Show THE LUMBER UM R PRICE CRISIS RISiS Any reader realer of this page who has as gone to his lumber dealer recently for some plywood plywood plywood ply ply- wood or softwood lumber is certain to have returned home sadder wiser and perhaps empty empty handed Prices have doubled In m some cases tripled within the past year Too often the lumber just isn Isn't t available or delivery is uncertain uncertain As a consequence the cost of Douses bouses is going up and and up Builders who are trying desperately to hold costs down and to build for low and moderate Income families who so sorely need such housing are shocked Lumber dealers and wholesalers can can no po longer quote firm prices for softwood lumber and plywood nor can they guarantee delivery dates to builders build build- ers As a result planning and cost estimates are re thrown throW out of whack Softwood lumber and plywood are the major components of a house house They consume 40 per cent of the nations nation's total timber products The magnitude of the crisis is clear dear from the fact that softwood lumber prices have gone up at least 50 per percent percent percent cent in one year and plywood prices up per cent ent Why For one thing softwood log exports have increased tenfold in eight years with most of these exports going to Japan In fact the increase in log exports in 1968 alone was as more than 30 per cent over the 1967 level level level- at the very time the U US U.S. S housing industry was wa attempting to fill the country's pent pent up up demand In addition the Forest Service has come under increasing criticism for its overly conservative con con- management policies which to cite a recent Treasury Department study allow much timber Umber to rot rot on the ground serving neither the public good nor sound conservation practices Wildly Inflationary bidding for raw bar bar- timber on Federal lands reflects the general situation atlon with bid prices in many cases four times mes higher than two years ago The big lumber producers with great purchasing ing ability are are able to stay in this inflationary market th the smaller mills traditionally mills traditionally the balance wheel In hi the pricing structure structure have have been een folding at a rapid rate Domestic needs for lumber are now critIcal critical crit crit- ical it is urgent that the new Administration and the Congress act to halt bait the enormous outflow of timber to foreign countries and revise Forest Service management practices to permit the maximum cut of timber for building consistent with sound conservation conser conser- practices Otherwise only the very very wealthy are going to be able to build o or even repair a p II house in this c country country u |