Bulletin Board

All About Balls

The sport of choice for the urban poor is basketball. Truth Sounds Like Hate To Those Who Hate Truth past 60 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and

The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is we learned how to deal with it all. That was before the rise bowling. of ‘I am a victim thinking,’ the overpopulation of lawyers, and government

The sport of choice for front-line workers is football. overreach.

The sport of choice for supervisors is baseball.

The sport of choice for middle management is tennis. The sport of choice for corporate executives and officers is golf. America’s Twilight Zone

It’s apparent that the higher you go in the corporate structure, the smaller Today I woke up and as I had my morning coffee, I reflected on many drayour balls become. Conclusion: There are tens of thou- matic changes that have recently taken place. sands of people in Washington, DC who play marbles. No matter how I vote, no matter what I say, something evil has invaded our nation, and our lives are never going To Kids Who Survived The 1930s, 1940s, 1950s to be the same. I have been confused by the hostility of family and friends. I look at people I have known all my life. They are so hate-filled that they agree with opinions they would

For starters, we survived being born to mothers who never express as their own. I think that I may well have may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. entered the Twilight Zone. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a You can’t justify this insanity. We have become a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes. nation that has lost its collective mind!

Then, after that trauma, we were put to bed on our If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to tummy in cribs covered with bright, lead-based paint. pretend with him.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on Somehow, it’s un-American for the census to count doors or cabinets and, when we rode our bikes, we had how many Americans are in America. baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads. Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no child car seats, no voting in our elections are good. booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. National leaders lament that they want to unify the nation, but their actions

Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special are widening, not narrowing, the gap, treat. People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. people who have never been slaves.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, People who have never been to college should pay the debts and no one actually died from this. of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We Immigrants with diseases are welcome, but you’d better be drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren’t able to prove your dog is vaccinated. overweight because we were always outside playing. Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as to the U.S. must go through a rigorous vetting process, but long as we were back by dark. those who cross the southern border illegally are welcome.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps And many in this group seek to be takers only, and want to and then ride them down the hill, only to find out that we for- leave the giving to somebody else. got about brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we People who say there is no such thing as gender are learned to solve the problem. demanding a female President. Transgenders born as males

We did not have PlayStations, Nintendo and Xboxes. There insist on competing in women’s sports. were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video If you stay at a hotel or board a bus, train or plane, you have movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell to first show a photo ID, but if you have to show a photo ID to phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. vote, you are a victim of discrimination and/or voter “suppres-

We had friends, and we went outside and found them! sion.”

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and lost teeth, and We see other countries going socialist and collapsing, but it there were no lawsuits from those accidents. seems like a great plan to a growing number of vocal politi-

We got spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or cians, academics, actors and entertainers. just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report ‘abuse.’ Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they

We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing us forever. now.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, .22 rifles for our 12th, rode Criminals are caught-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them horses, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and although we is bad because it’s a violation of their rights. were told it would happen, we did not accidentally put out very many eyes. And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us racists?! And yes, we ran through the house with scissors and/or knives in our hands. No Matter How Bad Your Nothing makes sense anymore: no values, no morals, no civility, no regard for the Constitution.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made Situation May Be, We are clearly living in an upside- down world where the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the Just Remember… There Are People Out There right is wrong and wrong is right, where moral is immoral and immoral is moral, where good is evil and evil is good, where killing murderers is wrong, law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! Worried About The Gender but killing innocent babies is right. These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever. The Of A Plastic Potato. It’s enough to cause you to wonder, “What is next, a revolution or the Rapture?”

Easy Streets?

■ How much would interstate access for log trucks help?

By Joe Conrad Assistant Professor of Forest Operations, Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources, University of Georgia

NOTE: Virginia Loggers Assn. ran this in their March 2021 membership newsletter and was kind enough to share it with us.

Technically, there is no law prohibiting log trucks from using interstate highways. However, federal law limits tractor-trailers to 80,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight (GVW) and 34,000 lbs. per tandem axle. This means loggers must give up 10,000+ lbs. of payload in order to remain legal on interstate highways—an unprofitable proposition.

