: I live in the Minneapolis area. The Home Depot personnel told me that this
: was western red cedar, but you know how that goes

Based on my experience, if a Home Depot employee told you it was western red cedar, it might actually be poplar, birch, spruce, or an I-beam produced at the nearest steel mill. The average Home Depot employee seems to know as much about their product as I do about brain surgery. I know what part of the body the brain is in, and they know (usually) what aisle something's in, and that's it!