Lumber should be used to build homes, not wall

There's a wall between the U.S. and Canada. And it's being built of 2x4s,2x6s and 2x8s. Now the time has come to tear it down once and for all.

At issue is the dispute over Canadian and U.S. lumber trade, which has dragged on for decades without anykind of meaningful solution. In fact, the recent 27o/o dulies on Canadian softwood lumber, meant to slow imports and benefit U.S. lumber manufacturers, have failed to do either. Mill workers and communities on both sides of the border face uncertainty. lt's obvious the duties don't work.

Clearly, this situationcannot go on. At Weyerhaeusel we're proposing a two-part solution to help resolve this complex issue.

First, take immediate action. Put the current legal case on hold and replace the current U.S. duties with a Canadian border tax on softwood lumber exports. This would bring a degree of stability to the market and allow both countries time to develop a thoughtful, long-term solution. The second step requires negotiated changes in Canadian provincial forest policies to make them operate similarly to the U.5. model for timber sales.

There's only one way for this plan to work. Both sides must be willing to give a little. And at Weyerhaeuser, we're willing to do our part.

Weyerhaeuser operates on both sides of the border. Because our families live and work in communities throughout North America, this is an issue we care about deeply. Wedon't have all the answers - but we do offer a place to start. To learn more, or to make your voice heard, we encourage you to visit, www.softwood I u m berissu e. com

We survived-Happy Holidays

I always take this time to look back through the year, both from a business and a personal perspective. As I get older and hopefully wiser, the more I think back to years gone past and all the changes I have witnessed in my still relatively short lif'etime. I grew up in England, in tough times after World War ll. but sometimes I think back on this period as the good old days, when even a cardboard box and a tangerine seemed to be great presents at holiday time.

A friend recently sent me the following, which may not be original, but I would like to share it at this holiday time:

How Did We Sumive?

Looking back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as we have. As children. we would ride in cars with no seatbelts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat, but on cold winter days not so much fun.

Our baby cribs and play pens were covered with bright-colored, lead-based paint. Our toys had all manner of buttons and beads that were sometimes swallowed. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets. and when we rode our bikes, we had no heln-rets, knee pads or elbow pads. And we learned how to ride those bikes without training wheels.

We sometimes hitchhiked to friends' houses, the Saturday afiernoon matinee, and to school. We drank water fl'om the garden hose and not fiom a bottle. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we fbrgot the brakes. And don't fbrget the skateboard made fiom a piece of wood to which we had nailed the fiont half and rear half of our metal roller skates. After running into the bushes or falling down on the sidewalk a f'ew times we learned to solve the problems. We didn't immediately get carted off to the doctor or hospital if we had a little f'ever or cold.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. We didn't have cell phones, so no one was able to reach us all day. We played

AI,AN OAKES publisher ajoakes@ aol.cclm

And Thank You

hardball and sometimes the ball would really hurt. We climbed big trees and sometimes got hurt when we f'ell out of them. We swam in the local swimming hole without lil'e vests and lif'eguards.

We drank soda pop, ate cupcakes, candy, ice cream, fried chicken, mashed potatoes with lots of gravy, eggs and bacon, and biscuits and bread with butter on them. but we were never overweight. We couldn't leave the table until we ate our veggies and had to ask fbr permission to get up and leave.

Adults were addressed as Mr. or Mrs. and Sir or Ma'am'. The Little League and school had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. We got beat up by the class bully at least once. When you did something wrong at school you had to stay after and write 500 times that you would not do it again-you were n()t just sent home. Some students weren't as slnart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. We got paddled at school and/or home when we did something wrong.

That generation produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers. We had fieedom, f'ailure, success and responsibility. and we leamed how to deal with it all. If you are one of them, congratulations.

I would like to thank my staff at Building Products Digest for helping our magazine continue to grow in 2002. I would also like to thank all of you who have provided and shared your company news with us, and especially those companies that have partnered with us in promoting themselves this year (please see our Buyers Guide on page 56 litr u list oJ' those tttntltanies). Our magazines cannot survive without you, and I am truly thankful for the confidence you place in us. I hope that in no small way we have given back as much as we have received, and I thank you for all your fiiendship, and as always we pledge to do our very best to support the industry that we should all be grateful we have an opportunity to serve.

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