Environmental Whacko's

We are now recieving plans to bid on for major projects that have specs requiring ''Old Growth Timber Only''. We have seen these ever so often over the last few years but are now becoming almost common place. Usually these also require a moisture content of 7 to 9% in all lumber used........really......No....really, lol.

Here is why this is SOOOOOOOOOOO Stupid.
1. When the Trusses or Wall panels yada yada do show up, whom will be the braniac to determine if it is said Old growth Timber. Is their a way to tell...Yes but most people don't know how and it's certainly not an exact science by any stretch.
2. No Mills that are currently supplying basic framing materials are strickly cutting Old Growth. Can it be purchased...Yes but it's higher than Michelle Obama's dentist bill and VERY hard to get. Also there is really no way to Vet it once it shows up.
3. Moisture content 7 to 9%, LOL....Well first off that is WAAAAY to low for building materials. Your house at home on interior members have barely dried to that amount and only if you have a very arrid climate in your house. Building with materials that dry half will break during construction and half later....really BAD IDEA. Why do they spec this, because of the Mold hysteria that is running rampid. Mold will not grow on building materials until it reaches a mositure level of 20% and higher and must sustain that for several days to at times weeks. Most all lumber is Kiln dried to 19%. They do this because that is the optimal number to use and then let dry later to achieve a desired level of MC.

This country is going to Hell and run by morons. This naturalist tree hugging crap is going full on NUTS. Pretty soon Barry will sign a bill and we will all be pulling boats with Clysdale's or Prius. No wait the Clysdale's make Methane gas... so thats definately out to..............What a joke!!!!

It never ceases to amaze me anymore. Actually I always assumed that companies replanted trees so they can harvest them again in years down the road so they were actually farming their crops so to speak. If not they could cut them selves out of business by not replanting.
If it's anything like what I deal with on proving we meet the spec on jobs then it's a paperwork nightmare. Buy USA product jobs are nice to see but man do you know how hard it is to find some of the electronic parts we use that are made in the USA....at a decent price?? It is tough.

[QUOTE=DJD;524038]It never ceases to amaze me anymore. Actually I always assumed that companies replanted trees so they can harvest them again in years down the road so they were actually farming their crops so to speak. If not they could cut them selves out of business by not replanting.
If it's anything like what I deal with on proving we meet the spec on jobs then it's a paperwork nightmare. Buy USA product jobs are nice to see but man do you know how hard it is to find some of the electronic parts we use that are made in the USA....at a decent price?? It is tough.[/QUOTE]

And you assumed right my friend. There are more harvestable trees today than 50 years ago....By FAR. Complete clear cutting is all but over, now they circle cut, you start at one end of forests and re-plant as they are cut by the time you make it around you have the same amount again that has re-grown. Responsible foresting is alive and well in America and is actually something most of the bigger companies get right......:)

All that said though I am not a fan of juvenile growth cut, ''less than 5 to 7 years old'' makes for poor quality of lumber and alot of the low end stuff you buy at the big box stores....:(

[QUOTE=mhall;524025]We are now recieving plans to bid on for major projects that have specs requiring ''Old Growth Timber Only''. We have seen these ever so often over the last few years but are now becoming almost common place. Usually these also require a moisture content of 7 to 9% in all lumber used........really......No....really, lol.

Here is why this is SOOOOOOOOOOO Stupid.
1. When the Trusses or Wall panels yada yada do show up, whom will be the braniac to determine if it is said Old growth Timber. Is their a way to tell...Yes but most people don't know how and it's certainly not an exact science by any stretch.
2. No Mills that are currently supplying basic framing materials are strickly cutting Old Growth. Can it be purchased...Yes but it's higher than Michelle Obama's dentist bill and VERY hard to get. Also there is really no way to Vet it once it shows up.
3. Moisture content 7 to 9%, LOL....Well first off that is WAAAAY to low for building materials. Your house at home on interior members have barely dried to that amount and only if you have a very arrid climate in your house. Building with materials that dry half will break during construction and half later....really BAD IDEA. Why do they spec this, because of the Mold hysteria that is running rampid. Mold will not grow on building materials until it reaches a mositure level of 20% and higher and must sustain that for several days to at times weeks. Most all lumber is Kiln dried to 19%. They do this because that is the optimal number to use and then let dry later to achieve a desired level of MC.

This country is going to Hell and run by morons. This naturalist tree hugging crap is going full on NUTS. Pretty soon Barry will sign a bill and we will all be pulling boats with Clysdale's or Prius. No wait the Clysdale's make Methane gas... so thats definately out to..............What a joke!!!![/QUOTE]

I not following you. It's my understanding that the tree huggers don't want the old growth forests cut down. So why would a tree hugger promote cutting down and using old growth forest for building materials?

I'd venture to say that people who favor cutting down the old growth forest trees are in it for the money and could care less about the forest other than they they want to use it to make money. The smart money people want to sustain the old growth forest for later use. So the do selective cutting forestry instead of clear cutting. It cost more but it preserves some of the three for later use and helps maintain the forest.

I've read that 200 years ago a gray squirrel could move across the Eastern USA from the East Coast to the Mississippi River without touching the ground as there were so many trees covering the Eastern Part of the USA back then.

We have more people now and less forests.

I guess one could ID the type of wood by looking at the wood under a microscope and checking out the cell structures. I know at the school I went to they teach courses in Dendrology and teach the students how to identify different types of trees by the bark so that they can ID deciduous trees in the winter months when they don't have any leaves on the trees.

These days most of the trees that are grown for lumber are faster growing species like pines. White Pine forests are grown for timber as they grow much faster than an Oak tree or a Hickory tree.

If you find a old mature walnut tree save it as it's probably valuable for it's lumber.