Profiles from Working Woodlands: Exploring Forest-based Enterprises in Western Massachusetts

by Susan M. Campbell

Published by Massachusetts Woodlands Institute June 2004 P.O. Box 301 Montague, MA 01351 Massachusetts Woodlands Institute P.O. Box 301 Montague, MA 01351 © June, 2004 by Massachusetts Woodlands Institute All rights reserved. Published 2004

Printed in the U.S.A.

0-9760942-0-7 www.masswoodlandsinstitute.org Acknowledgements

This work was made possible with principal funding from the Highland Communities Initiative, a program of the Trustees of Reservations. Additional funding came from a grant awarded by the Northeast Area State & Private Forestry, USDA Forest Service, and USDA-Rural Development.

Special thanks to Jocelyn Forbush and the Highland Communities Initiative for providing the funds and flexibility that allowed this research and writing project to develop. For their encouragement and inspiration, thanks go to Arthur Eve, Patricia Lee Lewis, Dave Bowman, Peter Jensen, Jay Healy, Walter Wright, Sarah Buie, Dave Damery, Paul Catanzaro, Jennifer Fish, Kathrin Woodlyn Bateman, Paul Strasburg, and Roger Monthey.

Many thanks to all the forest landowners, business-owners and others interviewed for this work who were generous with their time and ideas. They include: John Clarke, Stacy Brown, Emily Monosson, Ben Letcher, Dick and Marcia Starkey, Lloyd Crawford, Ed Klaus, Norma and Bill Coli, Mark and Sarah McKusick, Cynthia Wood, Scott Maslansky, Will Beemer, Paul Lagreze, Chris Marano, Laura Maples, Paul Waite, Milton Lafond, Harriet Freeman, Jane Freeman, John Freeman, Kathleen O’Rourke, and Pat Flinn.

Photo credits: Patricia Lee Lewis, page 18 (top) and page 19 (right); Don Wukasch, page 19 (left); Ed Klaus, page 23; Arthur Eve, page 36; Will Beemer, page 39.

For transforming this manuscript into a printed format that is a pleasure to behold, thanks go to Susan Bergeron-West of Sirius Design, Monson, and Kristina Ferrare.

Finally, much love and appreciation go to Todd and Mollie Fuller who sustain me throughout all my adventures. Table of Contents

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

What This Work Is About 1

Why Revitalize the Local Forest Economy? 2

THE PROFILES

Hardwood Flooring: A Market for Low Quality & Low Value Wood 5 FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES 1. A Pilot Project: Learning How to Make Hardwood Flooring Strasburg Family, Hall Tavern Farm 7 2. A New Business Relies On Sustainable Forestry for the Local Economy Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative, L.L.C. 12

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES 3. Adding Value with Green Certification New England Forestry Foundation, Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative L.L.C., Hull Forest Products, Metropolitan District Commission–Quabbin 13 4. Flooring Today, Fine Furniture Tomorrow? 15

FOREST CULTURE 5. Using Your Own Wood Letcher/Monosson Family and Starkey Family 16

The Forest as Setting 17 FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES 1. Nurturing Creativity on a Wooded Hillside Patchwork Farm Writing Retreat 18 2. Year-round Recreation and More Stump Sprouts Guest Lodge & Cross-Country Ski Center 20 3. A Unique Harvesting Niche Klaus Forest Improvements 23

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES 4. Tourism for the Working Landscape Blue Heron Farm and High Pocket Farm B&B 25 5. Adding Value to Tourism through Regional Collaboration North Quabbin Guide Training Program 26

Timbers for Framing: Embracing the Past and the Future 29 FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES 1. A Pilot Project: The Timeless Process of Making Timber Frames Dave Bowman, Timber Framer 30 2. A Small-Scale Logging Business 34 Porter & Noonan’s Draft Horses OTHER OPPORTUNITIES 3. Diversity in the Work Place: A Wood Shop Made from Many Species 37 Dave Bowman, Timber Framer

FOREST CULTURE 4. Two Organizations Conserve a Tradition, Serve the Community The Heartwood School and Timber Framers Guild 38

Understory Crops: Useful Products, Culture and History 41 FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES 1. Mushrooms in the Forest New England Wild Edibles 42 2. A Storehouse of Herbal Medicine Clearpath Herbals 44

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES 3. Growing Landscape Plantings in the Understory Kathrin Woodlyn Bateman and Paul Waite, Landscapers 46 4. Enduring Household Goods The Basket Shop 48

FOREST CULTURE 5. Tracing Cultural History through Forest Products: Native Baskets in an Attic The Freeman Family 49

