The Australian government should create a national plan for plantations and renew existing regional forest agreements to ensure the timber industry\'s future, a federal parliamentary inquiry has found.

This approach should include whether Australia should aim for wood supply \"self-sufficiency\", an issue of importance for Australia\'s construction industry.

\"Self-sufficiency would see the timber industry make a greater contribution to the construction industry as demands rises for building materials with low embedded energy, such as timber,\" the commitee noted. \" It would also reduce reliance on wood sourced from foreign sources, which are often less regulated and environmentally damaging.\"

Despite calls from environmentalists to abolish the regional forest agreements, the committee said the RFA;s should be reviewed, improved and extended.

They provided some certainty for both conservation and wood supply. read more smh.com.au

The three days of international meeting of the INAFOR (International Forestry Researchers (INAFOR) held in Bogor, West Java was officially opened by the Indonesia’s Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

Hosted at the International Convention Center of IPB ( Boger Institute of Agriculture), attended by over  500 Indonesian and foreign forestry researchers.

The international meeting themed \"Strengthening Forest Science and Technology for Better Forestry Development\", the Anatara news agency reported.

IUFRO  a non-profit, non-governmental international network of forest scientists, which encourage global teamwork in forest -related study and increase  the ecological, economic, forests , trees and community consciousness.

Following Brazil and the Congo, Indonesia has the world\'s largest forests area. More at woodandpanel.com

Sales of newly built, single -family homes inched up 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 units in October, according to newly released data from the U.S. Commerce Department. The gain is from a downwardly revised rate in the previous month, and marks the best pace of new-home sales activity since this May.

\" Builders have been seeing some marginal improvement in sales activity over the past few months, particular in select markets where consumer confidence is higher due to improved economic conditions, \" said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. \" While this trend is encouraging, overall sales activity is still well below normal due to the effects of overly tight credit conditions for builders and buyers, the continued flow of distressed properties on the market, and inaccurate appraisal values on new homes.\"

Regionally, new-home sales held unchanged in the Northeast and gained 22.2 percent in the Midwest and 14.9 percent in the West in October. The South was the only region to post a decline , of 9.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the nationwide inventory of new homes for sale held at the all-time record low of just 162,000 units in October, which is a 6.3-month supply at the current sales pace.  Nov. 28, 2011 -naha.com

Howard Paul has long been a guitar hero to jazz musicians. Paul could soon be hailed by the musical masses, albeit unintentionally.

Paul, the president of Savannah-based Benedetto Guitars, is among a group of members of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) pushing for legislative changes to the Lacey Act.

The law prohibits the importation, exportation, selling or purchasing of woods and plants that violate U.S. or foreign law and has been a source of controversy since federal law enforcement used it as a basis for raiding two Gibson Guitar factories in August.

Paul and his peers with NAMM are lobbying in favor of a bill known as House Resolution 3210. It would grant relief to musicians, instrument makers and antique collectors who took possession of materials potentially in violation of the Lacey Act prior to May 2008, when the law was expanded to included wood products.

The way the law reads now, any person or company in possession of imported wood must have documentation proving that wood was harvested legally. Technically, a guitarist who takes his instrument abroad to perform is required to carry proof that the ebony in the fingerboard was cut from a plantation in India and not from a forest.

Such documentation was uncommon prior to the Lacey Act’s expansion.

“Given all the unintended consequences of this law, it only makes sense,” Paul said. “If wood was imported or the instrument created prior to 2008, it means the tress they came from were cut down before that, too. It’s important for musicians and for builders who already have the wood on hand.”

The bill is in the early stages of the legislative process.

Introduced on Oct. 18, H.R. 3210 is being considered by the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs. However, the bill could be voted on before the House of Representatives recesses for the Holidays late next week, according to U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah.

The bill has bipartisan support and 16 co-sponsors, including Kingston.

“It’s a common sense solution to a problem, “Kingston said. “ I’m hopeful it will pass and put a little bit of certainty and sense back into the law.”

The other Savannah-area congressman, Democrat John Barrow, concurred.

“I agree that retailers and consumers should be able to buy, sell, and mend musical instruments without

Worrying about complicated legal repercussions,” Barrow said. “The Lacey Act should be amended to remove burdensome regulations while protecting our domestic forest products industry from illegal logging practices.”

In addition to granting relief, the bill also seeks to decriminalize violations of the Lacey Act for first-time offenders. As the Lacey Act currently reads, anybody possessing illegal wood-be they suppliers, manufacturers or consumers-can be fined up to $100,000 and have their material confiscated.

H.R.3210 would make first-time violation a misdemeanor and lower the fine to $250.

“You have a lot of unknowing offenders right now,” Paul said. “This bill shouldn’t be that controversial. Anybody can look at this and see that it is an overreaching law, and there are unintended consequences and there are ways to address those without gutting an act designed to protect the woods and forests worldwide.”

Passed in 1990, the Lacey Act was originally intended to regulate trade in bird feathers. The law was expanded in 2008 to cover wood and plant products and made it unlawful to import, export, sell or purchase woods and plants that violate any U.S. or foreign law. savannahnow.com

Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno,Nev.,today issued the following statement on a congressional plan to raise fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae and use them to help pay for an extension of this year\'s payroll tax cut through 2012.

\"Congress is essentially proposing to raise taxes on millions of potential home buyers in order to pay for a payroll tax cut and other non-housing legislative initiatives. With the housing market struggling to regain its footing, such a short-sighted move would be extremely counterproductive and threaten the fragile  economic recovery.

\"The guarantee fees (g-fees) that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders to protect against credit- related losses should not be used for purposes unrelated to the safety and soundness of the housing finance system.

\"Just as we are beginning to see modest signs of improvement is scattered housing markets across the nation where employment is gaining and consumer confidence is rising, Congress is tampering with g-fees and needlessly raising the cost of buying a home. This will jeopardize the tenuous rebound and is the last thing this economy needs.\"nahb.com

The timber industry is rejecting any suggestion it\'s partly to blame for a raft of recent closures.

The latest is Eurocell Timber, which announced this week it\'s shutting down its Upper Hutt mill with the loss of up to 40 jobs.

Timber Industry Federation President Howard Tonge says the Eurocell mill is a victim of market conditions, including an explosion in log exports to China which have left local sawmillers struggling for logs to process.

He says any suggestion that New Zealand sawmills are not competitive and haven\'t invested in new plants is way off the mark. yahoo news,Laura Heathcote

The number of improving housing markets continued to expand for a fourth consecutive month in December, rising from 30 to 41 on the latest National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI), released today.

The December list featured 20 new additions, including several major markets such as Washington, D.C.; San Jose, Calif.; and Toledo, Ohio. Meanwhile, nine smaller markets dropped off the list, primarily due to softer house prices.  read full article www.nahb.org

Mannington Mills said it will implement a 3-6% price increase for residential and commercial vinyl sheet, tile and sundries, as well as laminate products, effective with shipments on Jan.23.

The increase will apply to all shipments in the U.S. and Canada.

\"Continued increases in raw materials are an unfortunate reality in today\'s market. We are doing everything we can to maximize our efficiencies and implement cost reductions, however the magnitude to these increases must be passed through,\" said chief operating officer Russell Grizzle. Floor Daily.