Loggers have known for a long time that allowing state-legal, loaded log trucks to operate on interstate highways would reduce hauling costs and improve safety. Unfortunately, there was limited data to support the claim, which is where research can help. The Georgia Forestry Foundation and Forest Resources Assn. supported my research to estimate how much interstate access would improve timber transportation safety and efficiency in the South. I analyzed data from more than 900 haul routes from 250 harvest sites in eight wood baskets: Augusta, Brunswick, Macon, and Savannah, Ga.; Brewton and Prattville, Ala.; Eastover, SC; and Roanoke Rapids, NC. Initial analysis determined which timber deliveries would benefit from interstate access. For those deliveries benefitting from interstate access, detailed analysis was conducted on the current route that avoids interstate highways and an interstate route that would utilize an interstate highway for part of the trip.

Results

This study found that many timber deliveries could access interstate highways if state weight laws were applied to interstate highways. l 46% of haul routes would be more efficient with interstate access. l 82% of harvest sites had at least one load that would benefit from interstate access. l 38% of miles could be traveled on interstate highways, on those routes benefiting from interstate access.

Interstate access improved the safety of timber transportation. Relative to current routes, interstate routes: l Included 40% fewer intersections per trip (61 vs. 101), l Avoided one school zone per trip, l Bypassed one city or town per trip, and l Had a 19% lower estimated fatal crash risk.

In the U.S., approximately 40% of all crashes occur at intersections, meaning the reduction in intersections encountered reduces log truck crash risk significantly. Likewise, avoiding school zones is important because of the risk of high profile and deadly crashes associated with the presence of school buses, pedestrian traffic and children.

The strongest argument for interstate access is undoubtedly the safety benefits. However, for loggers, the time and hauling cost savings are also compelling. Compared to current routes, interstate routes: l Saved 9 minutes per trip (52 min. vs 61 min.), l Reduced one-way hauling costs by $8 per trip, l Would save a typical logger approximately $9,700 per year, and l Would reduce cumulative transportation costs by approximately $935,000 per year in the Roanoke Rapids, NC wood basket.

These travel cost savings are probably conservative estimates. These estimates are based on reduced travel time and the hourly cost of owning and operating a log truck. Loggers would experience the biggest savings when reduced travel time allowed them to deliver extra loads during a day or week. This is difficult to quantify because of variables such as mill quotas, truck dispatching practices, turntimes, etc.

The values described above are averages for the routes benefitting from interstate access in the Roanoke Rapids, NC/south-central Virginia area. As one might expect, some timber deliveries would benefit from interstate access more than others. For example, consider the following timber delivery from a harvest site near Emporia, Va., to the pulp mill in Roanoke Rapids, NC. This load must cross the Meherrin River in Emporia and two highways have bridges capable of supporting the load: I–95 and Hwy 301 in downtown Emporia. Emporia has an ordinance prohibiting through trucks from utilizing Hwy 301 but grants an exemption to log trucks. Utilizing I–95 for this route would save loggers time and money, improve highway safety, and protect infrastructure in downtown Emporia (Table 1). Of course, not every haul route is similar to this example (Table 1). There are plenty of harvest sites and mills that are not located near an interstate highway. Furthermore, log trucks would still have to drive from harvest sites to interstate highways and from interstate highways to mills on state and local roads. In other words, interstate access will help, but will not solve every problem.

Allowing interstate access for state-legal, loaded log trucks will require a bill to be passed by both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, and then be signed by the President of the United States. Hopefully, data from this study will inform discussions of the best path forward.

I would like to thank the Georgia Forestry Foundation Center for Forest Competitiveness and the Forest Resources Assn. for sponsoring this research. Thanks to the VLA members and others that provided data for the analysis. If you would like to learn more about study results, please consult the following resources. SLT

Photo courtesy of TEAM Safe Trucking

Conrad, J.L., IV. 2020. Would weight parity on interstate highways improve safety and efficiency of timber transportation in the US South? International Journal of Forest Engineering 31:242–252. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14942119.20 20.1806638.

