A visit to the Sierra Forest Products lumber mill, Terra Bella, CA

by BT

I was recently afforded the opportunity to visit the Sierra Forest Products lumber mill in Terra Bella, CA. Following our tour group through the facility, I snapped photographs and listened to the operators describe their work. It took almost five minutes for our guide, the facility's general manager, to reach the point in his introductory speech where he blames the Clinton years and associated forest protection legislation for hardships within the lumber industry. He cited how it was during those dark years that the US forest service lost its status as forest pimp---no longer permitted to sell the trees under its stewardship to lumber companies. A sense of state pride not felt in a long time welled up inside me when he complained that California has the strictest forest protection laws in the world. This welcoming chat, set among some recent arrivals---most infected with a fungus that dramatically degrades the log's quality and value, culminated with the heartbreaking admission that, "the logs get smaller every year."

Deep inside the mill's dark interior, every moment was permeated by the hellish sounds of giant band saws and the regular release of pressurized gas. We observed the "product" at various stages along its way through a maze of steel blades and conveyor belts that transform round logs into various rectangular shapes with remarkable speed and efficiency. Human decisions, in a large part, have been removed from the process of determining how to most profitably cut each log. Apparently computers armed with lasers are better at such things.

I noticed the shattered glass of the booth protecting one saw operator from an incessant stream of partially cut logs marching his way. "The big ones kick sometimes," he said with a reassuring tone while skillfully maneuvering each plank into place, readying them for yet another series of cuts. He paused only briefly to describe the time a giant log came through the glass and landed between his legs. I couldn't help but imagine it was the log's final attempt to resist becoming part of a new southern California subdivision.

Later in the tour there was the room we passed through briefly where one rather large saw blade was being sharpened---re-cut actually, one tooth at a time. The room was filled with the smell of burning metal and the automatic blade sharpening device was sending periodic showers of sparks to the floor.

By the time we reemerged into daylight, I had the feeling that the operators of the Sierra Forest Products lumber mill could see the dim light of mill closure at the end of the hollow log---even suggesting they might not be around this time next year because, "you just never know in this business." I guess it's tough to turn twigs into 2x4s. Strangely, they seemed almost resigned to this inevitable fate.

But for now it is predominately business as usual. Saws rip logs along lines calculated by sophisticated computer programs, waste material is used to generate heat energy, and 20 flatbed semis leave the mill's gates every day with products bound for who knows where. I pictured some units headed for China where the wood would be further reduced to number two pencils, cheerfully painted yellow and ready for the US market---thousands of miniature versions of the giants that began the process.

Possibly the most telling statement I heard all day came as the answer to a friend's inquiry regarding the prevalence of airborne wood particles in the facility, and the staff's conspicuous lack of respiratory protection: "Well, technically it's toxic… but I've never had a problem with it." At that moment, when I could almost see the cancer developing in his lungs, I realized that it's in this society's nature to ignore a problem until its associated symptoms become intolerable and compel action. I've always been uncomfortable with the assertion that trees are a renewable resource. Sure, more can be grown, but if demand outpaces the speed at which this resource renews itself, then you'll eventually hit a wall. This fact suggests something disturbing about the lumber industry in its current form. The resource it depends upon could eventually become exhausted, leading to a long list of negative implications. An industry that fails to recognize basic limits to growth is…well, technically it's toxic.