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WWpa on WeStern WoodS
DURING GROUP GRADE meetings, participants are given about an hour to determine the grade of 50 boards.
Sharpen your lumber grading skills at WWPA’s Group Grade meetings
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY is seeing more and more skilled positions leave the work force. Whether that is by finding a new industry or retirement, it’s a known problem in the lumber mills today. As the addition of more scanner technology enters the lumber industry, mills are finding it increasingly difficult to keep the skills of human graders sharp and current.
Western Wood Products Association (WWPA) assists member mills with lumber grading skill training programs from coaching graders to Group Grade Meetings. The Group Grade Meetings are held in a competitive format, with ample teaching on every board discussed.
WWPA offers four grade meetings per year for member mills. Host mills are chosen that are centrally located to gain the most attendance reaching a wider audience. Also considered, is the product range available at the host mill to ensure that a variety of grade categories are covered during the meeting.
The association draws 300 to 400 attendees at the four meetings combined. WWPA Lumber Inspectors lay out 50 boards to be the discussion/training points. The attendees are broken up into four categories: (1) Certified Grader division, (2) Grader Trainee division, (3) an open division that can include mill employees from all departments, and (4) QC Management Division. WWPA awards prizes to the four categories.
The lumber for the meeting is graded from the grade rule book Western Lumber Grading Rules 2021. The National Grade Rule for framing lumber is also used heavily as it covers all dimension lumber including studs. Also covered are boards, timbers and factory lumber, which can all be found in the Western Lumber Grading Rules 2021. The chosen boards are laid out for each participant to turn the boards, measure any characteristics, and pull back the lumber for optimal viewing.
Each participant will have around one hour to grade out the 50 boards to the appropriate grade. Once all participants have completed the 50 boards, the lumber is then gathered for presentation. WWPA staff then places each board in front of the audience. The grade rules from that particular category are discussed at length.
After the rules are discussed, the participants are shown how to apply the rules and assign the appropriate grade to the lumber. Participants are encouraged to speak up about how they measured a characteristic or applied a rule to that particular board if they determined the piece was a different grade. The talking points involved really get the communication up between certified graders and noncertified graders alike.
This form of grade meeting has proven very effective in teaching grade rules to the participants. They learn not only the grade rule, but how to identify certain grading characteristics, and how to apply those limitations to the grade.
Group Grade Meetings are just one of the ways that WWPA adds value to membership. To learn more about becoming a WWPA member contact Pete Austin, Quality Standards director, at paustin@wwpa.org. MEDIA GROUP
Hem-fir
A versatile lumber species combination
HEM-FIR is is one of the most versatile species combinations for lumber available in the market. Comprised of western hemlock and five true firs, Hem-fir species grow intermingled in the western forests, from the Pacific Northwest and east into Idaho and Montana. The five true firs without western hemlock are often stamped and sold as white fir.
Hem-Fir: California Red Fir, Grand Fir, Noble Fir, Pacific Silver Fir, White Fir and Western Hemlock
White Fir: California Red Fir, Grand Fir, Noble Fir, Pacific Silver Fir, and White Fir
The characteristics of the individual species in Hem-fir vary somewhat, but after manufacturing into lumber, the wood fibers are virtually indistinguishable from one another except under laboratory inspection.
Hem-fir species are abundant in western forests—products are available in structural, appearance and remanufacturing grades. Hem-fir accounted for 23.8% of western lumber production in 2020, some 3.45 billion bd. ft.
Structural framing products that are visually graded or mechanically sorted for strength and physical working properties (appearance is secondary, unless specified). Design values for the white fir species combination are the same as those assigned for Hem-fir, therefore, the framing spans for joists and rafters for white fir are the same as those for Hem-fir.
Hem-fir framing products in the dimension lumber sizes (2” to 4” thick by 2” and wider) are the bulk of the Hem-fir lumber production, kiln-dried and shipped as KD or KDHT. Dry Hem-fir lumber performs well and widely available
Hem-fir structural framing products include Machine Stress-Rated (MSR) lumber for components manufacturing and engineered applications, and structural-glued (end-jointed or fingerjointed) products which are recognized by all U.S. model building codes as interchangeable with solid-sawn lumber products of the same grade, species and intended end use.
Since Hem-fir framing lumber products are nearly as strong as Douglas fir-Larch, they can meet many of the structural load-bearing and load-carrying requirements of residential, light commercial and heavy construction.
Appearance products that are graded for aesthetic qualities in non-structural applications, ranging from the beautifully refined to the most utilitarian.
In the clear and nearly clear appearance grades, Hem-fir “Finish & Select” products are fine grained and even textured, lending formality to wood paneling, cabinets and trim. Paneling products in Hem-Fir are run-to-pattern from the exquisitely beautiful, clear and nearly-clear “Finish & Select” grades. Hem-fir accepts many types of finishes well, including enamels; however, a transparent or lightly-tinted finish is a classic choice.