The Black Locust Project: Rethinking Conventions on One Acre 53 FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES 1. Introducing Black Locust: Its Wood Properties and Growth Characteristics 54 2. The Pilot Project: A Harvest of Trail-Building Materials 55 Openspace Management and Walter Wright, Landowner

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES 3. An Alternative Use for Exotic Invasives 62 Excerpt Adapted from “Taking Good Care” Kathleen O’Rourke

FOREST CULTURE 4. Mary V. Flynn Trail in Stockbridge Laurel Hill Association 64 5. The Greenfield Center School Play Structure 64

Author’s End Note 65

RESOURCES Businesses Featured in these Profiles 66 More Forest-based Businesses & Associations 66 Relevant Organizations & Programs in the Vicinity of Western Massachusetts 66 Technical Resources 66 What This Work Is About

he profiles in this collection are about people who live and work in Tthe wooded hills of western Massachusetts. Most of them own a patch of woods, and while rich in land and its possibilities, these landowners are not categorically affluent. As guardians of their land, they stand out from most forest landowners today because they have made their love of the forest visible by forging a working relationship with it. Earning income beyond the common practice of selling timber on the stump, they add value to their forest in a variety of ways. Some manufacture wood products, some host retreats and recreational activities, and some reap natural materials that grow within the forest—for food, medicine and household goods. Today, fewer and fewer people have physically demanding outdoor work that requires an intimate knowledge of working the land. This makes these people and their hard-earned livelihoods the exception, not the rule.

The enterprises described in this work are small; some have been around for nearly 30 years, others are just beginning to open their doors for business. “Small, smart and lean” keeps these enterprises on their toes, experimenting with new markets and adjusting to changes in social trends. These people and their forest-based enterprises combine a strong stewardship ethic with Yankee ingenuity, entrepreneurial risk-taking and flexibility, making them the roots of a forest economy with growth potential. Their stories allow us to consider an economy that is local, diverse and complex, and designed to sustain itself for future generations—not exploit the forest and move on, as has been the dominant environmental legacy of generations past. These stories also allow us to reflect on our culture as it relates to the forest. Exploring a model for a new forest economy sends us back to times when Native Americans thrived in these forests, harvesting medicine, food and materials to support their daily lives. We are linked to the waves of immigrant families who lived and worked in these forests harvesting wood for charcoal, lumber for building and forage for livestock. By seeing the forest as a viable source of livelihood today, we re-create and reclaim simple traditions like putting up firewood for the woodstove, selecting a fresh-cut Christmas tree, boiling sap from the front yard maple, pitching in on a neighbor’s house-raising. While many seem to be leading more sedentary and indoor lives, others seek authentic rural experiences like these. What cultural future do we choose for ourselves?

1 Why Revitalize the Local Forest Economy?

The Nature of Our Forests No less than nine ecoregions blanket the hills, river valleys and upland plateaus of western Massachusetts. This naturally diverse area is a convergence of northern hardwoods (birch, beech, maple), central hardwoods (oak and hickory), boreal conifers (spruce and fir), and the ubiquitous white pine—a cornucopia of trees, shrubs, herbaceous plant species and the crea- tures that live therein. Apportion moderate rainfall and sunlight through the seasons and we’ve got a temperate forest region that is ideal for growing trees and the complex of biota that live in and under their protective canopy. The forests of western Massachusetts now cover between 80 and 90 percent of the landscape— the inverse of 150 years ago. Granted, there are problems with how we have treated our forests, but the fact is, they are a resilient force of nature. Anyone who has observed an old field turn to goldenrod and milkweed, then sumac, gray birch and juniper, knows that it takes human and machine effort to keep the woods from reclaiming most ground. In the interests of nurturing this sylvan landscape, how should we relate to the woods?

