Question for Canadian Woodworkers

[Kerry Adams]

Good Morning,

I am retired military and work part-time at a place in South Carolina that makes cedar doghouses. All of our business is over the net. The cedar is gotten from Canada and he buys a semi load at a time.

He went shopping and found that the price has gone up 60%. He is being told that you can't just cut cedar without also cutting fir, spruce and hemlock. They are not cutting the others as much, so the cedar is not being cut as much and that is what is making the price skyrocket.

Is this truth or balony!

Thanks

[John Gornall]

Canada's forest land area is vast. The forestry laws vary widely. There are private and public forest lands and some that fall in between as some forest companies have tenure on public lands if they agree to certain forestry practices. In most areas the harvest must be balanced. We don't want a forest area trashed just to get the cedar - all must be harvested and replanted.

As for price, perhaps you should review the huge trade battle on softwood lumber between the USA and Canada which has just been resolved after about 15 years. Your softwood producers insisted the prices go up claiming the Canadian wood was subsidized, a claim that was shot down in the courts over and over again. But they got the prices up.

[Kerry Adams]

Thanks John-that makes sense!

Kerry