Limited volumes of knotty, board products are available in Hem-fir and these are graded primarily to the West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau’s “Alternate Board” grade rules, and to some
LUMBER SPECIES categorized in the Hem-fir grouping are among the most versatile the forest has to offer.
extent to WWPA’s rules for the “Common” grades. Lower-grade knotty products are useful for those utilitarian applications in construction where economy governs.
Interior designers often like Hem-fir for two primary reasons: its color and natural resistance to darkening from exposure to light. While all wood darkens over time with exposure to sunlight, Hem-fir often remains true to its original, freshly-milled pastel color.
Industrial products including a variety of structural and non-structural grades, of which the largest category for Hem-fir is “Factory & Shop” lumber intended for remanufacturing purposes. Hem-fir “Factory & Shop” grade products are remanufactured into handsome solid wood doors, louvers, shutters, moulding, case goods, furniture and more.
For additional information on Hem-fir lumber products, visit the WWPA website at www.wwpa.org. MEDIA GROUP
DESIGNERS LOVE how Hem-fir retains its original, freshly-milled pastel color as it ages.
PRESCRIBED FIRES, such as the Forest Service initiated in November in near Mammoth Lakes, Ca., as well as thinning are proven strategies to prevent future wildfires, despite reluctance among local communities.
Treating western forests back to health
By Crystal Young
AS TEMPERATURES BEGIN to signal winter, Forest Service districts are starting planned fire operations to clear low-lying tree debris that will reduce hazardous materials. While images of firelines snaking across valleys and consuming entire communities flooded the media this summer, voices joined in a chorus that “we must do something about this.” With an emphasis on “we” states, tribes and federal agencies began working across jurisdictional boundaries to address significant natural resource problems through formal Shared Stewardship agreements in 2019.
To date, 47 states, three territories, the District of Columbia and one tribe are covered under memorandums of understanding to co-manage natural resources on a large scale. Among the management goals in many western states is using thinning and prescribed burning to prevent wildfire. How the management happens looks different as communities grow into the shared stewardship environment.
With red flag conditions, severe ongoing drought, low humidity, and the potential for high wind conditions, more than 260 firefighters concentrated efforts on the southeast edge of the Mammoth Fire June 10, 2021. Early in the incident firefighters worked around untreated areas from a safe distance to contain torching 100+-ft. flames advancing toward Mammoth Village through brush and short grass understory, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, spruce and aspen.
Forest Treatments Tame Flames Across the West
Communities across the country are nervous to embrace prescribed fire and forest thinning as a strategy to prevent future fires. There are generations of stories about prescribed fires burning out of control and communities watching their forests being carried away on the back of a flatbed truck. In those areas, Forest Service crews have been working to reduce the risks in their boundaries beside agencies who cooperate with them when it is time to respond to fires. Residents of Mammoth Creek Village learned the value of that effort.
Eleven years ago, fire prevention teams at the Dixie National Forest in southwestern Utah began thinning trees and burning debris piles at the mouth of Tommy Creek Canyon and a few other areas. The areas were broken by jurisdictional boundaries with private property and state and federal agencies.
Blue pine treatment area impacted by the Brian’s Head Fire in June 2017, the photo on the right shows erosion in an adjacent
area from the same time frame that was untreated when the fire passed through.
This spring, fire conditions were strained enough to implement Stage 1 fire restrictions on forest lands. On June 5, lightning ignited a fire near the Mammoth Creek Village east of Cedar City. Bode Mecham, Cedar City Ranger District fire prevention technician, and a few interagency firefighters responded as part of the initial attack team. Most of the area hadn’t been treated yet and was still thick with 200 to 300 ponderosa pine trees per acre.
Over the course of a few days, the fire climbed dangerously high to the top of the trees and burned toward the village threatening 280 homes, encroaching on the narrow fire break near Tommy Creek Canyon. With no way to safely manage the advance, Mecham shifted the bulk of his team from fire defense to help the Garfield County sheriff’s office evacuate homes and preparing to defend the first homes that would be impacted by the fire.
As fire moved down the Tommy Creek drainage, Meacham’s task force leader reported that the fire encountered the decade old treatment area and the flames dropped rapidly from about 100 ft. tall to around 5 ft. Meacham said the dramatic change shifted his team back to fighting the fire. They were able to control it quickly, the entire 700-acre fire completely contained in about 11 days.
More than three months after the Mammoth Fire the treated area on the right shows the resilience of forested areas following fires with intense flames that burn into treated areas. In addition to the health of the trees, regeneration of the area depends on how severely the soil was burned, the photo on the left shows an area that will likely take years to rebound.
