Association News

Forest Resource Assoc. Annual Meeting
The FRA’s annual meeting, was held the first week of May in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. One of the highlights for the attendees was a lunch with Mark Rey, Under Secretary for Natural Resoucres and Environment U.S. Departemnt of Agricluture, who spoke openly about issues affecting the industry, including the President’s Healthy Forest Initiative (HFI). Additional support was rallied for the HFI by a panel of well spoken and motivated men: Bruce Vincent, President for Communities for a Great Northwest; John Heissenbuttel, vice-president of AF&PA; and Jim Peterson, Executive Director, Evergreen Foundation. Each spoke out on why it was vital to stand up and take an active part in support of the HFI. This was a critical time — before there are more fires, and while there is still a limited window of opportunity with a supportive administration.

APA Annual Meeting
You can sign up early for the Engineered Wood Association (APA) annual meeting and Info Fair supplier exhibition, to be held Sept. 13-16 at Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, Calif. Information on the Info Fair will be distributed to prospective exhibitors in March, with overall meeting information mailed to all members in June. For more information log onto www.apawood.org.

Logging Associations Speak Out Against Logging Equipment Excise Tax Fund
Many are aware that last fall the IRS published a proposal eliminating the exemption of off-road mobile equipment (including log loaders, chippers, and delimbers) from federal excise taxes). The industry spoke out on February 26 at an IRS hearing, with representatives from the Forest Resource Association (FRA), American Loggers Council, Virginia Loggers Association, and American Forest & Paper Association. Testimony was presented describing the devastating $200 million economic impact that removing the exemption would cause. All members of the Mobile Machinery Coalition (which includes the FRA) are now raising funds to present the industry’s point of view to Senate Finance Committee and House Ways & Means Committee members. The Coalition needs to raise $150,000 to continue the fight.

AF&PA Partners With U.S. Fire Administration
The AF&PA and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) have announced a joint partnership to develop and distribute information on the performance of lightweight construction components during fires. Commenting on the new project R. David Paulison, U.S. Fire Administrator, said, "Each year, firefighters lose their lives due to building collapse. We are pleased to join with AF&PA in development of this innovative outreach and educational initiative designed to better understand building dynamics during fire, and to ultimately create a safer America for citizens and firefighters."

Insuring Hunting
The Forest Resource Assoc. (FRA) members who own or manage land for hunting leases can review the Davis-Garvin Agency Hunting Lease Liability Insurance Program. This pro- gram, which the FRA helped develop, has been in operation for 12 years; over 25 million acres are enrolled. The program provides affordable insurance even for small holdings, broad policies that reduce the total cost of administering a lease, and a uniform coverage option for multiple hunting clubs. If you are interested in the program, the FRA invites you to contact Ed Wilson at (800) 834-3163, (803) 732-0060, or ewilson@davisgarvin.com  for more information or for a quote.

Officers Elected to Educate Public
The California Forest Products Commission board of directors has elected new officers to help in its mission to educate the public about the environmental and consumer benefits of forest management. Three new officers have been elected to one-year terms. John R. Mount has been elected to the position of chairman. Mount has worked for Southern California Edison for more than 20 years, managing the company’s 20,000 acres of private land. Jim Brown, vice-president of Simpson Resource Company, Korbel, has been elected vice-chairman. Under Brown's leadership, Simpson Resource Company has protected the habitat of sensitive species on its 450,000 acres of Douglas fir trees and redwoods in California, while providing the lumber and plywood needed to build homes and offices. And Pete Himmel, manager of Timber Products Company’s California operations, has been elected secretary-treasurer.

EPA Selects AF&PA
On April 30 the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) was selected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to represent the forest products industry under the new Sector Strategies Program. "We are pleased to be representing the forest products industry sector in this new program," said Sharon H. Kneiss, AF&PA's vice-president for regulatory affairs. She described the sector program as "a vehicle for obtaining changes in the regulatory system that inhibits our ability to do more to protect the environment, while, at the same time, reducing or eliminating regulatory burdens that only get in the way of improvements." Helping remove regulatory impediments that conflict with the industry's climate change commitments was cited by AF&PAas an example of an area where the new program could be of value.

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