The American Wood Council

out of two organizations - the National Forest Products Association (NFPA) and the American Paper Institute (API) - each an independent institution with some common membership. NFPA and API represented the forest and building products industries, and pulp, paper, and paperboard manufacturers, respectively. NFPA’s lineage dates back to 1902, when regional associations, led by the Southern Lumber Manufacturers Association and the Mississippi Valley Lumbermen’s Association, founded the National Lumber Manufacturers Association. It operated under this name until 1965 when, reflecting the increasingly integrated character of major forest industry firms, it took on the NFPA identification. However, NFPA remained a federation of associations until 1975, when a bylaw revision made it possible for individual companies to join directly. The American Wood Council, a previously independent trade association established by the wood products industry to provide generic promotion activities, was merged with NFPA’s building codes and engineering function in 1991. While today’s AWC bears the name of that former organization, the new AWC serves the modern wood products industry to address a wide- ranging set of challenges. With its mission focused, AWC now contributes to the development of sound public policies, codes, and regulations that allow for the appropriate and responsible manufacture and use of wood products. AWC supports the utilization of wood by developing and disseminating consensus design standards, comprehensive technical guidelines on wood sustainability and use, and tools for wood design and construction, as well THE AMER I CAN WOOD COUNC I L President & CEO, Jackson Morrill