“When you look out there now, the area that was treated is the only area out there that is still green and growing,” said Mecham, who has been a wildland firefighter for 22 years. “[The defensible space] was pretty crucial to this community allowing everyone time to get out as well as saving all the homes here.”
Shared Stewardship Enables POD Work
The number of large fires in the last five years alone has states like Utah working to increase protection for residents. They are building critical community support by entering into Shared Stewardship Agreements that help partners identify and achieve common land management and protection goals.
Trees burned in high intensity flames lie across the ground on the south end of the Smith Fire Sept. 4, 2021. Cooperating agencies stood by to protect homes in the area while crews used strategic fire operations as weather allowed to help contain 100+-ft. flames.
In Oregon, partners used that common ground to develop potential operational delineations or PODS. POD lines don’t follow jurisdictional boundaries but follow roads, mountain ridges, fuel breaks and other land features firefighters can potentially use to
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COLORADO’S Chaffee County is getting buy-in from locals by tying forest health to improved living conditions and recreational opportunities.
help bring megafires down to fighting size.
Dan Dallas is an incident commander with the Rocky Mountain Type 1 incident command team that served on the Devils Knob Complex on the Umpqua National Forest. The Devils Knob Complex started when a dry lightning storm touched off more than 40 fires that grew together into two major fire areas in southern Oregon.
At 45,771 acres the Smith Fire is only 20% contained as it burns near Road 27 with a low intensity on September 15, 2021. Using POD strategies, three interagency crews worked to contain the fire using naturally occurring defense structures like roads and mountain ridges.
At over 70,000 acres, Dallas said he used information in the electronic POD plans to better understand how to protect lives, a pair of Forest Service campgrounds, critical private timber industry and an experimental forest with 65 uninterrupted years of data. Dallas said the layers of information in each POD plan he reviewed changed what he knew about the constants of fire behavior.
“Normally we could use a previous burn scar as a containment feature. What [we learned] is once an area previously burned by a fire gets one to two years old, it is no longer a containment feature and it will carry a fire,” Dallas said. “Because of long range spotting from dry conditions and unstable weather, things we used to be able to count on like ‘fire won’t go over the Continental Divide, fires won’t carry through aspen patches, old fire scars will slow down a fire, all of those things have kind of gone out the window.”
Dallas said the shared stewardship approach to how Oregon agencies are using the PODs between fire seasons connects the dots of fuels management on a scale that helps treatments be more effective at reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfire, but overall public support of thinning and prescribed fire is still a key piece that is missing.
Envisioning Wildfire Prevention
Salida, Co., is in the heart of Chaffee County just over the mountain range from the Rio Grande National Forest where Dallas is the forest supervisor. It is surrounded on all sides by mountains with mixed conifer and spruce forests and the headwaters of the Arkansas River runs through it.
“Open spaces are central to our soul as a community. We are all willing to struggle to live here, it is that important,” said Kim Marquis, Envision Chaffee County project and outreach coordinator. “A healthy forest is central to the community and always has been, but we weren’t sure if people understood the fire danger.”
Chaffe County planners started developing a new master community action plan that addresses the special challenges that come with rapid community growth, building around the recreation industry. When the county first reached out to the community to find out what was most important to them, beetle killed trees were just beginning to emerge on the landscape, but a few impactful fires in the previous five years made them take closer notice of fire danger where they live.
Some people in the community said they didn’t support thinning treatments because they thought the Forest Service just wanted to make money from the trees. Many were concerned about the safety of prescribed burning and uncertainty about whether treatments would make a difference. Nonetheless, about a fifth of the population responded that mitigating the risk to their homes was one of the top four issues the county should address in the master plan. The county began educating people about the risks.
As the community watched the evergreen forest quickly fade to graying decay from aggressive insects, the danger became an uncomfortable reality in 2019. Lightening ignited the Decker Fire on the Rio Grande National Forest. It burned as a relatively benign fire close to the ground in a congressionally designated wilderness area for more than a month. The fire picked up intensity on a dry, windy day and grew far closer to the city’s edge than citizens were prepared to see.
A tethered cut-to-length feller buncher descends the steep slopes thinning beetle killed trees near the Monarch Ski area on the Salida Ranger District of the Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands Sept. 23, 2020. Thinning on steep slopes is a tactical challenge that significantly increase the cost of some thinning treatments but is necessary to help protect utility corridor infrastructure and economic resources in Chaffee County.
The fire spotted onto the Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and stretched up to the crowns of the trees, consumed part of the Rainbow trail and crested Methodist Mountain on the Salida Ranger District as dozers plowed a fire line south of the Boot Hill neighborhood. While wilderness policy supported managing the fire in the wilderness area, tactics switched to full suppression once it was clear it would threaten the community. The fire was not fully out until the first snow fall of the year.
