Meet the New President of the Wcst Coast Lumb ermen's Association

Dean Johnson--Busy Man

By Arthur \fl. Priaulx

In selecting Dean Johnson, Portland and Toledo, Oregon lumberman as president at the January 28 annual meeting, the West Coast Lumhermen's Association, picked one of the organization's busiest members, the head of the C. D. Johnson Lumber CorPoration since 1941.

During these war Yeals' not only has this comPany remarkably held up its lumber production from'the large Toledo mill. but in addition it has fabricated wooden barges for the U. S. ArrnY, patrol craft for the U.' S. Navy, and is now engaged in consiru'ction of prefabricated sections of hospital hutments for use in war areas. Johnson thinks the lumber industry has a real opportunity to further refine its output in the post-war years and believes in doing it right out here in the West at the sawmiils.

'At the age of SO-Dean Johnson was born January, 1895-he has had thirty years of lumbering experience from small "gyppo" mills in southeastern Missouri, to the large Toledo property. He was born at New Lewisville, Arkansas, within earshot of a sawmill, which his father C' D' Johnson operated. He spent his boyhood in and around bt. Louis, attending Smith Academy, and later went to Cornell, but quit to take over the operation of a 2,000-acre cotton plantation. Part of the land was forest covered, so Johnson operated three small gyppo mills to cut the logs taken from the land intended for cotton growing' That was in 1914. When World War I came along he quit sawririlling and logging, joined the army and was sent to . ; officers' school at Fort Sheridan. Graduated as a second ',, lieutenant, he was sent to Camp Gra4t where he was as- i signed to the 20th Engineers, a forestry outfit. He went i overseas with this forestry unit and spent some time in I r the south of France near the SwisE-border getting out lum- '; ber.for use of our trooPs.

After his army experience, he was two years in the steel business at Alliance, Ohio, but again heard the call of thg woods and came west to Toledo where he joined the Pacific Spruce Corporation as vice .president and assistant gery eral manager. In 1935 the firm was reorganized and became the C. D. Johnson'Lumber Corporation, and Dean Johnson was made vice-president and general manager-' a post he held until the passing of his father in May, 1941' when he became president.

In his early years in the west Dean Johnson lived at Tpledo on famed Yaquina Bay, where he was active in the' management and operation not alone of the sawmill prop-. erty but also of the logging and railroad operations of 'the company. His home is now in Portland lt'here the main offices of the company are located, although he generally spends several days each week at the mill.

Dean Johnson has been one of the leaders in the lumber industry in the move to improve private forest land' harvesting methods and management. He is endeavoring to set up in the Lincoln county timber l'roldings of his firm a sustained yield operation. He has a forestry department. under Ross Bowles, a graduate forester' The company has retained title to its cutover lands and those which have been burned are being rehabilitated with hand planting.' This year 100,000 seedlings were planted by high school boys, due to shprtage of manpower. A 500,000 seedling planting program during the next five years is now planned.

The C. D. Johnson firm, is a member of the Willamette

While most ol our lunrber is going into Govemment wcr uEes, we have been tc[ing ccrre ol our decrler customers' requirements to the besi ol our cbility, cmd we thcmk them lor their pctience curd coopercrtion

Valley Tree Farms organization and frequently consults the five foresters with this cooperative group on forestry problems.

The lumber industry has a real opportunity, believes Johnson, to demonstrate its capacity to operate forest lands under private ownership in long range sustained yield forest management operations. Likewise he believes that private enterprise has ari unequalled chance to build on the wonderful war-time development in wood use. Much of this refinement is now on the military secret list, but after the war the research in wood in the field of chemistry, fabrication and manufacturing will be almost limitless, and will be available to private industry. The west coast industry has the rar,r' material and the location on world trade routes, Johnson says, we should be able to furnish the leadership in utilization of ail of the r,r'ood, especially sawmill and logging waste.

Purchases Big Fir Plywood Plant

Announcement has been made by M. D. Tucker, of Portland, Ore., vice-president of Evans Products Company, that he has purchased from Evans the fir plywood plant located .at Lebanon, Oregon, rated one of the largest and most modern plywood plants in the country. Its average annual capacity is 120,000,000 square rfeet, on a fuths-inch basis; actually, in 1942 it produced 127,W,@0 feet of plywood.

Cascades Plywood Corporation has been organized, witlr Mr. Tucker as president, to own and operate the Lebanon plant. Mr. Tucker has been associated with the Evans Products Company of Detroit for the past twenty-four years and was a senior officer in charge of acquisition and construction of many of the plants throughout the country in which various specialties under the Evans traclernark hal'e been manufactured. He was instrumental in the establishment by Evans of the Lebanon plant, which was put into operaiion during 194O, rn'ith Mr. T'ucfter as manager. ' Simultaneously, it was announced jointly by Mr. Tucker and Lawrence Ottinger, president of the United States plywoqd Corporation, that a contract l-ras been signed for the sale of the entire production of Cascades through the distribution facilities of U. S. Plywood, including warehouses being opened by U. S.-Mengel Plywoods, Inc. tascade,s entir€ output will be manufactured and marketed under U. S. Plywood's Weldwood plywood process and brand.