Consumption and Conservation We’ve heard the statistic: as one-twentieth of the world’s population, Americans consume one- fifth of the world’s resources. Admittedly, modern manufacturing trends and fast-paced lifestyles promote the use of cheaply made, expendable goods, but this high level of consumption suggests at least room to reduce waste. It also calls into question our stewardship of natural resources: how can such high consumption sustain itself in the future? Looking at forest products in particular, U.S. per capita consumption of sawn wood in 1997 was 12 times that of eastern European countries and almost three times that of western and central European countries.1 In Massachusetts, between 1993 and 1998 about 1.7 billion board feet of wood was used across the state. For the same years, wood harvested from our native forests was less than 100 million board feet, or a meager 6 per cent of the total consumed— this from a state that is 62 percent forested. This might seem reasonable, given the high pop- ulation density in the eastern part of the state, but a look at annual forest growth compared to wood harvested tells a different story. The last two U.S. Forest Service inventories (1985 and 1996) show that for every 3.3 board feet of saw timber that grows in our forests, only 1.0 board foot is harvested. The bottom line: very little of the wood we consume is locally grown, in spite of abundant forests with commercially desirable species, forest growth outstripping forest harvest, relatively resilient ecosystems and a strong safety net of environmental regulations to protect the public’s interest in our forests. How much more might we harvest without compromising the important functions that the forest serves: water and air quality protection, diverse habitats for native flora and fauna and carbon sequestration? Based on today’s wood consumption rate, Massachusetts forestry experts predict that with the amount of forest that is available to sustainably harvest, we might be able to supply about 700 million board feet each year, or 41 percent of what we

1 Berlik, M. 1999. The Illusion of Natural Resource Preservation: An Environmental Argument for the Local Production of Wood in Massachusetts. Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges honors thesis for Bachelor of Arts.

2 consume. Being prudent, we might begin by asking: Can we gradually increase the 6 percent consumption of native wood to 10 or 15 percent? At this level, what are the benefits, what are the drawbacks?

A Good Conservation Strategy If we are trying to conserve our forests, how is consuming them logical? We have to begin with the underlying assumption that using can not mean using up. It must mean harvesting useful products from the forest only when it doesn’t conflict with ecosystem integrity and longevity. It means acting today with the health of tomorrow’s animal (that’s us) and plant community in mind. When we have a healthy interdependence with the forest as a place for work, for play, for learning, for spiritual renewal, we are culturally invested in this landscape. The more invested, the more we treasure and want to protect it. When it is socially and economically productive to use forests on a daily basis, it is a less tantalizing alternative to sell them to the highest real estate bidder. In this way the working landscape can be an important conservation tool. Of course not all land is suitable for income production or intensive human use. Unique or fragile habitats, very wet areas, slopes highly prone to erosion, and others can be protected using other conservation techniques. For example, state and federal regulations enforce a basic level of environmental protection on all lands, or landowners can protect land in perpetuity by selling the development rights to a conservation organization. But with the majority of Massachusetts forestlands owned by private landowners, an economically and socially vibrant forest landscape can encourage these forest guardians to keep forests whole.

The Prevailing Forest Economy The traditional, industry-driven model of a forest economy that is prevalent in the south, northwest and northern New England is not viable here in southern New England. This is an approach that puts the corporate bottom line before the natural and human communities it exploits. The problems are several: first, it leads to decreasing returns as the biggest and best trees are removed from the forest and the less vigorous and poorly formed ones remain. Second, industry owns very little forest land here; by far the majority of privately owned woods is in the hands of individual landowners. Third, what little wood is harvested in today’s wood economy is often sold as raw logs to producers beyond our region, allowing only a fraction of the potential revenue to circulate in our economy. Where does our wood come from, if not here? The United States as a whole produces about two-thirds of what it consumes, with domestic production limited largely to the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast. While sustainable forestry practices are gaining wider use in parts of these regions, they are not without ecological concerns. The other third comes from Canada, 65 percent of which comes from British Columbia. The environmental cost of shipping west coast Douglas fir and Western red cedar is not limited to poor harvest practices on site, but includes the environmental costs and energy losses in the trucking and material handling functions. Though here in New England much of our wood comes from Eastern Canada, as well as the more distant regions mentioned, transportation costs and the negative environmental impacts are significant. While ours has long been a wood region of small sawmills and secondary manufacturers buying stumpage from private lands, these businesses have dwindled to a point where less and less tree volume is harvested, even as most of our forests have reached the mature sawlog size class. It is difficult for these small businesses to be cost-competitive on high volume production for, say, a standard 2-by-4, which requires large mills and a guaranteed supply of softwood trees. This model works better elsewhere. The traditional wood products businesses that are doing well

WHY REVITALIZE 3 THE LOCAL FORESTS owe their success to value-added production and new marketing strategies. If we are looking to increase and diversify economic activity in our forests, we need to develop models that suit our region.