Efforts to treat the forest district surrounding Salida faced many jurisdictional and tactical issues but a signed memorandum of understanding between the USDA and Colorado agencies in October 2019 ensured that when the county brought about 1500 citizens and 80 critical partners to the table, they would be feeding data into the broader picture beyond jurisdictions to protect the citizens of Chaffee County.
After gathering data, the planners revealed that while there were already patchworks of treatments on state and federal lands, the community could reduce the risk to the most important assets by half through efforts of private landowners to mitigate their own land and contribute to the auspicious goal of treating more than 30,000 continuous acres of public and private land by 2030.
Chaffee County worked with more than 1,500 citizens and 80 partners to develop this map and showed it to citizens of Chaffee County so they could see how their private efforts would contribute to the community’s goals. The map cross references subdivisions, businesses, recreational areas and more to demonstrate the areas where funds focused by Chaffee Common Grounds Planning will have the most positive impact and benefit for public safety.
“The community is getting more clued in on the risk each summer and rather than being on their own, we created a program where if you are identified on this map, you can get a free property assessment and treatment plan which you need to get the money to get the property treated,” said Maquis. “Now a landowner can look at that map and understand where joint projects are going on and join other people in their subdivision and see how their efforts contribute.”
The county passed a tax referendum to raise money to stand up the community programs that enabled landowners to participate which showed the depth of community support that attracted funding from organizations within and outside Colorado to bring that goal closer to reality. The community supported their program that allows people to bring their thinning materials to be chipped by investing over 2,000 hours preparing their own properties.
Marquis estimates the overall community planning efforts that include investments in forest health have contributed more than $22 million in value to the economy. She said the most important thing to inspire the community is having a balance between setting big goals and people believing it can happen and the momentum is sustained by showing that stuff is getting done. While she believes the community is still very scared of the fire risk, they measure their success in program participation and neighborhoods that are working toward Firewise status. MEDIA GROUP
– Crystal Young Berlage is a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Forest Service.
SCENIC SKAMANIA LODGE will host the return of Western Wood Products Association’s annual meeting.
WWPA plans 2022 annual meeting
WESTERN WOOD Products Association’s 2022 annual meeting will be held May 2426 at Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Wa. The WWPA meeting will run concurrently with the Softwood Lumber Board meeting at the lodge during these dates. WWPA members are cordially invited to attend some of the SLB functions, including a reception and speaker session.
Overlooking the Columbia River and located in the Gorge National Scenic Area, Skamania Lodge hosts an onsite spa, 18hole golf course, and hiking and bicycle trails. Guests are only moments away from a variety of area attractions, including various waterfalls, whitewater rafting, boat cruises and more.
The WWPA event begins Tuesday May 24 at 6:00 p.m. with the Welcome Reception & Exchange Show. This meet and greet has been a popular introductory rendezvous for members and a great networking opportunity for associate members wanting to exhibit their products and services.
The event continues Wednesday May 25 with breakfast at 7:00 a.m., followed by the Quality Standards/Technical Services Committee Meeting at 9:00 a.m. The afternoon includes the WWPA Industry Luncheon and Awards Program, featuring the prestigious Master Lumberman Award.
The Master Lumberman Award recognizes outstanding lumber grading and quality control professionals who have contributed to their companies and the Western lumber industry. Candidates must be nominated by his or her company, be a WWPA Certified Grader for at least 20 years, have extensive experience in all levels of lumber manufacturing and hold supervisory responsibilities within their company. Out of the thousands of industry employees working at Western mills, only a select few have achieved Master Lumberman status. Since the program began in 1968, only 427 quality control professionals have received the coveted honor.
WWPA members are also invited to attend the Wednesday May 25 reception and dinner hosted by the Softwood Lumber Board. The meeting will conclude Thursday May 26 with the Board of Directors meeting and Speaker Session.
In 2021, COVID-19 restrictions prevented WWPA from holding its annual meeting where members and associates could gather. As an alternative, WWPA used the Zoom Meetings service to conduct meeting business. The virtual experience worked under COVID-19 conditions, but it is no replacement for the onsite in-person experience.
WWPA president Ray Barbee gave his thoughts on attending meeting events since COVID restrictions have been lifted: “I attended the NAWLA Traders Market in Louisville, Ky., where attendance was good. I thought that was a very positive sign since it had been a virtual meeting in 2020.
“The significant differences between virtual and in person meetings are the ability to personally connect with the party with whom you are talking. Establishing rapport is important. It’s equally important to be able to gauge responses to issues of discussion for all parties.
“At our annual meeting in 2022, catching up with individual members is something I really look forward to.”
For information on registration and hotel accommodations for the WWPA annual meeting, visit the WWPA website at www. wwpa.org/about-wwpa/annual-meeting or email WWPA at info@wwpa.org. MEDIA GROUP
THE POSSIBILITIES KEEP GROWING: REDWOOD
