The History behind the Act:Tennessee adopted the use of State wide building codes in the last few years, whereas in the past, rural areas had pretty much been "building inspector free zones" (except electrical and septic). Along with that came the requirement that any lumber used in home construction be grade stamped. What that means is you can't use ungraded sawmill lumber for homes (still OK for buildings for agricultural use) like you could in the previous 200 or so years of State history.
This has been an issue in other States as well, and the way around that code requirement for some States has been to adopt a Native Species Act. The method varies from State to State, but generally, the sawyer that produced the lumber can inspect his own product, and furnish a certification that in their opinion, the lumber meets the specs of #2 softwood lumber, making it acceptable for construction. Some States allow for a stamp, some simply a letter, but in any case, code officials must accept that to meet code requirements.
This lets the 'small guys', or folks that own a personal mill (like myself) use the timber grown locally for construction lumber. I know in my own case, I can saw a WHOLE LOT better lumber than the stuff I can buy at the Big Box stores, imported from the West Coast, or Canada. Not unusual to look at a bundle of studs, for example, and see the tree center in 75% of them. They must be sawing 'trees' 6" in diameter for studs. Some of the knotty, twisted, warped stuff you see at the stores shouldn't grade # 3, much less #2. But since it has the holy "stamp", it's good to go !
Where we are now:I got with my local State rep, and we crafted a bill that he introduced in the Legislature this session and is now in committee. The House bill is HB0978, and the Senate is SB0822.
The actual text of the bill is here, if you wish to read it:
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Bill/HB0978.pdfIF you live in Tennessee, and have an interest in being able to use native Tennessee lumber to build your home/etc with, and NOT have to buy grade stamped lumber (often imported), then do your part, and spend a few minutes to email the legislators in both Agriculture committees.
THE MORE FOLKS THEY HEAR FROM, THE MORE LIKELY THIS IS TO GET OUT OF COMMITTEE AND VOTED ON THIS SESSION.You can find the members here:
House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee - TN General AssemblySenate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee - TN General AssemblySimply click on the legislator's photo, and their page will come up, along with an "Email Me" link.
Here is the letter I sent, if you wish to build yours around it, feel free. Please don't simply copy and paste. Use your own wording.
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Sir,
I would appreciate your vote to approve HB 0978, currently in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. This bill would allow Tennesseans to use sawmill lumber in the construction of their homes if they desire, just like they have done for hundreds of years until standard building codes were adopted that require a grade stamp on the lumber.
That requirement knocks out all of the small personally owned sawmills, and small commercial mills from using personally, or selling lumber for that purpose, as they simply can't afford the cost of belonging to the large organizations that control lumber grading. What that means is if I want to cut the fine timber off my Tennessee land, and use it to build my own home, I can't do so. I must buy a far inferior lumber, imported from the West Coast or Canada, simply because it meets the building code. Seems a shame to be 'coded out' of our heritage of using native Tennessee lumber, cut from the vast forests of Tennessee, simply because a code requires it.
I sincerely hope you will vote to correct this.
Thank you,
(and my signature/address/phone number)
