Resource Availability

[PSLOANE@OCVAXA.CC.OBERLIN.EDU]

>From Ken Sloane, Oberlin Conservatory

I have been a proponent in the guild of establishing a committee that would act
in an advisory capacity to the Executive Board and the membership about resource
issues. Historically, such activity has always been a fundamental part of
Guilds. Plain and simple, it is necessary to make sure that you have an adequate
supply of raw materials to do your job. At the '92 convention in Sacramento,
Council voted against the establishment of such a committee, the general
consensus among those that voted nay being that the issues that might be
analyzed are too political. I still think such a committee needs to be
established so that we can be better informed about poor resource management
practices and relay that information to our elected state and federal
representatives. Believe me, writing helps.

In line with all this, I am sending an article from the Summer, 1994 Journal of
The American Lutherie Guild.


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. -------