National Hardwood Magazine - April 2024

NHLA: Why Knot...
Why Knot: Call Over To The Other Side
Words have the power to influence
people. The statement, “We
hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,”
led to a revolutionary war. Or how about the statement
“I have a dream,” which reinforced the civil rights movement.
What we say in the Hardwood industry might not
be such a precise moment of truth and rally the country,
but it is just as important to our well-being and future
generations.
Words also change over time. When I say, “it’s green,”
do you think about the color, the fact that it is not kiln
dried, or environmental benefits? Your footprint, at one
time meant your feet but now it means what is left by your
car, company, and everything else in your life. Words in
the Hardwood industry have also changed. Words we
used to own, such as: sustainable, renewable, and natural
are now applied to steel, concrete and plastic. Negative
words we used to hate hearing from environmentalists:
logging, cutting, harvesting, and climate change
are now part of the answer not the problem. Words we
didn’t even know last century, such as: carbon sequestration
and biophilic design, have
popped up.
I bought my wife a book, recommended
by a friend, for her
birthday last month. The book
was about democracy in the
U.S. today. It was a national
bestseller. It wasn’t balanced and was so blatantly political
that she gave up after two chapters and skipped to
the end. The end was worse than the beginning and she
returned the book. People hear what they want to hear.
Most want to hear that their views are correct, and their
beliefs and perceptions are valid. Very few want to listen
to a balanced and neutral discussion of a point.
Why is the forest industry trying to be neutral all the
time? Why are we taking the corporate side of the argument
when we are not neutral? We win all discussions
on environmental impact over other materials. Yet no
one hears us telling it because we are telling it to ourselves.
We do not influence others because they do not
listen to us. They are listening to the people who reaffirm
what they already believe. They listen to people who say,
“save trees, save biodiversity, save the environment,
save nature,” or tell them to be green and lower their
footprint by conserving energy and buying organic.
If the footprint of logging and harvesting Hardwood
Please turn to page 88
BY DALLIN BROOKS,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
NATIONAL HARDWOOD LUMBER ASSOCIATION,
MEMPHIS, TN
901-377-1082
WWW.NHLA.COM
22 APRIL 2024 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE www.RealAmericanHardwood.com/industry