Daniel, your knowledge of the building industry is obviously regional. i.e. Wisconson-centric.
>>Dwight, you obviously know a lot about the timber industry. Not. Lots of good "facts" above.<<
I'm not an expert of the timber industry, but I have been involved in the home-construction industry for most of my life, in various capacities. During high-school I drove a forklift at a pre-fab home manufacturer here in the Pacific NW. After high school I worked as a laborer on house framing crews in the Pacific NW, the New England area, and also for a short time in Florida. For the last ten years I've been an accountant serving mainly construction industry clients.
I can tell you then, that here in the Pacific NW we have always exclusively constructed homes with Douglas Fir, and *never* have used southern yellow pine. southern yellow pine is used in the New England area, and also Florida. But I don't believe it's even sold here in the Pacific NW. Thirty-five miles north of me is one of the largest log-sorting yards in the world, in Longview, WA, home of Longview Fibre lumber company. Again, we're talking Douglas Fir. As for paper, I know that there are fast-growing trees planted in rows and harvested. One such example is right beside I-5. They are probably Alder or Cottonwoods.
As for old-growth, you're right, most of the large stands are gone, and the Douglas Fir we use here in the Pacific NW is certainly not in the old-growth catagory. The large timber companies here have been replanting Douglas Fir for several decades, and in fact log areas which contain trees 20-25 years old, which were planted by the timber company. Trees are a renewable resource. |
