Grow More Trees, Use More Wood.

UP TO 15 YEARS ago, Patrick Moore was one of the forest industry's harshest critics. As a founder and leader of Greenpeace, Moore regularly challenged logging practices and their impact on the environment.

"I used to wake up every morning being against three or four things," Moore said. Then one day, he said, "I decided it was time to be for something for a change."

Moore resigned from Greenpeace in 1986 and began what he calls "an intense 10-year study of forest issues to determine the myth versus the reality." Now he is on the lecture circuit promoting his book, "Green Spirit: Trees Are the Answer." The book details his thoughts on how to use the worlds' forests in ways that balance environmental and social-economic issues.

Moore's main message -- because forests are renewable, we should grow more trees and use more wood -- won over a crowd of more than 300 members attending the annual joint spring meeting of the Composite Panel Assn. and Composite Wood Council, April 7-10 in Lake Buena Vista, FL. His presentation included dozens of before-and-after photos of forests that had been clear cut or destroyed by fire or natural disaster only to regenerate and thrive again.

Moore says science can be used to help improve on nature's rebirth of forests, much in the same way that modern agricultural practices help farmers reap far more crops per acre than what used to be possible. To illustrate this point, Moore showed a slide focusing on the borderline between forests owned by the U.S. government and Weyerhaeuser Corp. that were devastated by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The contrast is remark able. On one side is Weyerhaeuser's lush, green forest fostered back to life by man using silva culture techniques. On the other side, is the government's left-to-fend for-itself forest looking little different than it did in the wake of Mount St. Helen's mega blast -- still as gray as the moon's surface.

"We need to give people a new pair of eyes for how they see what is around them," Moore said. "People need to be educated about deforestation and forest renewal." He added, "Growing more trees and using more wood is the most powerful tool for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and the threat of climate change."

An Echoing Thought

Moore's name and beliefs resurfaced three weeks later and 3,000 miles away at the Wood Industry Conference, April 25-28 in Carlsbad, CA.

Kelly McCloskey, president and CEO of the fledging Wood Promotion Network, invoked Moore's name while explaining the WPN's mission and plans to a delegation of woodworking machinery manufacturers, importers and distributors.

McCloskey said Moore is a spokesman for the group, which hopes to raise $45 million to fund a three-year television, billboard and print advertising campaign aimed at getting contractors and consumers to choose wood over materials like steel and concrete for home construction and other uses. (See story on page 13.)

McCloskey said the WPN has a two-pronged attack for telling "the greatest story never told," namely that wood is a superior building product and forests are abundant and renewable. Unfortunately, he said, research indicates that the U.S public does not share these views. He rattled off three bullet points from the research:

1. Two-thirds of consumers do not think wood is better than steel for home construction.

2. Three-fourths of consumers think we are running out of trees.

3. One-half of consumers feel guilt over logging forests for wood use.

McCloskey said the WPN has raised $12.5 million so far for its "Be Constructive" campaign via contributions from 145 companies. The vast majority of the charter contributors have a vested interest in the continued use of softwood for home and building construction. Financial supporters also include several of large private forest owners that also manufacture industrial particleboard and MDF, as well as a handful of hardwood-based trade associations.

In spite of the emphasis on wood as a construction material, McCloskey said he hopes other wood groups and companies, including those involved in the furniture and cabinet trades, will recognize the downstream benefits of a campaign aimed at getting people to feel good about using more wood.

"If this doesn't succeed this time, I can't imagine developing a coalition of this breadth again in the near future,"

McCloskey said.