An Alternative Forest Economy for Our Communities The first building block of an alternative forest-based economy is an unwavering commitment to protecting forest ecosystem integrity. Management strategies must include plans for the continual regeneration of healthy and biologically diverse forests. Appropriate machinery and harvesting practices have to minimize the physical impacts to the woods. Every business decision must be made with a view toward its long-term sustainability. Next, attention must be directed to the human communities living within the forested landscape. Is the forest economy providing safe, decent jobs for people living nearby? Are freshly cut logs directed to numerous other independent businesses that will further process and add value along the production chain? Then, are forest products marketed locally, to further encourage the circulation of dollars in nearby communities? Niche marketing to local consumers is a strategy well-suited to our densely populated and privately owned landscape. Good things can happen when the value-adding and marketing of forest products occurs locally. Wood no longer comes from a flatbed truck that traveled hundreds or thousands of miles on the interstate highway system. It can come from the neighbor’s woodlot; be milled, dried and planed on the other side of town; and fashioned into a sturdy chair at the woodworking shop in the village. We know these people and their families. Good workmanship is appreciated and rewarded; poor quality or questionable business practices can be dealt with face-to-face. Character, integrity and decency can once again be valuable currency in a thriving local economy. Why the emphasis on small land-owning enterprises, instead of the larger forest products shops that have been around for decades? With the ownership pattern so strongly weighted to individuals owning 20 to 200 acres of woods, it is important to consider a forest economy rooted in these small ownerships. Too, those owning the land are most invested in sustaining its health and productivity. Collectively, they are the ones who control the future of our western Massachusetts forests. The entrepreneurs described in this writing have shaped and honed their livelihoods over time and can illuminate for us the range of possibilities for the working landscape and point to ways that society can support forest-based livelihoods.

WHY REVITALIZE THE LOCAL 4 FORESTS o understand the promise that native hardwood flooring may hold for Tthe region’s forests, you have to know about forest management strategies for sustaining long-term value, the many steps it takes to convert a standing tree into a finished floor, the flow of capital needed to drive this production, and how to create a niche market for a product most often sold in a commodity-based market. Many—including land trusts, non-profits, landowner organizations and state agencies—who envision a landscape of healthy working forests and a thriving wood economy think that this market deserves a closer look.

Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative, L.L.C. (MWC), a new forestry business in the western part of the state, conducted a pilot project to examine the feasibility of getting logs from its member properties and contracted with local businesses to turn it into flooring. Hall Tavern Farm, a MWC member, is already turning out wide pine flooring from its own woods at its small saw mill operation. This business handled the lion’s share of processing for the project and guided the MWC to another local contractor for the final steps. Another section describes why the Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative was founded and how it plans to create a market niche for its wood to meet its goals of sustainable forestry, value-added activities and using local business as much as possible. Determined not to send its valuable raw wood materials to other regions for manufacturing, this organization is pioneering a new way of doing business in the local forestry sector. Joining a handful of other landowners in Massachusetts, the MWC has successfully completed its third-party green certification by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an internationally recognized group that sets standards for sustainable forest management. These Massachusetts

5 organizations and businesses use FSC certification to add value to their forests by maintaining high ecological standards and by marketing wood products that are differentiated as environmentally friendly. Were society to exercise some long-term thinking when it comes to the forest economy, it might view a hardwood flooring market as an investment in the high quality trees that would grow at a faster rate once the inferior ones were removed and turned into flooring. A note about a long time forestry expert provides insight to the now valuable markets for oak logs in the region. Finally, to remind us where our wood comes from, two families demonstrate how, with a bit of serendipity and the help of local businesses, they were able to have their own wood custom-processed for use in home woodworking projects. The “Undesirables” Must Go Anyone who wants to grow vigorous, straight trees into high-value wood products will thin out poor quality and crowded trees. This process creates ample space for the remaining ones to grow more quickly. The resulting large and valuable trees will be relatively easy to sell; it’s the small, crooked and crowded trees in the woodlot that can be hard to market. As it is, waiting for trees to reach maturity requires a long-term investment and a lot of patience. When forest stands are not thinned periodically, the already long-term investment embodied in woodlot ownership becomes interminable. It is no wonder that big, straight, branch-free trees are so valuable in the market place. At the mill, it takes fewer passes of the saw and less waste to yield more board feet that can go into high-end uses such as veneer, cabinetry, architectural millwork and so on. This wood also dries more uniformly and is easier to work. But the continual removal of the biggest and best trees leads to another problem for landowners and society. Although in the short term the landowner may appear to benefit financially, the quality and quantity of the region’s growing stock is compromised, as is the landowner’s investment and the region’s wood economy. This practice of high-grading is not ecologically or economically sustainable. Harvested trees have to pay their way out of the woods and to the next step of production. Many human hours and big, expensive machinery are used to fell and bring trees to roadside. Good management dictates minimal injury to the remaining forest, operating safely on sometimes steep and stony terrain, skirting wetland and stream areas, stabilizing woods roads against possible erosion. Too, New England loggers are beholden to the weather; mud seasons, rainy periods, or too much snow often means staying out of the woods for days. Then there’s equipment maintenance and repair and high worker’s comp insurance costs. The very trees that the landowner wants removed from the woods now for the enhancement of future crop trees, are the ones that often as not, can not pay their way out. Unless a landowner is willing to pay by the hour for cutting trees, the logger has to be able to sell the extracted wood to recover his costs. Making Something From Next To Nothing The process of converting trees into wood is not a mystery, yet it can involve many steps which are done in this region by a multitude of small independent businesses. Most of the time a woodland owner sells timber “on the stump,” never knowing whether it will become a piece of fine furniture, lumber, a trinket in a gift shop or fuel for a wood stove. But when that clear cherry lumber at the retail store sells for 10 times the amount paid to them for the standing tree, many wonder just how the wood economy works. In the course of growing beautiful big trees with high value, hardwood flooring becomes an interesting product because it can be made from the lower quality trees that need to be

