This report describes some of the background and results of work done to date on second-growth western hemlock basic wood properties at Forintek Canada Corp. The B.C. Ministry of Forests (BCMOF) Research Branch, UBC Forestry Faculty and PAPRICAN were the other cooperating agencies on this project and they investigated live crown/tree growth relationships, strength properties of small clears, and pulping properties, respectively. Properties that were assessed by Forintek, both within and between trees include: relative density of wood, shrinkage, moisture content and relative proportion of heartwood-sapwood, bark thickness, content and distribution of compression wood, incidence and degree of spiral grain, incidence and severity of brown stain, and strength properties of small cleear bending samples. Naturally grown 90-year-old western hemlock stands represent much of the emerging timber supply in the B.C. coastal forest region. Information characterizing the commercial quality of this resource is needed now to support processing and marketing decisions and for product promotion. In addition, the BCMOF and industry members are making stand management decisions today which will determine the future quality of western hemlock. We can reduce the risk of making wrong investment decisions by providing information on how different growing conditions (e.g., biogeoclimatic zone, site, stand density, thinning) affect second-growth wood quality.