State agriculture secretary helps celebrate newest group of hardwood inspectors
Published 08.02.2024
photos by Alexandra Butler, photographer/photo editor
The National Hardwood Lumber Association celebrated the 206th graduating class of its Inspector Training School on Friday at Penn College’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center.
The eight-week course – usually offered in Tennessee – took place for the first time in Penn College’s facilities. Among those addressing the graduates were Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell E. Redding, NHLA Executive Director Dallin Brooks and Penn College President Michael J. Reed.
The NHLA Inspector Training School offers the only Hardwood Lumber Inspector certificate program in the world.
When the association was founded in 1898, its primary goal was to establish “uniformity of inspecting hardwood lumber.” The creation of the NHLA Rules Book for Grading Hardwood Lumber gave the industry a set of regulations. By the 1940s, the need for qualified lumber inspectors grew so rapidly that NHLA opened a training school for grading lumber. In the years since, more than 7,500 students have graduated from the Inspector Training School.
Penn College offers an associate degree program in forest technology that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021.
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