Conrad, J.L., IV. 2020. Access to interstate highways would improve timber transportation in the US South. Forest Resources Association Technical Release. Rockville, MD.

Joe Conrad, Assistant Professor of Forest Operations, Harley Langdale Jr. Center for Forest Business

Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA jlconrad@uga.edu

Teamwork

■ A South-wide perspective of the region’s forest products industry.

By Clay Altizer, Southwide Region Manager, Forest Resources Assn.

Aquick, illuminating few numbers: l $251 billion of total economic output l More than 1.1 million jobs l $53.9 billion in labor income l $14 billion in export value l 209 million acres of timberlands l Over five million private forest landowners l 57% of the timber harvest volume in the U.S.

That is the forest products industry in the Southern U.S. Pretty impressive statistics, to say the least. It is easy to see why the region is commonly referred to as the wood basket of the world. It takes the skill and expertise of many dedicated natural resource professionals to ensure the forest products industry is well equipped to meet the world’s demand for wood fiber and forestbased manufactured goods. It is an honor to work alongside these outstanding men and women, together, as a team. The support system that exists for our industry often operates independently, but the ability to come together to form a united front is a powerful tool. Just like the teamwork the Tampa Bay Buccaneers demonstrated in Super Bowl LV, the stakeholders in the wood supply value chain must do their part for the wood supply system to function properly. Everyone has a job to do, and each person must do their part to keep the system working efficiently and effectively.

There are many teams that work independently to resolve issues at the company level as well as larger teams that come together to unite for the greater good of the industry. Not surprisingly, a few of our teammates operate somewhat behind the scenes, but their contributions still play a pivotal role in advancing our industry. The Southern Group of State Foresters (SGSF) and Southern Regional Extension Forestry (SREF) are two organizations that immediately come to mind. Their collaboration has led to several successful efforts worthy of praise.

One such product of their collaboration is the forest products locator feature, a great site to learn more about the locations of primary mills and secondary forest products manufacturers in the Southern U.S. This site serves as a helpful tool for economic development officials to assist with new industry recruiting efforts as well as to aid potential industry investors in their site selection process. It can also help forest landowners learn more about their local markets and better understand how a timber harvest will produce multiple products destined for different manufacturing facilities. Many people not affiliated with the forest products supply chain fail to understand the role that a proper hierarchy of goods plays in the overall balance of our wood supply system.

Another great product resulting from this successful collaboration of SGSF and SREF is the forestry impacts web site. This is a fantastic repository for socioeconomic information at the regional and statewide levels. The site even contains links that lead to economic contribution reports at the county level for certain states. These economic contribution reports have proven very successful for engagement with state forestry associations, academic institutions, government agencies, economic development offices, and interaction with state legislative officials. Documenting and showcasing the overall economic contribution of the forest products industry and wood supply system on local and regional economies is important. Our industry, and the associated supply chain, is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in much of the Southern region. This economic activity often impacts some of the most economically distressed regions where career options are often limited at best. Everyone acknowledges the importance of money and jobs. Most importantly, it captivates the interest of decision-makers at all levels of government.

The benefits that forests provide for society are large in number and immense in scale. Sustainable management of our natural resources is in everyone’s best interest. The positive correlation between healthy markets and healthy forests is no secret. Everybody on our team is aware of this fact. But a large sector of the public does not make this connection. We have room to expand our team and recruit new stakeholders. There will certainly be challenges ahead of us in the future. But challenges can lead to opportunities. And we have got a great team in place to capitalize on opportunities. Let us all do our part to be a positive contributor to a team environment and embrace those opportunities to promote our industry and profession. We have a great story to share. Let us make sure we are heard loud and clear. And I am excited to work with my new team, the FRA team, on doing my part! SLT

Forestry Impacts web site (https://www.forestryimpacts.net)

Forest Products Locator web site (https://www.forestproductslocator.org)

This piece was originally released as part of FRA’s “Woods to Mill” blog series and was sent to FRA membership on February 11, 2021.