Preserving Trees For Their Full Value through an urban salvaged and reclaimed lumber network
For over two decades companies and individuals in the West have been struggling to keep our urban lumber, salvaged lumber, and reclaimed woods out of the waste stream and give them a second life. All too often we hear stories of beautiful wood that someone had just sent through a chipper because they didn’t realize there were other options – better options.
Neither the average tree service company nor the homeowner realized there was value to these trees once their natural life providing beauty, habitat, and shade had come to an end. Instead, they send them to the landfill, send them to be cut into firewood, or in the worst case scenario…to the chipper.
The work of salvaging urban trees has been done in a loosely cooperative manner in the past, and in 2017 we are forming a collaborative community with the following goal and mission statement:
To establish a coalition of likeminded companies, individuals, or government agencies who have networked together for the purpose of tree rescue and finding the highest value of the tree after its’ natural life has come to an end. Establishing Urban, Salvaged, & Reclaimed Woods Inc. as a national brand and go-to-product for households across America thereby reducing our overall carbon footprint by reducing greenhouse gasses and utilizing both the urban, retired orchard, and the drought induced, beetle kill, and other forest salvage trees. The common denominator being that these are woods that were, “not harvested for their timber value”.
Beauty in the Imperfections
We believe that if the public is made aware that there is a better option for our trees when they need to be removed that they too, will ensure that their urban trees are put to their highest use.
We believe that if wood consumers are made aware of:
- The existence of urban lumber, salvaged lumber, and reclaimed woods.
- If they know where to purchase them.
- If they are affordable.
They will look to these woods first for their wood products’ needs, and encourage their local municipalities and public offices to do the same.
By networking together we can build awareness that brings these trees back into the social and economic lives of the communities they came from, in the form of lumber, slabs, flooring, siding, furniture, art, architecture and other value added wood products.
Our mission is to promote the use of local woods in local communities such as in the “farm to fork” or, “tree to table” movement.
However, in some cases such as the blue stained pine from drought killed trees, there is such a high volume of material that needs to come out, that these woods may need to be shipped out of the local area to ensure best utilization.
To check out the new urban lumber collaboration click here
