About WWPA

Western Wood Products Association is a trade association representing softwood lumber manufacturers in the 12 Western states, from the Canadian border south to Mexico and from the West Coast to the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Association also provides services in Alaska.

WWPA mills produce lumber from Western softwood species, including Douglas Fir, Western Larch, Western Hemlock, True Firs, Engelmann Spruce, Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Sugar Pine, Idaho White Pine, Western/Inland Red Cedar and Incense Cedar. The products manufactured from these species include Structural Lumber (Dimension products used in construction); Appearance Lumber (Selects, Finish and Common Board graded for their aesthetic qualities); and Factory Lumber (Shop products which are remanufactured into components for doors, windows, moulding and cabinets.)

Supported by Western lumber manufacturers, WWPA delivers services to sawmills as well as those who use softwood lumber products throughout the world. WWPA services include:

Quality Services

• Develop and maintain Western lumber grading rules.

• Lumber quality control and mill inspections.

• Special products (glued and machine stress-rated lumber).

• Lumber grade certification and reinspection.

• Mill grader certification and training.

Technical Services

• Western lumber technical literature, design aids.

• Wood engineering, lumber technical evaluation.

• Research on the structural capabilities of Western lumber.

• Code and regulatory issues related to lumber use.

• Quality Management System (QMS) program for lumber manufacturers.

Information Services

• Online Western lumber information.

• Western lumber product support.

• Seminars and user education.

• Lumber market intelligence for Member companies.

• International marketing for Western lumber products.

Economic Services

• Data on Western lumber industry performance.

• U.S. lumber supply and demand.

• Past prices for Western products.

• Economic analysis, market research for Member companies.

WWPA is supported through dues paid on lumber shipments by mills using Association services. Membership is open to any primary softwood lumber manufacturer operating in the 12 Western states and Alaska.

WWPA's role as a leader and voice for the Western lumber industry has been forged by Member participation. Association Member representatives serve on the Association's standing committees and Board of Directors to develop policy and guide the actions of the organization's professional staff.

Lumber buyers may look to WWPA’s registered grade mark for the assurance lumber will consistently meet grade specifications and performance standards in both domestic and international markets. Approved by the Board of Review of the American Lumber Standard Committee, Inc. (ALSC), which operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Commerce, WWPA is certified as a lumber inspection and rules-writing agency.

WWPA is approved to provide mill supervisory services and to grade and inspect lumber according to its own Western Lumber Grading Rules, the West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau’s (WCLIB) West Coast Standard Grading Rules, and the Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau’s (PLIB) Export R List Rules, the rules of the Redwood Inspection Service, the National Lumber Grades Authority (for Canadian species), and the National Grading Rule portion of the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau Rules. WWPA is approved to provide quality control and certification services for machine stress-rated (MSR) lumber and structural-glued lumber products in all Western species.

WWPA is the only lumber agency in the U.S. recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization (RFCO) and is authorized to certify mills and provide quality control supervision for gradestamping to Japanese Agricultural Standards: JAS 600–Japanese Dimension Grades, JAS 702–Japanese MSR grades, and JAS 143 & JAS 1842/1892–Japanese traditional post-and-beam construction grades.

National Grade Rule (NGR) Dimension lumber carrying a WWPA gradestamp is recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation (formerly Ministry of Construction) for use in wood-frame construction.

WWPA is an approved Certification Body under the United Kingdom (UK) Timber Grading Committee. Therefore, WWPA gradestamped MSR lumber, NGR Dimension lumber, WWPA Heavy Timber grades and UK structural grades are accepted for use in timber construction in the UK and many other European countries.

WWPA is certified to train mill graders to grade structural lumber to the Australian rules and WWPA gradestamped structural lumber is accepted for use in wood construction in Australia.