HARDWOOD FLOORING 6 removed from the woods. It can be made into a variety of widths and lengths, ranging from 2.25 to 5.25 inches wide or more, and comes in bundles of random lengths, from as short as 2 feet up to 8 feet long. Defects can be readily cut out, while still keeping a usable piece. What’s more, although oak, cherry and maple seem to be the most widely sold species for flooring in this region, many others are very durable and attractive for this use. Can this finished product help pay the cost of getting low value trees out of the woodlot so that high-quality trees can grow in volume and quality, adding economic value to the land in the future? Can a mix of labor, powerful equipment, energy and social transactions transform the biologically complex tree into a useful product at a reasonable cost? The Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative, L.L.C. (MWC), a new business established by forest landowners, set out to understand more about this process, with the goal of evaluating flooring as a value-added business activity that would help achieve one of its central goals: finding markets to move the low quality trees out of its members’ woodlot, while practicing high standards of forest stewardship.

FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES

1. A Pilot Project: Learning How to Make Hardwood Flooring The cherry flooring story actually begins when Worthington landowner and founding MWC member Paul Strasburg delivered a load of 30 logs to Jay Healy’s sawmill at Hall Tavern Farm in Charlemont. Strasburg had arranged to have lumber sawn out for a woodworking project in the fall. When the milling yielded more wood than he needed, Strasburg offered the remaining 870 board feet to the fledgling MWC for a pilot project. Eager to experiment with different production schemes and products in the early stages of its business life, the MWC took on the challenge.

A Stewardship-minded Landowner The Strasburg family had been coming to the Hilltowns for years when a large property came on the market in mid–1989. They jumped at the opportunity and soon became owners of 297 acres of woods and 25 acres of fields. In the short time that the family has owned the property, Strasburg has become extremely active in its management. Their forester, Lincoln Fish of Williamsburg, has developed a forest management plan; local wildlife biologist Molly Hale was contracted to assess the property for wildlife habitat suitability; several timber sales have been conducted with the goal of improving the quality of the remaining stands or diversifying wildlife habitat; and boundaries have been maintained. The family has hosted workshops and tours in their woods, welcoming visitors to see and discuss their work. In a clear demonstration of their stewardship convictions, the Strasburgs deeded a conservation restriction on the property to the Hilltown Land Trust; now the land can never be developed.

HARDWOOD 7 FLOORING The low to medium-low quality cherry trees from his recent harvest had grown up on the edge of a hayfield, giving rise to a branchy form and internal branch scars when the wood was milled. Had this quality of log been any hardwood species other than cherry or oak (for which the markets are strong), it might have fetched between $25 and $85 per thousand board feet in a conventional sale. But MWC Board member Jay Healy, bringing years of his own milling and marketing experience to the new MWC, advised that the quality of the cherry would be ideal for a hardwood flooring project. And so the experiment was launched. Adding Value at Hall Tavern Farm Healy’s Hall Tavern Farm includes over 500 acres of woods and pasture and has been in the family for 100 years. Managed since 1947, the property became Massachusetts Tree Farm No.2 in the early years of that program’s life. Many fellow Tree Farmers, foresters, school groups and neighbors have visited the woods and sawmill, but perhaps the highlight of any visit there is the handful of stately “mast” pines on the property that demonstrate the growth of which this species is capable. These 35 to 50 inch diameter sentinels won’t ever be cut now, but others, when mature at 22 to 28 inches in diameter, are harvested and brought down through the pasture to the circular sawmill where they’ll be sawn into the wide pine boards for which the business is known. Over the years, Healy has worked out a combination of machinery and equipment that allow him to add value to his timber by selling flooring, trim, beams, slabs and sawdust to customers around the Pioneer Valley. He’ll also custom mill, dry and plane for those who want to use their own wood. Because he routinely saws, dries and planes hardwood as well as softwood flooring for his customers, Healy was well-equipped to handle Strasburg’s load of cherry logs. The wood was first milled into 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-inch widths and then moved by loader to a small 1,600 board foot capacity kiln. To control warping in this process, each board must be laboriously “stickered,” or separated layer by layer with short sticks of wood. Inside the kiln, the moisture content of the cherry lumber was lowered from 50 to 7 percent over a two-week period. Most hardwood species are denser than the white pine that Healy typically dries and need more time in the kiln to reach the standard 7 percent moisture content.

