Seasoned Fencing"

American cedars. and performs to the same standards. Its common name is irrelevant with regard to characteristics of the genus. and species.

Mike Mordell Universal Forest ProduclsWestern Division Windsor. Co.

mmordell@ufpi.com

MORE ON CHINA I'IR

I was very surprised to see the article "A Closer Look at Cedar from China" without the title of "advertising" or "opinion." The reason that I say this is that the article is clearly full of misinformation about Chinese fir (cedar).

Here are some mistakes in the information that I found in this article: a. First of all. there isn't any such thing as a "true cedar" in North America. All of the "cedars" found in North America are actually termed "false cedars." b. The term "cedar" is allowed to be used in the U.S. by the USDA if the species is "aromatic softwood with bugand rot-resistant properties" that pass specific degradation tests. The majority of these species of "false cedars" in North America as well as Japan and c. The only "true cedar" is found naturally growing in Lebanon and is in the Cedrus family.

The author consistently states that Chinese fir (cedar) is not a "true cedar" like those found in North America.

China are in the Cupressaceae family. Redwood, western red cedar, incense cedar, Japanese cedar, and Chinese cedar are all in the same family.

David Stallcop Vanport International Boring, Or.

davidstallcop @ vanporl-intl.com

The Author Responds

I appreciate that there have been many readers, and that they have knowledge on this species. I thank them for sharing their knowledge and input on the topic. My main goal was to clarify that China fir is its own species and should not be mistaken for western red cedar or any other species. I do business in both species, and I would not want either business to be affected.

As a member of WRCEA,I have even heard their anger of the China fir being called cedar and that they may consider taking legal steps against those who term this species as cedar. There have been too many sellers falsely advertising their China tir product as cedar.

First. the readers are correct on the family as defined by USDA. I am not a scientist to know the exact botanical names and did not bother checking with USDA, Chinese Department of Agriculture, or Japanese Department. However, my info is not from the Internet nor the USDA. All my info is gathered from direct experience from sawmills in China.

In China, China fir is locally known as shan mu, and pine is known as song mu. where mu is wood. Here is a list of how the Chinese term some other species:

China fir - shan mu

Japanese cedar - liu shan mu

Pine - song mu

Douglas fir - hua qi song mu

Hemlock fir - shan mu

Western red cedar - hong shan mu

Spruce - bai song mu

The list goes on, but the only species not native to China is western red cedar. Yet. the Japanese cedar is sometimes called western red cedar. From these terms, anyone could have called any of these species to their desire. For instance, shan mu is referred to both as fir and cedar species in China. There is a manufacturer in China making products from Chinese native hemlock. This company markets its products as cedar. In addition, a similar fir species from West China (they call it Douglas fir or hua qi song mu) is also being processed in China and sold as cedar.

Similarily, the U.S. market is also seeing China fir, Chinese cedar, etc., but which native Chinese species are they really getting when some of these products may even be coated and painted?

Thus, my intention was to show that China fir itself is its own unique species from China, whether it's called cedar, fir, this family, or whatever. There are too many species coming from China being labeled cedar. I just wanted the readers to be aware that China fir is just one of those species.

In the past, Japan has been one of the biggest importers of China fir or Chinese cedar. Specifically, the Japanese market imported both Japanese cedar and China fir. Both species are native in similar parts of China, but there are clear distinctions and similarities between the two species. Several sawmills in China cut both species and sell both species to Japanese factories. This could have been the reason why the term Chinese cedar originated.

In any case, I apologize to anyone who may have considered my article as an attack against China fir. Moreover, I want to thank both the magazine and its readers for acknowledging the China fir species. It clearly shows that the market has had a influx of these products from China and it is being recognized.

Perry Lee Pacific Cedar Supply Buena Park, Ca. perry@lumberguy.com

Chemco Partners On Alowood

A joint venture between MeadWestvaco Specialty Chemicals and Chemco Inc., Ferndale, Wa.-named EverTech LLC-will manufacture and market Alowood, a line of environ- mentally friendly wood products developed by Chemco.

Production facilities for EverTech will be in Ferndale. MeadWestvaco. which is based in Charleston. S.C.. will offer support from its technical and international marketing. research and development teams.

"We are excited about the future of EverTech." said John Gibb. Chemco president. "MeadWestvaco's partnership strengthens our position with a product we believe is poised to revolutionize the way the world looks at hardwood."

Alowood's process gives plantation-grown softwoods the appearance. hardness, and milling characteristics of domestic and exotic hardwoods. Initial markets include flooring. furniture. cabinetry, moulding and doors. Exterior applications. including decking, are under development.

Lawsuit Threatens Sawmill

A recent court decision to halt logging in Giant Sequoia National Monument may force the closure of the last sawmill in California's central San Joaquin Valley-Sierra Forest Products in Terra Bella. according to The Fresno Bee.

In August. a federal judge upheld lawsuits by the Sierra Club and the state attorney general demanding that the Forest Service redo its forest management plan to better protect the environment. As a result. Sierra Forest would lose four timber sales near the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

Instructions: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 once. Therefore, each number in the solution will be unique in each of three'directions."

The solution is on page 67

If lawsuits block other planned projects in the Sierra National Forest, coowners Kent and Larry Duysen said a lack of logs could cause their company to shut down by next year. "If it gets balled up in court. we really will not have any material to get through the next summer," said Kent Duysen.

Although the mill also processes trees harvested from private lands, salvaged from public roadways, and culled from burned-out sections of the San Bernardino National Forest, it relies heavily on trees from federal forestlands. According to the Duysens, their mill is operating on about 30 million bd. ft. per year, about half the mill's capacity. Of this, about 20 million bd. ft. comes from federal land.

The brothers warn that closure of the mill could make large-scale thinning in central and southern California economically unfeasible, increasing the risk of catastrophic fires. "If this mill wasn't here," Kent Duysen said, "there's probably not going to be much fuel reduction happening."

He said they have spent about $3.5 million in upgrades over the past five years, including a de-barker for smaller logs, computerized scanners, and a machine to more efficiently handle small-diameter logs.

The Duysens hope that proposed legislation could save the mill, reaffirming that when the monument was created in 2000, the four timber sales were srandfathered in.

Burglary Suspect Nabbed

Police in Lincoln Park, Ca., have arrested a suspect following a string of tool thefts at the local Home Depot.

The first theft occurred Aug. 2, when two chainsaws were taken by a suspect driving a red pickup. The same vehicle was used two days later, when a circular saw and Sawzall was stolen. On Aug. 6, a suspect was confronted at the store, but left without stealing anything.

On Aug. 10, police traced the truck to Dennis Thompson, 43, who was already in jail for unrelated chargesburglary, evading arrest, and driving under the influence. After police recovered some of the stolen tools, he was booked for the Depot thefts.

Introducing the next generation of decking

CrossTimbers has created a Droduct with a unioue combination of oak and polypropylene plastic. This product fiormula provides a stronger composite lumber than most other comDetitors products utilizing a combination of wood and polyethylene.

The nontoxic composite used in CrossTimbers is the result of intensive research. It is a new-generation composite product engineered to yield superior strength, longevity and dimensional stability at an affordable once.

Unlike "first generation" decking composites, CrossTi mbers contains no recycled polyethylene products. CrossTimbers consists of a combination of oak and polypropylene, giving it a clear perfiormance advantage when compared to other composite building products currently in the marketplace.