see the trees in our area in clear silhouette. We've mostly several different varieties of oaks, and some conifers -- mostly Digger Pines or Bull Pines. While pretty to look at, none of these are very usable trees for lumber harvesting.

I'm reading a book about the history of fir plywood. Although veneering had been done for a long time, fir plywood, first produced in Portland, Oregon for the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition Fair, was an amazing invention that led to the greater use of veneers in mass-produced wood products -- doors, furniture, etc.

This got me to thinking about how the lumber industry in general and the working of wood has changed over the last two generations. A proliferation of new tools in the last few years has allowed us - hobbyists and professionals alike - to create furniture, sculpture, cabinetry and other wood pieces that just weren't possible a few years ago. But the types of wood we use have also changed, as "exotic" materials have become readily available. In previous columns, I've discussed that African and South American hardwoods and other species from all over the world are now available at your local retailer.

What struck me today is how the tree types have changed here in the foothills over the last generation or two. Logging is still going on, although greatly diminished. The logs are smaller in size and quantity and seem to be only a few varieties of softwoods. The dense stands of giant, straight oaks and high quality pines ready for the lumbermen's saws are long gone. The hills have reforested with smaller, less useful trees, which are more expensive to remove. Worse, there has been an infestation of non-native trees, like the "Tree of Heaven" for example, that are springing up everywhere and crowding out the native plants. Most people in the area aren't aware of this because it's happening over a period of years. But it's actually taking place quickly, only a few decades, in the larger scale of history. While traveling in December I saw firsthand how this same story has taken place in Pennsylvania and other Eastern states. Pennsylvania cherry, locally plentiful when I was growing up there, is now hard to obtain and expensive. As we heard when BAWA recently visited the Forest Products Lab at the Richmond Station, the types of trees in the forests there have changed completely in the last 50 years.

So my point of these musings is: At this month's Box Contest, let's celebrate the diversity of woods we have available for use, and realize how truly precious this is. At the same time realizing how we're able to create many pieces that just weren't made out of wood a few generations ago, or at least weren't done as easily because of the wonderful tools we have today. Have you picked out the wood for your box yet? You are making a box aren't you?


Craig Mineweaser