By JAMES RONALD SKAINS

"Although it has been a tough year for the forest industry, we have the same number exhibitors booked this year as in 1999, so we anticipate another big turnout as we see some improvement in the lumber market," Karl Lindberg, President of the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) told the Piney Woods Journal at his office in Kenner, Louisiana. "We have 24 technical seminars scheduled plus some special quest speakers for the Expo on the agenda."

"The year 2000 was a busy but productive year for our organization and 2001 is shaping up the same way," Lindberg pointed out. "Last October we had a Southern Pine Reunion in the New Orleans Fairmont Hotel where the Southern Forest Products Association held their first meeting 85 years ago. We had 18 of the Association's past chairmen and presidents in attendance plus 223 other members. It was really a grand time. Many of our younger Board members and officers prior to the reunion didn't really know some of the outstanding people who have served in the SFPA as Chairman and officers."

"Karl and I are the now the old graybeards in the organization," noted Lionel Landry, the Expo show Director who also doubles as Secretary of the SFPA founded in 1915. "Karl has been with the Southern Forest Products Association for nearly half those 85 years, and I've been with the Association for nearly 30 years. The 2001 Expo will be the twelfth Expo for which I have been Show Director."

"Our '99 Expo, which was the largest and best Expo exposition of forest products machinery, technology, and equipment that SFPA has conducted to date, will be hard to surpass but we have some new things added,'' Landry explained to the Journal about the Expo which is the largest of its kind in North America. ``Expo 2001, which is our 26th, will be held in cooperation with the APA which is the Engineered Wood Association. Among the nearly 500 exhibitors who will be set up in the 220,000 square feet of the Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center, will be exhibits of equipment and services of the structural panel and engineered wood products industries."

The SFPA expects more than 13,000 people to attend the giant three-day Expo beginning on July 19 and ending Saturday afternoon on July 21, to see what's in store for the forest industry in technology for the 21st Century. Some 12,500 attendees registered during the 1999 Expo and over 12,000 for the 1997 Expo.

Of particular interest to the logging industry is Logging Seminar number five which will be conducted on Saturday morning July 21 beginning at 9:00 a.m.

The seminar, titled "Protecting The Family Business" will be conducted by Dr. Robert Tufts of the Auburn University. Loggers attending this seminar will receive one hour credit for Continuing Logger Education and one hour credit for Continuing Forest Education.

All six of the Logging Seminars will give the attendees the same hours of Continuing Education credits which includes Seminar number one on Master Logger Certification, presented by Cheryl Russell and Don Peterson of the American Loggers Council at 1 p.m. on Friday, July 20.

Dr. Bobby Lanford of Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife will present the second and sixth Logging Seminars. Seminar number two starting at 1:30 p.m. on Friday will focus on "Harvest Planning and Layout," while Seminar number six at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning will take an in-depth look at Cut-To-Length Operations.
The other two logging seminars will be conducted on Friday afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m. John Auel of Mississippi State School of Forestry will present a look at Harvest Planning and Layout, and Chris Isaacson with Preceda Education and Training will discuss Industry Certification.

Lindberg, the longtime CEO of the Association, also pointed out to the Journal, ``Informing people around the world about the superiority of Southern Pine was our key focus in 2000. We added six new publications to our library plus we staffed exhibits at 22 trade shows here in the States and exhibited our Southern Pine at 21 trade shows internationally.''

Over 1,800 people toured the unique SPC exhibit during the giant National Association of Home Builders International Builders' show in Dallas. The SFPA operated with an actual budget of $3.527 million budget in 2000. The approved SFPA budget for 2001 excluding the Expo is $3,775,744.00.

"New for us in 2000 was the BBC Gardener's World trade show in the United Kingdom where we touted pressure-treated Southern Pine decking for their growing decking market," Lindberg noted. "The SFPA staff also conducted 139 Southern Pine seminars in 2000 which were attended by more than 5,000 professionals and students."

