Kansas Forest Products Association

January Newsletter

   The KFPA has some changes for the following year that we believe will give us more opportunities to better serve our membership. To start with, we have a new board member to introduce. Her name is Carri Cress, and she is replacing Don Quayle, who has been on the board since the beginning of the KFPA. Don had requested to be replaced due to time constraints. We thank Don for his service. Carri is also taking over the secretary/treasurer part of the organization.

   We have a number of activities planned for the New Year. To start with, we now have a website www.ksforest.org   this website will allow us to post events, allow for commerce, including placing ads, plus allowing sponsorship advertising. It appears the sponsorship advertising will pay for at least most of the cost of the website, if not all. KFPA members will also be allowed to post several free ads every year in the buy/sell part of the website. This website was just launched, and there will be more changes and expansion to come.

Our plan of work this year includes the following activities. We may not accomplish every one of these, but we plan to try.

1. Chainsaw safety/maintenance/tree felling workshop, hopefully one in the north and    one in the south part of the state.

2. Timber Tax workshop-this was very popular last year.

3. Lumber grading short course.

4. Workshop covering such things as workers compensation, unemployment insurance, tax reporting rules, etc-all the stuff we all hate, but that can get us into serious trouble if we ignore. We also will either incorporate a segment explaining the new rules and regulations that are about to happen concerning trucking-there are changes already here concerning farmers and trucking. These rules will apply to all farmers.

5. Continue to work with and help sponsor various activities from the tree farm committee and the walnut council.

6. We are looking at doing a tour very soon in the northeast part of the state of various sawmills and businesses that use and produce lumber.

7. We would like to host a seminar to help businesses understand the pallets they use, and also understand what is needed concerning international shipping-the requirements of heat treating of pallets.

8. We want to hold an information seminar on eastern red cedar. There has been a lot of interest in uses for cedar, from mulch to lumber to other uses. There is a lot of cedar timber covering much of the state, and a lot of it has now matured.

9. Look at the feasibility of using the KFPA as an organization for an insurance pool for those sawmills and lumberyards that use Pennsylvania Lumberman’s Mutual Insurance. A number of other organizations around the country are doing this, resulting in very significant savings for their members.

10. Last, but not least, we look forward to our annual Fall Field Day featuring equipment, craftsmen, and some new things-we expect this year to be the biggest and best yet.

If you have any other ideas, or wish to help out on any of our activities, please contact us. We want to hear from you. Our dues this year our 35.00, and gets you reduced or free admission to all our activities. It also allows you to post ads on our website. By joining, it gives us strength in numbers and allows us to hold these activities that help us all in the industry. I look forward to seeing all of you at the various functions this year.

Sincerely,

                                                                                                Steve Floersch

President KFPA