The American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization."General Information". American Lumber Standard Committee. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
History The Central Committee on Lumber Standards was started in 1922 by Herbert Hoover when he was U.S. Secretary of Commerce at the request of the lumber industry."Hoover Declares Need of Voluntary Central Group for Lumber Inspection". Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota). October 4, 1922. p. 21. Chaired by John W. Blodgett, the Central Committee was intended to be a way to create voluntary lumber standards without imposing formal government regulations, in order to solve the problem of lumber manufacturers selling lumber that was not actually as thick as the lumber was marketed as being."Plan Standardizing of Lumber Industry". The Times Herald (Port Huron, Michigan). September 28, 1922. p. 1."Lumber Dealers in Convention". Spokane Chronicle (Spokane, Washington). October 3, 1922. p. 3."Right Lumber Is Building Asset: Warning Issued Against Material of Wrong Specifications". The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky). June 28, 1925. p. 43. The Central Committee collected information before establishing its standards."Lumbermen Hold Grade Conference". The Washington Herald (Washington, D.C.). October 7, 1922. p. 8. In 1924, the Central Committee developed standard that described lumber sizes, methodology for assigning design values, nomenclature, and inspection procedures. Several decades later, the American Lumber Standard Committee succeeded the Central Committee. The ALSC supervises and creates grading standards and standard patterns of softwood lumber."Cincinnatian Appointed To Post To Represent The Nation's Lumber Wholesalers". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 20, 1949. p. 49.
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