NHLA Membership and Dues: A Conversation We Need to Have

As NHLA prepares for an upcoming board meeting, we want to open a broader conversation with our members about the future of membership, dues, and how we collectively support a strong hardwood industry.

If you’re reading this, you’re already part of NHLA—and your perspective matters. The questions raised here are not about assigning blame, but about under-standing how NHLA can better serve its members while remaining financially sustainable.

The Membership Reality

Today, NHLA represents a large portion of the hardwood lumber industry—but not all of it. In November, NHLA sent ballots to approximately 480 active member companies. By comparison,

a recent Hardwood Federation economic study identified 1,060 hardwood sawmills operating in the United States in 2022.

While NHLA’s programs, advocacy, and market development efforts benefit the entire hardwood industry, fewer than half of operating hardwood sawmills currently participate as dues-paying members. Expanding engagement across the industry will strengthen our collective voice, ensure long-term financial stability, and allow NHLA to continue delivering meaningful value on behalf of the membership.

Over the past three years, NHLA has welcomed approximately 100 new members annually. At the same time, industry consolidation, business closures, and other transitions have offset much of that growth. As a result, total membership has remained relatively steady. This reality reinforces the importance of both recruitment and retention as we work to build a stronger, more unified Association.

This raises an important question—not just for NHLA leadership, but for all of us:

What does meaningful membership look like today, and how do we ensure it delivers value to the widest possible group of producers?

Why Members Leave—and What We’re Hearing:

Members leave for many reasons, and those reasons deserve to be acknowledged honestly:

• Some members don’t interact with NHLA inspectors in a given year and feel the impact is indirect.

• Others question whether the value proposition matches their current business needs.

• Some remain frustrated by past positions or decisions.

• Many are navigating tight margins and difficult economic conditions.

• Others rely primarily on state or regional associations for day-to-day support.

These concerns are real—and they matter. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that NHLA’s influence often extends beyond individ-ual transactions or services. Advocacy, standards development, market stability, workforce training, and long-term industry health benefit all producers, whether those impacts are immediately visible or not.

NHLA’s Role Has Expanded—Because the Industry Has. NHLA’s mission is to grow and stabilize the hardwood industry, and that work now extends well beyond grading alone.

Grades and inspectors remain foundational—but the industry’s challenges don’t stop there. Markets for byproducts, biomass utilization, log flow, ties, pallets, matting, kilns, boilers, and operational efficiency all influence whether hardwood businesses remain profit-able and competitive.

Simply put:

You can’t grade lumber if there’s no viable operation producing it.

NHLA’s evolving role reflects that reality.

The Dues Question

Grades are central to NHLA’s identity, but one challenge we face is that we don’t currently track how extensively grades are used across the industry. Unlike the softwood sector—which ties fees to stamped volume—NHLA dues are based on hardwood lumber revenue, with a cap set years ago, before consolidation and billion-dollar valuations reshaped the industry.

That system no longer reflects today’s landscape—and it limits NHLA’s ability to meet industry priorities.

This has prompted discussion around whether a production-based model might be fairer and more sustainable.

One concept under consideration is a simple, low-impact approach:

• Dues based on boards graded, regardless of grade

• No distinction between FAS, No. 1 Common, proprietary grades, or inspection method

• A minimal, uniform fee—conceptually something like one cent per board graded

  
  

The goal would not be to increase burden, but to spread responsibility more evenly, align dues with actual industry activity, and ensure that everyone who benefits contributes proportionally.

This Is a Conversation—Not a Conclusion.

These ideas are not final. They are starting points.

Please share your feedback with me or the board:

• Does this approach feel more equitable?

• Would it improve the value proposition of membership?

• Could it encourage broader participation across the industry?

Your feedback matters—whether shared directly with staff or through a board member. If we’re going to solve membership and dues challenges, it will take collaboration, honesty, and a willingness to adapt together.

Let’s work toward common ground—and a stronger future for the hardwood industry.

Dallin Brooks, NHLA Executive Director dallin@nhla.com | 901-377-1818