Timber Bulletin May/Jun - Minnesota Forest Industries

Boe, Mill PresentationsHighlight TPA Annual MeetingTPA Executive Vice President Wayne Brandt gives his Annual Report on association activities to the TPA AnnualMembership Meeting, including events in the industry over the past year and an outline of the 2013 legislative session.TPA ‘s Annual Meeting istraditionally a place where memberscan have access to information andpresentations about Minnesota’sforest products industry they can’tget anywhere else, and the 2013Annual Meeting didn’t disappoint.This year’s session at Ruttger’sSugar Lake Lodge featured apresentation from TPA ExecutiveVice President Wayne Brandt onthe association’s accomplishmentsover the past 12 months, as wellas a panel discussion featuringrepresentatives from severalconsuming mills on markets and thestate of the industry. In addition,DNR Division of Forestry DirectorForrest Boe gave a presentation onhis first year on the job, Sue Burksof the DNR shared the latest on aproposal to combat the gypsy mothin Minnesota’s state forests, andRebecca Barnard of the DNR thedepartment’s view of the SFI andFSC certification programs.Annual Report ofAssociation ActivitiesIt was a critical year forMinnesota’s Logging Community,which had to adjust to severalbig developments, not all of thempositive: closures at the Verso andGeorgia Pacific mills, layoffs atBoise in International Falls, andblowdown events in the Bemidjiand Deer River areas. Thesedevelopments and others resulted inmeetings with Minnesota Gov. MarkDayton and his staff, and a seriesof articles in the Minneapolis StarTribune on the state of the industry.The news wasn’t all bad. Sappicompleted a mill conversion thatwill enable the company to makespecialized cellulose in addition topaper and ensure the mill’s viabilityfor years to come.The elections of 2012 flippedcontrol of both houses of theMinnesota Legislature to theDFL. Brandt and the TPA staffworked with the legislature andthe governor on several pieces oflegislation that will help the state’stimber industry. Among them:• Increased funding for the DNR’sDivision of Forestry• Revisions to state law affectingtimber sales and other DNRoperations• Relief for those holding statepermits that contain balsam firDetails on these pieces oflegislation are contained in a fullreport on the 2013 legislative sessionelsewhere in this issue of the TimberBulletin.In addition, Brandt outlined asampling of the other TPA activitiesof the past year, including:• Work with the DNR on thetopics of Extended RotationForestry (ERF) and RotationAges• Completion of the ForestManagement GuidelineRevision Process• Maintaining the $1 million capon mandated insurance liabilityin St. Louis County• Approval of County ForestManagement Plan in HubbardCountyFeatured SpeakersFour representatives fromMinnesota mills – Potlatch MillManager Pete Aube, NorbordWood Procurement ManagerJerry Richards, Boise WoodlandsManager Dan Toivonen, andSappi Manager of Wood FiberProcurement Gary Erickson –discussed their views on the stateof the industry and the health of14Timber Bulletin May/June 2013