At the recent WMMA committee meetings the feeling was that possible combustible dust legislation may be the most critical issue from Washington facing the woodworking industry.

At the meeting, WMMA members talked about which issues they wanted to emphasize during planned visits to their representatives and senators in February. Incidents in many industries including woodworking are behind the interest in this rulemaking both at OSHA and in Congress. A possible regulation could be very expensive. We will be covering this issue further as it unfolds.

Forest warm-up will cause many changes

My aunt and uncle were in town over the weekend and we had a nice visit. My uncle is a longtime plant geneticist for the forest service and is still working on several projects although he is retired. He is working on models of what the forests will look like as global warming continues. He sees dramatic changes in all species as soon as 2030, especially in Alaska and the western U.S. These changes will affect all types of trees, but some species such as Aspen may be affected sooner. By 2050 we may be worried more about ourselves than about trees as water shortages become more common.