• Cassens, Daniel L.
  Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
  
• Johnson, Bruce
  USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory
  
• Feist, William C.
  USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory
  
• Groot, Rodney De.
  USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory.
  

For centuries wood has been one of our most common and easiest to use construction materials, it is used practically everywhere; in housing and agricultural buildings, as posts, utility and telephone poles, railroad ties, wharves, piling, and many others. Wood is also a renewable material. Although we have consumed tremendous volumes of wood for centuries, the United States is growing more wood volume than what is being harvested.

Wood is a biological material and as such is subject to decay, insect, and marine borer attack. These agents are nature's way of recycling wood in the natural ecosystem. without nature's recycling system, we would literally be buried by wood and other cellulose based materials, such as grass, leaves, and agricultural field residues. However, when wood is used in a more or less permanent application, it must be protected from biological degradation. Destruction can be prevented by any number of methods or combinations of methods. This book is written for homeowners, contractors building supply clerks, architects and others who use or recommend wood products. This summary will briefly review the major causes of biological deterioration of wood and how it can be prevented.