The
following article appeared in the
December, 1998 Issue of FINE
WOODWORKING
MAGAZINE
ACORNS
TO HEIRLOOMS
All too
often, lumbering ends up a
purely extractive enterprise,
especially from a local perspective.
Teeming forests of mature trees are
clear-cut down to the stumps, or the
best timber is selectively plucked,
leaving behind shivering stands of weed
trees. Even when whole forests aren't
laid to waste, the harvested saw logs
might be whisked away to some distant
land or city, their impact on the local
economy no better than the cheap price
paid for standing timber. The real
money is made, and the fullest economic
benefits felt, thousands of miles away,
where the logs are sawn into lumber,
kiln-dried, milled and crafted into
furniture, flooring or some other
value-added product. It's an old story,
and a controversial one -- a tale
environmentalists have been telling for
decades now. What's refreshing, if not
exactly new, is Ron Highsmith's
approach to the
matter.
In 1986,
Highsmith began Full Cycle Woodworks as
a logging and sawmill operation.
Located in Rogersville, Tenn., the
family owned business now includes kiln
drying and the manufacture of flooring,
paneling and custom mouldings. Each
step in the cycle of tree to finished
product now benefits the local
economies of Hawkins and Hancock
counties, which reap the full value of
their own resource base. In addition,
Full Cycle Woodworks uses Best
Management Practices ( voluntary
guidelines recommended by the state),
works with second-class species, such
as maple, hickory and beech, and
sponsors educational workshops for
local landowners and woodworkers. "
When logs leave the area," bemoans
Highsmith, " jobs go with
them." | Full
Cycle
WoodWorks, Inc was also mentioned
recently in an article entitled "A
Clearing in the Forest" in the Nov/Dec
issue of NATURE CONSERVANCY MAGAZINE.
This article is too lengthy to post in
it's entirety, but we would like to
share an
excerpt.
"Compatible forestry goes hand in hand
with the ecologically compatible
development that the Conservancy and
others have worked to promote in
southwestern Virginia in recent years.
Wallace (Lou Ann Wallace, a print shop
owner born & reared in southwestern
Virginia) - who serves on the Russell
County Vision Forum, a citizen's group
whose goal is economic vitality and a
healthy environment -- and other
community members believe they must
encourage more local processing of
timber to help promote sustainable
logging. If more timber-related jobs
and economic activity are generated
locally, they say, the interest will be
in keeping forests in place for years
to come.
That's where people like Ron Highsmith
come in. Highsmith, president of Full
Cycle Woodworks Inc., is interested in
the forest bank and wants it to
succeed. From an old school building in
Rogersville, Tennessee, Highsmith's
company engages in the full spectrum of
timber management and processing:
helping landowners develop harvest
plans, cutting timber, drying wood,
making hardwood flooring, even building
custom
homes.
Highsmith believes that his business
goals are in line with the
Conservancy's timber philosophy. For
one, he subscribes to
Kittrell's (Bill Kittrell, manager
of The Nature Conservancy's Clinch
Valley Bioreserve) ideas that all
grades of trees can be harvested and
used from a given site, rather than
simply "high-grading" the finest oaks
and other traditionally valuable
species. Harvesting only the biggest
and best trees can alter the structure
and species composition of a forest,
making trees more susceptible to
disease or changing the resident bird
life.
To illustrate his point, Highsmith
displays bookcases made of tulip
poplar, a wood not thought to be showy
enough for furniture. He plans to
market the bookcases via an Internet
web page. From Highsmith, Wallace
purchased flooring that the
timber-products industry might consider
low-quality because of it's knots and
other imperfections. But she believes
it has more character-- and it was less
expensive.
"We can make products that are
environmentally friendly and still
compete," Highsmith says. "We want to
take better care of the natural
resource. If we waste it, we're
history." Because he adds value to wood
products locally, Highsmith embodies
the type of partner the Conservancy
will seek in the future, says
Kittrell." |