Entrepreneurial Issues At this point it is worth stating what may seem to be an obvious point to an entrepreneur, but one that can illuminate the manufacturing process to others. Take any stage of wood production— whether bucking and limbing the felled tree into useable sections or sawing the first slabs off the round log at the mill—and the wood that goes into the process is always bigger in volume than the wood that comes out. As wood is modified to create the finished piece, bi-products result: the tree tops that are best left to become forest soil; the green sawdust created when the saw blade bites through a board on the sawmill carriage; the steam driven from the “green” boards by the heat of the kiln, drying and slightly shrinking the board; the thin curls of planer shavings as the board surface is evened and smoothed.

HARDWOOD FLOORING 8 The best entrepreneurs are those that not only create and market a fine finished product, but can capture additional value by finding uses for these bi-products. Bark mulch, animal bedding, slab wood, steam (for co-generation or space heat), camp wood and various widgets are all examples of transforming waste into useful products. A strong forest economy, and arguably a strong business, needs a diversity of product markets to most efficiently make use of the great human and machine effort (not to mention time) it takes to grow and produce wood products. By the time the wood was dry and then sent on to Healy’s planer, the MWC had encountered another basic principle of wood processing: moving wood through various manufacturing steps can be labor- or machinery-intensive, and thus costly. Strategic planning in this arena would be important to the MWC’s eventual economic viability. Few wood businesses in this region contain all the manufacturing steps it takes to make flooring, and Healy routinely “out-sources” molding work to another local business. Main Street Millwork in Greenfield added the final step in the flooring process, turning 814 board feet of planed, dry cherry into tongue-and-groove flooring boards. The finished pieces ranged from 2.25” to 5.25” widths, including a grooving pattern on the underside that allows the board to expand and contract with seasonal humidity. When custom-molding for another producer, Main Street Millwork leaves the tasks of defecting, sorting, sizing and grading to the customer.

Marketing Locally Once the fruits of the Coop’s first pilot project were carefully stored, the MWC was ready to make a sale. In early discussions about forming a forestry cooperative, the founding group saw internet technology as a means to help organize and conduct business between a group of forest landowners and its markets. Never before has it been so possible to communicate with members, track and coordinate management and harvest information, track sales by individual members and market a product so efficiently. Having designed a new website in recent months, the MWC spread the word that it was open for business. The founding group had also anticipated a receptive customer base for its locally grown and sustainably managed forest products. Much work has already been done in this region to raise awareness about the economic and ecological choices consumers make when they buy food from nearby farms. So, buying wood from nearby forests wasn’t much of a leap for Ben Letcher and Emily Monosson of Montague Center. In the first stage of a home renovation project, the couple had purchased native hardwood flooring from Bannish Lumber in Westfield. They were very pleased with the “look” of the lesser-known silver maple, the price, and their support of a nearby business. When they were ready to tackle the next project phase which entailed a new kitchen floor, the MWC’s Worthington flooring was just the ticket.

HARDWOOD 9 FLOORING Quality, Not Quantity Most of the hardwood flooring marketplace is driven by commodity businesses, and typically the way to make money on this type of production is to achieve efficiencies of scale. The MWC, unable to compete with large producers, is banking not on commodity production, but on selling a “differentiated” product that is grown on well-managed lands, manufactured by local businesses and retailed to customers nearby. Theirs is wood with a story. The MWC’s recent completion of Forest Stewardship Council certification now gives it an internationally recognized high forestry standard that differentiates sustainable harvests from those that are not. Because MWC members care about treating their forests right, they believe some segment of the customer base will, too, and be willing to pay for this green-certified product.

