Mat-Su State Rep. Jesse Sumner (R-Wasilla) and State Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, have teamed up on new legislation that would allow Alaskan sawmill operators to be state-certified to produce and grade dimensional lumber for use in residential construction.
Bjorkman’s Senate Bill 87 was introduced in the Senate last Friday while Sumner’s House Bill 93 was introduced Monday in the House.
The bills, which have bipartisan cosponsors, would allow the Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, to establish a local use lumber program that could grade lumber for construction in classifications similar to those used in existing private wood products certification programs.
The DNR had been working to set up a local lumber certification program administratively but having it authorized in statute is much better, said Jeremy Douse, Northern Region Forester at the Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection. Douse is based in Fairbanks.
“Growing Alaska’s timber sector will provide permanent, stable, family-wage jobs in rural communities and villages and strengthen and diversify local economies,” Sumner said.
Andrew Traxler, a sawmill owner in Big Lake, said: “The local lumber grading program will lower the barrier for entry to create new sawmills. These sawmills can serve as a catalyst to increase investment in forest management and help build the timber sector statewide,” Traxler said.
Alaska is struggling to meet housing shortages across the state, made worse by the significant increase in the cost of construction materials and lag time due to supply chain issues.
Currently, dimensional lumber used in construction must be graded and stamped by third-party grading agencies in order to meet lender requirements and building codes.
“Allowing for local lumber grading in Alaska will create economic opportunities for small businesses, provide an opportunity for Alaskans to purchase local products, and perhaps offer building materials at a lower cost than dimensional lumber from the lower 48,” Bjorkman said.
“It will also encourage higher value-added use of materials harvested from forest thinning and hazardous fuels reduction projects that would otherwise be piled and burned,” he said.
Under HB 93 and SB 87, locally-milled dimensional lumber that conforms to the DNR’s substitute equivalents for industry forest products grading standards, such as the Western Wood Products Association, could be sold directly to an end user such as a building owner, or to a contractor, for use in residential structures with up to three units.
“A local use lumber program will enhance Alaska’s forest products industry and reduce the state’s heavy reliance on dimensional lumber from the Pacific Northwest and Canada,” said Douse, the northern region forester.
Some Alaska sawmills already grade their products using industry association standards, Douse said, but several small mills, particularly in rural areas, do not. A new state lumber quality grading program would sllow these mills to widen their customer base.
“By utilizing local timber, we’re keeping Alaskan loggers at work, creating opportunities for Alaskan mill owners, resolving supply chain issues for Alaskan construction companies, and expanding the local forest industry that already exists in our state,” Douse said.
The greatest beneficiaries of the program would be regions off the road system and that have a timber supply, he said. The ability to mill and use locally produced dimensional lumber can provide a substantial reduction in construction costs, helping meet housing needs in rural communities with quality housing.
The Kuskokwim Corporation, for example, has been working with the Alaska Cold Climate Research Center in Fairbanks on a heat-efficient kit house that could use wood products harvested in the region and would incorporate locally produced dimensional lumber, if the legislation passes.
SB 87 is a necessary first step. However, there will still be restrictions that will require other in-state authorities to allow for the use of locally graded lumber in residential construction.
The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation has adopted the International Residential Code to govern financing, and the AHFC Board would need to adopt a code exemption in order to finance homes that are built with locally graded lumber.
Also, local governments that have a building code that covers residential structures would need to adopt code exemptions for self-graded lumber to allow its use.
If the legislation passes DNR would set up the local-use program and also provide free one-day classes. Sawmill operators who successfully complete the class would be certified to self-grade and sell dimensional lumber that they produce for five years, under the legislation.
Sumner’s HB 93 has four cosponsors in the House including Mat-Su legislators Reps. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, and Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, as well as Anchorage’s Rep, Zack Fields, a Democrat, and Rep. Damn Ortiz of Ketchikan, an independent.
Bjorkman’s SB 87, in the Senate, has two cosponsors including Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak and Anchorage Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat.
