Oklahoma Division News
Message from the Louisiana Forestry Association, September 1, 2005: Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts Underway
The top priority in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is search and rescue. Assessing the damage and impact on the forests and industry will take place after the evacuees are secure and the dead are recovered. This could take many more days. There will be a tremendous need for the expertise and generosity of the forest community in the weeks and months ahead. The outpouring of offers to help is humbling.
Today, the best advice is to Sit Tight and prepare to be called upon.
It will be imperative for our support efforts to be coordinated so we make the greatest impact with the resources we have. Sitting tight right now may be the hardest thing to do after watching all the suffering on the television but it is the best advice. In preparation for our relief efforts the following issues need to be addressed: Prepare for a surge in salvageable timber.
Early reports from observers indicate forests completely leveled in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi. Can harvest contracts for standing timber be delayed and preparations made for salvaged wood? Are trucks, railcars, and barges available? Knowing that prices will fall due to the surge in salvageable material, fair prices to landowners, loggers, and shippers are critical. If your mill produces consumer products like paper towels, napkins, paper plates and bathroom tissue, have your supplies ready to go when called upon. Logging equipment, bulldozers, excavators, etc. will be needed to push, pull, drag, or cut debris out of roads, bayous, and forests. There is a shortage of such equipment since local machinery has been damaged or made unusable. Portable gas and diesel fuel tanks will be needed for immediate deployment in forest communities. Washington lawmakers, state officials, EPA, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, etc. need to relax weight laws on highways, allow off-road fuel on highways, and permit greater use of wood fuels and alternative fuels in our mills. If fuel rationing is implemented, priority must be given to loggers and manufacturing operations that keep the economy rolling and producing products needed for rebuilding.
Distribution centers for forest products should be informed that fair prices for our products are always encouraged and that price gouging is unacceptable. Making cash donations to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, churches and other organizations is always welcomed. We are investigating setting up a forest industry fund to direct donations to critically impacted forest related communities. This is not available at this time. In light of all the destruction and devastation, this will be the forest community's finest hour in restoring life and economy to our communities. For further information, contact the Louisiana Forestry Association, 318.443.2558, lfa@laforestry.com. "Buck" Vandersteen, Executive Director, Louisiana Forestry Association