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ASSOCIATION NEWS

L&I Information for Washington Employers

Jerry Bonagofsky, president of WCLA says that if people in Washington are interested in automatically receiving periodic information (via email) regarding the Logger Safety Initiative, they can sign up for L&I listserv.

The listserv will allow L&I to communicate directly with a wider audience of interested parties and LSI participants. www.lni.wa.gov/Main/Listservs/Lni-LOGGERSAFETY.asp

For general information about LSI, you can go directly to the website: www.lni.wa.gov/main/loggersafety/default.asp.

Using Forensic Wood Science to Test Environmental Claims

A new partnership uses forensic wood science to test the accuracy of environmental claims being made about forest products from around the world.

The landmark agreement between the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) establishes a cooperative research program in which forensic wood science is employed to investigate supply chain integrity, verify product claims, and identify opportunities to use the best available and emerging forensic wood science to verify the accuracy of claims found on FSC-certified products.

The partnership capitalizes on the forensic wood science expertise of the FPL to research and evaluate the efficacy of supply-chain controls and verify the botanical composition of FSC-certified products. The partnership also leverages FSC’s extensive network of certified forests, manufacturers, and partners to provide a full spectrum of certified products from around the world for testing.

For more information, visit https: //ic.fsc.org/wood-and-fiber-science.182.htm.

OCC Shortage May Spur New Virgin Fiber Demand

The Forest Resources Association reported that the RISI’s November 14 International Woodfiber Report suggested that following “a terrific dual run of higher production and record profitability for containerboard mills the last two years,” recent new supply and a predicted seasonal demand slowdown could soon subject containerboard to a “market correction.”

Nonetheless, says RISI, the Old Corrugated Container portion of mill feedstock could be close to capped out because of “surging” Chinese OCC demand and some companies’ commitments to increasing OCC purchasing, due to “sustainability objectives.”

Farm Bill in Conference: Supporting Forest Roads Fix

FRA reports that the House and Senate conferees are negotiating consensus terms for the Farm Bill. Of specific importance to forestry is ensuring that the “Forest Road” fix is included in the final bill, since that provision is currently only in the House version.

While conferees from forested regions are in full support of including this provision, the FRA would like your help. If you or your company has a business presence or assets in certain key districts (CA, CO, ID, IL, MA, MI, MN, NY, OH, PA, SD, TX, WA), send a message to conferees representing them by using the website address that links to your senator. http://bipac.net/page.asp?content=priority_conferees&g=FRA