The SFPA's extensive library already had more than 100 publications in circulation prior to the addition of the six new publications in 2000. The six new additions were Post-Frame Construction Guide; Pressure-Treated Southern Pine; SFPA Buyer's Guide; Southern Pine Use Guide; Garden and Outdoor Idea Book; and International Buyer's Guide
Thirteen of the SFPA publications have been translated into seven different languages and distributed around the world. One of the first foreign languages into which SFPA publications were translated was Japanese, due to the huge Japanese demand for the structurally superior Southern Pine lumber. The Japanese fun and game industries have several roller-coasters built from Southern Pine timbers.

The 139 Southern Pine seminars conducted by SFPA staff members included five Wood Solution fairs that reached 1,737 architects, engineers, and code officials and 16 University Wood seminars that attracted 955 college students. Also included in the SFPA Seminar agenda were five all-day Permanent Wood Foundation seminars held in the upper Midwest that attracted more than 400 builders, remodelers, architects, and code officials.

In addition the busy 2000 SFPA promotional schedule included five full-day Wood and Water Marine Construction seminars highlighting design innovations using treated Southern Pine to which some 300 professionals attended. Around the globe, the Kenner, Louisiana based SFPA held 61 seminars in key export markets.

Some 1,200 importers and wood specifiers attended these Southern Pine export events. SFPA also launched its first-ever series of seminars in Spain aimed at convincing resort developers to specify pressured-treated Southern Pine.

In its New Orleans area home base, the SFPA worked with New Orleans native musician/actor Harry Connick, Jr. to co-sponsor two Habitat For Humanity homes built with treated Southern Pine framing lumber. "Our Southern Forest products are in a global competition not only with Canadian but South American, Australian, and Russian forest products," Lindberg emphasized. "The competition that our industry is getting internationally is not always fair. Our USA markets are basically open for their products but our products face some pretty high tariffs going into foreign countries."

"Our emphasis is to find true `niche markets' for our Southern Pine," Lindberg explained. "Most of the South American softwood has such rapid growth that it loses its strength for structural and treated materials."
"Our main objective here at SFPA," Lindberg said, "is to promote the use of Southern Pine lumber. We have member mills and companies all through out the country but our big budget event is the Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition held every two years that enables us to promote Southern Pine year-round around the globe."

Lionel Landry, the Expo Show Director preparing for his 12th Expo as Director pointed out, "We only hold the Expo every other year because we have found that technology in the forest industry changes and upgrades on about a two-year cycle. Even with the Expo held every other year, the Expo keeps me and some staff people very busy almost year around. There are maybe six months out of every two years that I'm not totally focused on the next Expo."

Lindberg, in relating to current Southern Pine markets said "The pressure-treated market is still real strong for us due in part to the Formosan termite problem and some new FEMA flood insurance regulations that required houses in flood-prone areas to have a four foot elevation. We do extensive training and promotion about the Formosan termite and the use of treated Southern Pine."

"We know that the engineered wood products market is still strong everywhere as well as specialty markets for Southern Pine," Lindberg noted. "IP has one mill in Georgia that uses only pine logs with tip diameters between 6.2 inches and 8.0 inches to cut exclusively 2x4's. These 2x4 are then shipped to the truss market down in Florida which I think qualifies as a real `niche' market."

Some of the other technical seminars on the Expo 2001 Seminar Agenda range from "E-Commerce: What is it and Where is it going?" presented by Professor Rich Vlosky of LSU-Baton Rouge to "Designing Wood-Fired Boilers For Low Emissions," "Bark-On versus Bark-Off Scanning/The Real Facts," "Increasing Employee Retention, Commitment, and Performance," and "Machine Grading of Dimension Lumber."

Several downtown area Atlanta hotels near the World Congress Center location for Expo 2001 are offering special Expo room rates. For Hotel reservations for Expo 2001 you can call 800-243-1588 or go on-line at www.sfpa.org/expo. Deadline for special Expo hotel rooms rates is June 20, 2001.

For more information about EXPO 2001 or advanced registration, you can write Expo 2001 at P.O. Box 641700, Kenner, Louisiana 70064 or call 504-443-4464 or fax 504-443-6612.