Can I help you plant trees?
Yes! We welcome help on our tree planting days. We have to wait until the ground is saturated with moisture and that is usually after the Holiday season. If you come in January we can schedule a Saturday workday to make sure you and your friends get a good feel for what we are doing and get a few dozen large trees planted.
Do you know of any other organizations incorporating similar forestry management practices as you?
There are some excellent studies of old-growth forests being done in Oregon and Washington State and there are relatively good “sustainable forestry” operations that are certified by Smartwood and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). There are also a couple of Experimental Forestry Stations scattered about the U.S. Forest Service and State Forestry systems that practice a version of our Restoration Forestry. But, I don’t know right now where they are located. I know one is the Penebscott Experimental Forest on the East Coast.
One good example of straight restoration can be found near the Oregon border in the Redwoods National Park. The National Park purchased cutover lands in 1978 to add to the park, and with an extensive budget, have done some pretty amazing things to bring the cutover lands back to park-like status. But, it’s not really the restoration of a working forest.
If you can get your hands on a copy, there is an article in the book Ecoforestry of a 90-acre forest that is managed very well. I don’t have the book near me, but I remember the person was in the Pacific Northwest somewhere and he practiced a version of our forestry too.
Unfortunately we are a very rare breed. There literally are only a handful of examples nationwide of true Restoration Forestry and they are all on a minor scale. Most of what passes for “Green Forestry” these days is Sustainable Forestry. Sustainable Forestry is a good step in the right direction, but it’s a far cry from the type of forestry we practice.
How do you save forestlands?
For a complete answer please download our Forest Restoration Manual. This PDF file describes our pioneering transformation of a logged land into a beauty-filled productive forest where trees become Old-Growth Again.
We have a shorter summary of what we’re doing at our Restoration Forestry page, including actual images from our forest.
Is your forest certified by the Forest Stewardship Council?
We are a small ranch. FSC costs a lot of money to join and maintain. We do not really want to join FSC nonetheless because our forestry practices far exceed FSC standards and we don’t want to be lost in the “sustainable” crowd. We do Restoration Forestry—our rate of cut is approximately half of FSC’s allowed rate.
What is the plaque that you include with each order?
We place a plaque with a serial number on each order. One plaque per order, usually on the largest piece. It’s an approximately 4-inch by 1-inch plaque that reads “Proceeds Used for Forest Restoration” and has our website and phone number with a serial number unique to the order.
Who is your manufacturing company?
We manufacture all our own furniture by hand from the limited amount of lumber we remove from our lands every year. We do forest restoration work and use the lumber to make furniture to pay for restoring logged forestlands back to their ancient form. We have a wood-working shop with 30 employees. All natural wood—no plastic, composites, or other junk. Each piece is handmade to the highest standards using extra thick timbers and finely finished.