A Look at the Numbers With the floor beautifully installed in Montague Center, it was time for the MWC to analyze the project as a business enterprise. What were the costs at each step of the way? Could the Coop make enough money to recoup these costs and keep the business running? Would the landowner’s profit share create an incentive for other landowners to join the MWC so it can grow to an optimal size? The answer to the production part of this question was relatively easy to come by. The more elusive part was how much overhead the new MWC needs to effectively operate and grow. While the cherry logs were being transformed at Healy’s sawmill, the MWC conducted some flooring price research around western Massachusetts. In October of 2002, prices for 2.25” unfinished cherry flooring ranged from a low of $4.75 per square foot to Hardwood Flooring Production a high of $5.50 per square foot. For Based on 870 bf of logs, converted to 814 bf of pre-finished stock (flooring that comes lumber, converted to 757 sq ft of installed flooring. with multiple coats of urethane, done by the manufacturer rather than post INCOME installation), the prices were $7.99 to Retail price: $4.00/sq ft, or $3.73 $/bd ft* $8.29 per square foot in the same Flooring value: $3,036.00 period. (Letcher and Monosson spent

COSTS $1.66 per square foot to have their floor Production sanded and treated after installation.) Stumpage 333.74 .41 For the purposes of their pilot project, Harvesting 89.54 .11 the MWC reasoned that it could sell Milling 170.94 .21 its cherry flooring at a conservative Drying 203.50 .25 $4.00 per square foot, considering Planing 122.10 .15 that the burden of sorting for grade, Molding 447.70 .55 trimming out defect, and end-trimming Trucking 73.26 0.09 for fit was on the customer. This price would give the new business a point Total $1,440.78 $1.77 from which to begin the project’s Margin (projected 33%) analysis. Sales/admin 236.06 .29 Production Costs Overhead (estimated) 488.40 .60 Total $724.46 $.89 The first cost was for the standing trees, paid to Strasburg at $.41 per board PROFIT (estimate) $870.76 $1.07 foot (or $410 per thousand board feet). *NOTE: During production, wood is usually measured in board feet. Instead of putting the trees out to bid, When sold as flooring, it is measured in square feet of coverage. For as is the preferred convention, the this example, the $4.00 per square foot is roughly equal to $3.73 per board foot. The 0.25-inch “tongue” width of one board nests inside MWC paid Strasburg a fair market the “groove’ of the next board, and is essentially lost. price for the 870 board feet of cherry

HARDWOOD FLOORING 10 logs, calculated as an average from the last three quarterly Southern New England Stumpage Reports, for sales west of the Connecticut River. Other processing costs totaled $1.36 per board foot and included har- vesting, milling, drying, planing, molding and trucking. Generally, these costs can be improved when efficient machinery, skillful work- manship, efficient handling and economies of scale are employed. The MWC anticipates that trucking distances will be small, but because it aims to coordinate harvests among its members, careful planning will be essential. Total production costs came to $1.77 per board foot. Because it’s too early to know its routine costs of doing business (e.g. rent, utilities, insurance, inventory holding, storage), the MWC must begin with an educated prediction. Conversations with experts in the regional wood industry point to a rule of thumb: for every $1.00 of pro- duction costs, a business typically needs another $.50 to cover sales, administration, and business overhead. Using this rule of thumb, the required margin above production costs is another 50 percent of those costs to break even. To make a profit, the retail price must be higher. Theoretically, if the MWC can cover its overhead costs at $.60 per board foot, then in this scenario, a profit of $1.07 per board foot would result. The effective stumpage price for Strasburg would increase when and if the MWC has positive after-tax net income. He would then receive 70 percent of his share of this profit, which is proportional to his MWC patronage for that year.

A Caution: Red Maple Is Not Black Cherry Before jumping to lofty conclusions, it is worth noting a few key points. The story on cherry flooring yields particularly good news because the market demand for this species is strong. One important question to ask is whether consumers would pay $4.00 per square foot for red maple, black birch, beech and other lesser-known and lesser-valued local woods. These “underdog species” have physical properties that are well-suited to flooring, and would cost the same to produce, except that the stumpage price to the landowner would be substantially lower than cherry. In October of 2002, the two local businesses that had any of these species in a grade comparable to what the MWC hopes to mill, quoted prices from $2.50 to $2.70 per square foot, just barely covering the total costs of $2.66 per square foot in the pilot project. Healy still thinks there is some profit to be made in the hardwood grades between pallet and veneer, at a price below cherry, but above the existing under-valued species. The MWC hopes to fill that price gap by differentiating its product as locally grown and green-certified. A few more cautions about making a business decision from this project. The lower the log grade, the lower the board foot yield, and thus an increase in cost. The MWC estimated $.29 per board foot in sales and administration, but it will need to learn more about this and its overhead costs through subsequent test projects. Further, any number of external factors in the marketplace can change, necessitating a recalculation of the income, costs and margin.

