Anchorage homes can now be framed with lumber graded at Alaska sawmills

Homes in Anchorage can now be framed with two-by-fours cut and graded at local sawmills, under a city policy the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection announced Wednesday.

Standard building codes call for framing lumber to carry a grade stamp or inspection certificate from an accredited agency. Most Alaska sawmills can't justify what that system costs, so most framing lumber used in the state comes from Canada and the Pacific Northwest, leaving Alaska subject to swings in global prices and tariffs, according to an April presentation on the state's alternative.

That alternative is the Alaska Lumber Grading Program, created by a 2023 law. Sawmill operators take a free one-day course from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and pass a test. Then they can grade the lumber they mill themselves, from five Alaska species of spruce, hemlock and yellow cedar, and certify it on a state form instead of stamping it.

The program had awarded 184 certificates as of April, with trainings from Elim to Sitka. Certificates last five years.

As of April, Valdez and Wrangell also planned to add the lumber to their codes, and the program listed Sitka and Ketchikan as supporters.

There are limits. The lumber can go only into homes for one to three families, must be milled to meet or exceed the building code and must be sold by the sawmill directly to the builder or homeowner. Local building officials can allow it, reject it or require changes.