If you read about the 2008 Farm Bill's Biomass Crop Assistance Program in the Washington Post, then you know the future of composite wood is hanging in the balance. For those new to the issue, the CPA's site BCAPreform.org offers a primer BCAP's threat to the composite wood industry's availability of material. "We're on on the cusp of redeveloping national policy," says Tom Julia, CPA president. "The question is, 'What do we want to do with our wood?' Well, as manufacturers and fabricators, we make things out of it. We know that. But it's also increasingly becoming an energy source, and this is now part of national policy debate. The important thing now is to weigh in with your position on it."

A proposed rule to the 2008 Farm Bill, if approved next month, would remove wood waste that would not otherwise be used for higher-value products from the list of eligible government-subsidized biomass commodities, preserving a free-market exchange and the panel industry as we know it. "The message we're trying to convey is to expand and not divert the U.S. fiber supply," Julia says. "We're not against this sort of program as long as it doesn't hurt existing programs, but don't allow a subsidy program with federal tax dollars to raid our raw material supply. The other part of this debate is whether BCAP should be entitled to take a product out of the commercial stream. We think it's important to keep a free market."

It's not too late to express your concerns with BCAP. Use the CPA's new form letter to extend your support of preserving the composite wood industry's resources. Send comments via e-mail to cepdmail@wdc.usda.gov or the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Comments will be accepted through April 9.