A settlement was reached in the suit that blamed Pacific Lumber Co.’s (PLC) logging operations for causing a 1996 mudslide in Stafford, Calif. PLC, Humboldt County’s largest employer, agreed to pay $3.3 million to the victims of that mudslide.

For years, Willamette Industries wanted to further utilize every stick of wood generated at its plywood facility located here. Managers believed the only way to reach this goal was to add a small log sawmill. The problem, however, was finding the right mix of equipment to efficiently process plywood peeler cores generated at the plywood plant, plus small-diameter top wood coming from the plant’s merchandising line.

Weyerhaeuser Co., which has considerable interests in Canada as well as the U.S., has sided against the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports concerning the Canadian lumber imports issue. The Coalition petitioned the Dept. of Commerce (DOC) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) on April 2 to impose duties to offset alleged Canadian softwood lumber production subsidies and dumping of the product on the U.S. market.

There are numerous considerations that should be taken into account when a sawmill expansion or renovation project is addressed. This article discusses many of those considerations, as well as other factors that mill owners and managers must analyze if a project is to be a success. The first step in any project is preliminary work to justify the capital costs involved as well as expected payback.

Six short years ago Douglas County Forest Products (DCFP) was a state-of-the-art metric lumber producer, making big inroads in the Japanese market with its JAS certification stamp and hosting numerous customers from overseas on mill tours. But that was then—this is now. “Some time in late 1997, the Japanese market fell off a cliff,” says DCFP owner Hal Westbrook, noting the country’s housing starts went into a severe slump as a result of a major financial crisis from which Japan is just now starting to recover.

Maxi-Tour Comact introduces the LSF-100 lumber step feeder. The unit features standard equipment that includes high efficiency electric motor, speed reducer and cam follower wheels. Optional features available include lubricating systems, side panels, inlet and outlet chutes and variable speed. The LSF-100 is self-cleaning, low maintenance, runs quietly, has a rocker mechanism and can handle lumber of different lengths and sizes and feed a lumber deck with parallel pieces.