UW helps protect $30 million to $40 million in U.S. wood exports to Japan

By showing the economic benefit to Japanese saw mills, a University of Washington researcher has helped protect U.S. exports of Douglas-fir logs and lumber worth $30 million to $40 million a year. A recently introduced homebuilding subsidy program in Japan put logs and lumber imported from the U.S. and other countries at a competitive disadvantage, according to Ivan Eastin, UW professor of environmental and forest sciences. Working with the U.S. embassy in Tokyo and the U.S. Softwood Export Council, Eastin led efforts to get Douglas-fir logs and lumber from the U.S. approved under the new program.