Distinctive Homes of West Coast Lumber; Designed for Better Living
Publisher: West Coast Lumbermen's Association
Published: 1960
Language: eng
Number of pages: 22
Subjects: West Coast Lumber Manufacturers Association; Pacific Coast Lumber Manufacturers Association; Southwest Washington Lumber Manufacturers Association; Oregon and Washington Lumber Manufacturers Association; West Coast Lumbermen's Association; WCLA; William B. Greeley; lumber producation; prefabrication; James Stevens; Douglas fir; National Lumber Manufacturers Association; NLMA; West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau; WCLIB; Industrial Forestry Association; IFA; Western Pine Association; Western Wood Products Association; WWPA; West Coast Lumber; dwellings; homes; residences; families; floor plans; blueprints; house plans; domestic architecture; George Munger; James C. Gardiner; architect; architects; Mort Helper; Walter Gordon; Monel L. Angelikes; house design; Ernest Born; Paul Wallwork; Richard Marlett; Glen Johnson 
Description: <div>From archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv46891 : <br /></div><div>"The West Coast Lumber Manufacturers Association was incorporated in
		  1911 in Centralia, Wash., with the merger of the Pacific Coast Lumber
		  Manufacturers Association, the Southwest Washington Lumber Manufacturers
		  Association, and the Oregon and Washington Lumber Manufacturers Association.
		  The new trade association, headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., represented the
		  Douglas fir industry, then centered in western Washington. By 1916 the
		  organization had become the West Coast Lumbermen's Assocation (WCLA), and its
		  offices moved to Seattle, Wash.
<div class="top_bioghist top_bioghist-content"><p>By the 1920s, the WCLA had become an important representative for
		  manufacturers of Douglas fir, West Coast hemlock, Western red cedar, and Sitka
		  spruce wood products. In 1928, Colonel William B. Greeley, former chief of the
		  U.S. Forest Service, became the Secretary-Manager of the organization. His
		  reforms brought loggers, wood preservation plants, mill-work plants and other
		  related branches of the industry together into a stronger association. During
		  the 1920s and 1930s, the center of lumber production gradually shifted from
		  Washington to Oregon, and in 1946 the WCLA transferred its headquarters to
		  Portland, Or.</p>
<p>The WCLA was incorporated under the laws of Washington as a stock
		  corporation, with member companies each holding one share. Membership in the
		  association was entirely voluntary. For decades the association was supported
		  by dues assessed on logs and/or lumber produced by member companies. In 1949,
		  the WCLA dues structure was changed to one based solely on lumber
		  production.</p>
<p>The WCLA provided many services to its member companies, one of the
		  most important being the rationalization of the largely chaotic West Coast
		  lumber industry during the 1910s and 1920s. As the industry evolved, the
		  association's activities became more sophisticated, and by the 1950s the WCLA
		  supported its members in many ways. The Traffic Department negotiated with
		  railroad, trucking and shipping lines for favorable freight rates. The
		  Statistical Department produced regular reports about conditions within the
		  West Coast lumber industry. The Accounting Service assisted member companies
		  with accounting, cost analysis, and taxation problems. The Promotion Department
		  produced literature and advertising publications, newspaper and radio spots,
		  motion pictures, and a membership directory to market the products of the West
		  Coast lumber industry. The Technical Service Department, staffed by engineers,
		  conducted research to develop new and improved uses for West Coast lumber
		  products and produced publications such as the 
		<i>Douglas Fir Use Book</i>. The Public Relations
		Department produced stories and news releases about the positive impact of the
		lumber industry on the economy of the Pacific Northwest and attempted to
		counter negative publicity. James Stevens, Public Relations Counsel of the WCLA
		and author of stories about the legend of Paul Bunyan, produced hundreds of
		issues of 
		<i>Out of the Woods</i>, a newspaper column about
		conditions within the industry. The Educational Program Department, which was
		closely related to Public Relations, provided literature, slides, filmstrips
		and motion pictures to schools.</p>
<p>The WCLA worked closely with the National Lumber Manufacturers
		  Association (NLMA) and other regional and national organizations to advance the
		  interests of the lumber industry. The West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau
		  (WCLIB), a separate but closely allied organization to the WCLA, established
		  standard lumber grading rules, maintained uniform grades, trained and
		  supervised mill graders, licensed mills to use official grade stamps, and
		  issued Certificates of Inspection when requested. The WCLIB concentrated on
		  rail and truck shipments in the domestic and export markets. Another closely
		  allied organization, the Industrial Forestry Association (IFA), promoted forest
		  conservation practices through educational and public relations activities and
		  served as the certifying agency of the tree farm program in the Douglas fir
		  region of western Oregon and western Washington.</p>
<p>By the early 1960s, business leaders determined that a stronger
		  regional association was needed in the face of growing national and
		  international competition in the lumber industry. In 1964, the West Coast
		  Lumbermen's Association merged with the Western Pine Association (WPA), a trade
		  association which represented lumber interests east of the Cascade Mountains in
		  Oregon, Washington and California. A new organization, the Western Wood
		  Products Association (WWPA), was formed from this union, and in 1969 the WCLA
		  was dissolved as a corporation."</p>
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