Re Rainforest Action Networ

[Kenneth Sloane]

                      Subject:                              Time:  11:03 AM
  OFFICE MEMO         Re Rainforest Action Network          Date:  12/12/95

---------------PREVIOUS POST----------------

I just discovered the Rainforest Action Network on the WWW. This is an
excellent site with much information, and I highly recommend checking it
out. I didn't even know we were supposed to be boycotting Mitsubishi
products.
The address is:

http://www.ran.org/ran/

Dennis Johnson
St. Olaf College

---------------MY REPLY-----------------

The Rainforest Action Network (RAN), of which I am a member, is a no nonsense
environmental group that, among other things, has done a lot to protect the
Sitka Spruce forests of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska and also those
in the coastal areas of British Columbia. The sitka grows in incredible
temperate rainforests along with other huge trees like the Douglas Fir,
Western Hemlock and Cedar. Groups like RAN are dedicated to keeping the
commercial use of these forests a sustainable activity. In
line with all this, I am sending an article from the Summer, 1994 Journal of
The American Lutherie Guild. I posted it to Pianotech a while ago when our
numbers were much smaller. I think many of the newcomers will find it
interesting.


Sayonara, Sitka Spruce!   by Larry Trumble

The majority of the prime Sitka spruce stands are already cut and in Japan.
The instrument building industry should be safe for another ten to fifteen
years as things stand, but they could be safe indefinitely if proper forest
management practices were implemented.  This issue is a moving target and
highly political.
      Fortunately, the Japanese are primarily interested in green logs.  All green
Sitka spruce (standing live trees) and timber cut less than three years have a
band of sapwood 2" - 3" thick.  This sapwood band is very consistent, pale
yellow in color, and very wet.  Beyond this sapwood layer, the wood is usually
pink or red and this band can go from 3" - 12".  Beyond that layer is the
even, white-colored desirable wood.  However, this is so far into the log that
the grain spacing is usually wide and stubs of limbs that broke off 150-200
years ago are showing up.
      Fifty percent of the volume of a Sitka log is in the outer 1/6 of the
diameter.  I never cut green trees and only use blowdown trees that have been
dead for a few years to over 100 years.  Because of the color problem in green
trees and the fact that timber falling is the second most hazardous occupation
after commercial fishing in the Gulf of Alaska, I stick to dead standing or
blowdown trees.  Besides, the best recovery for instrument quality wood comes
from trees that have been down 30-40 years and logs used for bridge or float
construction.
      Dead standing trees and blowdown will sometimes have a layer of rot, but the
underlying wood will often be white and even colored.  Bridge construction
logs (stringers) have been cut on both ends, allowing moisture to pass through
and escape, carrying the color-causing extractives out of the log.  This
process takes 15-25 years.
      Float logs are fastened together to build platforms for buildings or
equipment.  Much of the wood in these logs has been riddled by teredos and
shipworms, or discolored by the steel rods used secure the logs.  The
undamaged wood, however, has very good color, probably due to the saltwater's
drawing effect and the cellular breakdown caused by organisms in the
saltwater.  This whole process only takes 8-10 years.
      The major concern is the lack of a sustained-yield forest management policy.
The present management plan calls for a 100-year rotation cycle.
A100-year-old spruce will be approximately 22"-25" in diameter at 36", the
ring count would be 11-14 rings/inch in the outer 2"-3", and 4-7 rings/inch on
the inside.  There will be knots all the way around and all the way down to
within a few feet of the butt.  In other words, a very average No. 2
sawmill-grade log at best.  The value of a No.2 sawlog is barely more than the
cost to log it.  I have talked with may Japanese log buyers and none are
interested in this type of log.
      At a recent Prince of Wales Chamber of Commerce meeting, Michael Barton,
Regional Forester of the Tongass National Forest, made a presentation.  I
asked him his opinion on the future of fine-grained, clear, wide Sitka.  His
reply was "I don't know if there is even much interest in that."  However, the
Japanese do know how much interest there is in the fine-grain old growth.
Enough interest to pay $3,000-$3,600 per 1000 bd.ft. for the log; to load it,
ship it, unload it, and store much of it for years and years.  They know the
value of this fine timber.  This response explains the belief by the Forest
Service that the current 100-year rotation cycle is a viable plan.  But unless
the current sustained-yield policy is changed from 100 years to 250 years
rotation, American luthiers in the future will be buying their own Sitka
spruce back from Japan at astronomical prices. -------