I am optimistic that the removal of the quota will improve the situation for all of us. In closing, I would like to return to a comment that I made earlier - that annual housing starts would average 1.6 million in the upcoming decade. For that to happen, the underlying economy would have to be very healthy. Those are the conditions that favor the building products business. In spite of the new substitute products, the encroachment of offshore products, and accelerating innovation, the lumber segment will continue to be important.
Demand is just too great to be fulfilled without a large component of traditional lumber products.
But we will just have to work smarter. The successful operator will look beyond the old dynamics of supply and demand. The successful operator will find and serve new, niche markets, will integrate forward into building systems, will demonstrate environmental responsibility, and will provide new services to his customers and to his customers' customers.