The Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce believes that a key component to economic development is affordable and ample housing. One way that the State of Alaska and our local municipalities can help to drive our economies is to move forward quickly to implement a local lumber grading system. As mentioned by the Frontiersman in September of 2022:
“It costs Alaskans $20 million a year to import lumber, mostly from Canada, that has the quality inspection stamps required by lending institutions who finance most home and building construction.
Alaska has a lot of trees, and also small local sawmills that need customers. Ironically, the lack of a state lumber inspection and certification program forces Alaska builders to import lumber from places out-of-state where the certifications can be done, and that adds to costs.”
“The Local Use Lumber program will increase the use of Alaskan lumber in Alaskan markets, create family wage jobs, and contribute to self-sufficient and thriving economies in rural parts of the state.”
Current residential building codes like the 2018 International Residential Code requires that lumber be graded into quality categories by one of the six associations that publish grading rules for softwood dimensional lumber, to ensure that dimensional lumber can withstand the stresses of loadbearing parts of a structure. To meet current building codes, Alaska imports about $20 million annually in wood products from Canada, much of that in dimensional lumber, the state forestry division reported
Under a local certification program, small sawmill operators would independently inspect their product to confirm it meets the necessary specifications for construction, save cost-prohibitive membership fees for certifying agencies, and access a larger market for the rough-cut dimensional lumber that they produce. The program could also support rural Alaskan communities in particular moving from cash-only purchases to financing quality, reliable housing like the rest of the state.
Seven other states have Local Use Lumber laws or regulations. The Alaska concept is a voluntary program with the State creating regulations, and municipalities that determine building codes able to “opt in” to allow the use of local lumber.
The Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce is strongly in favor of this and once again urges our state and local municipalities to support this as well by ensuring local sawmills can grade their own lumber and therefore grow our economy.
Sincerely,
Michelle O’Brien
Executive Director
The Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce
Submitted at the request of the Board of Directors