The Oregon Capitol played host on March 21, to local and international experts on top of the economic, employment and environmental benefits of the use of wood in construction of State funded buildings. The House Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee heard two hours of testimony on House Bill 3429.
The Oregon Business Plan called for “(d)eveloping market opportunities for wood products, such as launching an ‘Oregon Wood First’ campaign for the state’s public buildings.” Honorable Pat Bell, the British Columbia Minister of Jobs, Tourism & Innovation, spoke to the significant success of B.C.’s Wood First initiative. The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver showcased several wood buildings including the spectacular ice pavilion.
Allyn Ford, leader of his family-owned Roseburg Forest Products, and Andrew Miller, President of his family-owned Stimson Lumber Company presented compelling testimony regarding the employment benefits in rural communities of enhancing the production of Oregon wood products. Bill Kluting, long-time advocate for the Carpenters Industrial Union, noted that not only have federal forests been neglected, but also Oregon’s own Elliott State Forest is biologically capable of producing twice as much timber as it has in the last decade.
Oregon’s vast Douglas fir and Ponderosa Pine forests give the timber industry inherent advantages in the manufacture of a variety of wood products for use in Oregon and throughout the world. Experts from “Wood Works” and the University of Washington’s Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials spoke to the structural and carbon dioxide advantages of wood.
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