Maybe the timber framing companies, no matter what size, should purchas thier own timber lots and treat thier own land the way they see fit. If it is misstreated they loose out. Take on the responsibility. Stop handing it off, out of sight out of mind. Get out of the office and into the woods, the source of our livelihood.
Tim
Tim, I really love that idea. That just makes way too much sense.
For my part, I would love to start a project with a walk in the woods -- our woods-- to pick the right trees for the job. I have been thinking about our company buying a woodlot for a few years now. Our biggest problem is that we would have to go 60 or more miles away to find timberland that is priced as timberland and not as building lots. It still might make sense.
Wendell Berry has a great essay called Conservation and Local Economy that I highly recommend to anyone. In it he outlines some of the laws or rules of conservation. The basic premise is that land that is used can only be properly cared for by people who live on the land, know it intimately, depend on the land, plan to stay indefinitely, and believe that their children will live on and depend on the land. I recommend anyone interested in sustainability or conservation to check out that essay.
