Musical wood putting Wrangell on the map

Wrangell is special for a lot of reasons – and thanks to the work of a company from Oregon, the world of acoustic musicians may soon discover just how special the wood in our forest really is.

Bringing Wrangell’s Sitka spruce to instrument manufacturers around the world is part of the mission of North American Wood Products, a Portland-based wood company that, among other niche markets, specializes in delivering high grade wood to guitar, piano and violin makers.

Alan Ollivant and Randy Volk made the trip from Portland late last month to take possession of an order of spruce from Whale Bay Logging.

Ollivant, a graduate of Wrangell High School, said acquisition of wood for musical instrument manufacturers has eclipsed other uses in their business model throughout recent years.

“We are in the music wood business,” Ollivant said. “It’s a large facet of what we do. When Randy joined the company 12 years ago, the company did zero in that area, but little by little it became a major component of our sales. Now it is, depending on which month, 60 to 80 percent of our gross revenue.”

NAWP sells to nearly all the major domestic manufacturers of acoustic instruments, including Gibson Guitars’ Tennessee and Montana factories, as well as Fender, C.F. Martin and a bevy of smaller, boutique manufacturers.

“Gibson is our largest customer,” Volk added. “There is also a division of Gibson which makes pianos, through Baldwin.”

According to Ollivant, the company began their entry into the music wood business with mahogany from Central America. The firm is now forging ahead as a multi-faceted supply chain for the industry. All of the wood is legally imported, as well, and is Lacey Act compliant, Ollivant added.

Compliance with the Lacey Act is important, as it is the guiding federal law on the protection of plants, wood products and wildlife that have been illegally transported or sold in the United States or abroad.

Federal authorities raided Gibson Guitars in 2009 after it was discovered that hardwoods that had been illegally cut in Madagascar made their way into instruments sold by the company.

“Everybody is running scared because of the Lacey Act, but we have been a legally importing and compliant company all the way through. We provide full documentation and certification on all our wood,” Ollivant said.

Certifying the wood includes timber that comes out of Southeast Alaska.

“Under the Forest Stewardship Council, we have what’s called a controlled wood component of our certification with them,” Ollivant said. “Because of that, we are currently selling Wrangell wood. We have had meetings with C.F. Martin and Taylor Guitars as well about Wrangell wood. I started with our company about two years ago, and I knew where the good wood was, so we’ve made some in-roads here.”

Ollivant said there was a defining moment when he knew wood from the borough would make for great instrument materials.

“We spread some out across our grading table,” he said. “We looked at it and went, ‘Wow, this is really nice.’”

According to Mayor Jeremy Maxand, who attended a public forum with Ollivant at the Marine Bar on Aug. 31 the possibilities for economic development – and the creation of jobs in the borough – is a real possibility.

“This could create between 2-3 long-term jobs in the community,” Maxand said. “That may not sound like a lot, but in this economy, a job is a job. They aren’t going to show up and overnight bring 50 new jobs. What we’re working on is a longer-term plan with them to do more processing here and get more jobs. Right out of the gate it’s not huge, but the game plan is to find ways to process it here rather than shipping out logs or cants.”