The U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports won one argument and the Canadian government won two arguments in a World Trade Organization decision released September 27 concerning Canada’s challenge of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s (USDOC) preliminary determination that the Canadian government’s stumpage program constitutes a subsidy.

Most filing rooms serve a single mill, working up saws for one or two primary breakdown lines and associated downstream sawing centers. Stimson Lumber Co.’s central filing room here takes those responsibilities to another level, serving not only an adjacent stud mill, but also a nearby random length cutting mill in Coeur d’Alene, as well as two other Stimson mills in the region on a less regular basis.

Technologically speaking, lumber manufacturers have advanced light years in the last decade. Multi-million dollar machining systems promise significant improvements in yield and recovery. The extent that they actually deliver on those promises is largely determined by the quality of the mill’s sawing program. In many ways, that is what separates the leaders from the pack.

This article shares insights toward achieving improvements in a mill’s bottom line through improved sawing performance. From this author’s repeated experience in softwood dimension mills, recovery will improve by 1% for every 0.010 in. to 0.015 in. reduction in kerf or target size of 2 in. lumber. This can be accurately predicted by running simulations with mill optimization software.

It’s a distinct pleasure to address an audience of American foresters. In my opinion, you’re among the best in the world. It’s also a pleasure to be here in the great state of North Carolina where Weyerhaeuser Co. manages three quarters of a million acres of forestland and operates more than a dozen manufacturing facilities.

D & I Wood Products, Inc. is one of the pioneers of southern yellow pine fence pickets and lattice. We have been in business since 1979. We use primarly low grade lumber which is remanufactured into our fence pickets and lattice panels. We have a gripe with the Canadians and our own goverment for letting these finished products come to our country at a price so low that we cannot compete.