Who Benefits? Let’s return now to the original purpose for examining the flooring market: the MWC aims to move low value and undervalued species out of the woods, so that over the long haul, landowners can grow valuable trees and pay the costs of exemplary stewardship in the woods. For a sustainable managed forest landscape, a local hardwood flooring market could be judged a success even if it could only cover the costs of producing and selling the product. New jobs would be added to the economy and dollars would circulate within nearby communities. The woods would not be “high-graded,” and all the amenities derived from this resource could proliferate: clean water, clean air, biological diversity. What’s more, out there in the woods the straight and

HARDWOOD 11 FLOORING sturdy trees would be quietly growing a little faster. And it is here that the landowner is truly gaining in his long-term investment because these trees are not only increasing in size, but in quality. From the new Coop’s perspective, the hardwood flooring market would be a success if it fetches a wide enough margin for the MWC to stay in business. At the same time it needs to return some modest profit to its members for going the extra mile on management practices in the woods. After all, it must nourish its reputation for exemplary management to help sell its forest products. If this profile points to any conclusion, it’s that the forest landscape, the local wood economy, the MWC and its members stand to gain from a custom- grown hardwood flooring market. 2. A New Business Relies On Sustainable Forestry for the Local Economy Three years ago, a group of forest landowners became convinced that the problem of many small, privately-owned parcels was, in fact, an opportunity for them and for the region. Just as produce growers create agricultural coop- eratives to strengthen their bargaining power, pool their resources, and add value to their products, so could forest growers use the cooperative structure to help themselves and the local economy. They recognized that many residents of the western counties strongly support sustainable development and community- based enterprise. Their efforts led to the creation of the Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative, L.L.C. (MWC), whose mission is “to maintain the environment and character of Western Massachusetts through the protection, enhancement, and careful economic development of one of the region’s most plentiful resources, the forest.” As the founding group was first meeting to explore their shared vision, they decided to do some homework, which included researching similar efforts in Wisconsin and Vermont where sustainable forestry cooperatives have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. But the landowners needed to learn about more than good forestry practices. They needed to learn about the business of selling trees. The landowners formed a steering committee to direct their activities and a committee of experts in forestry, business management, marketing, and cooperatives to advise them. Support came from many sources, including the University of Massachusetts, the state’s Department of Environmental Management, the Massachusetts Forest Stewardship Program, and the Cooperative Development Institute. Slowly, the vision took shape. The cornerstones of this vision were improving the profitability of abundant, lower value woods; managing their lands according to the Forest Stewardship Council’s third-party green certification standards; and doing business within the local economy as much as possible. Educational services were also to play a key role, providing members with referrals on con- tractors, training sessions and workshops. The group also strove to build internet and geographic information system technology into their plans for a state-of- the-art management system. In addition to copious research and planning, the founding group needed to gauge how much interest there was in their idea. So in the summer of 2000, nearly 1,000 of the region’s small landowners were surveyed about joining a cooperative. Nearly a third of respondents indicated a substantial interest, and

HARDWOOD FLOORING 12 more than half wanted to know more. This outreach and its response gave the group impetus to clarify its vision and define the scope of the business. With the help of a local lawyer, the Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative was incorporated as an L.L.C. in 2001. MWC reached a milestone in the spring of 2003 when it received its Forest Stewardship Council green certification. With this green stamp of approval, the MWC is now ready to grow in membership and experience. Now at 24 members with over 3,000 acres, the MWC is in the process of gaining operational and business experience by conducting small pilot projects that will help them to understand the costs and profitability of different enterprises. Some material is for sale on their website and more will be displayed there as activity increases.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

3. Adding Value with Green Certification

What and Why? Green certification is a relatively new conservation tool that uses a market-based approach to encourage sustainable forestry. Several different systems have developed over the last 15 years, with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) leading the way. It was founded in 1993 with the support of environmental groups and began developing standards that would be used world- wide to identify sustainable forest management. This most stringent of green labels relies on independent third-party verification of its certificate holders. FSC’s standards of excellence incorporate a series of guidelines for each of the following ten principles (from the abridged version): Meet all applicable laws Have legally established, long-term forest management rights Recognize and respect the rights of indigenous peoples Maintain the economic and social well-being of local communities Conserve the forest’s economic resources Protect biological diversity Have a written management plan Engage in regular monitoring Conserve primary forests and well-developed secondary forests Manage plantations so as to alleviate pressures on natural forests

What do private landowners think? Before the MWC incorporated in 2001, it conducted a survey of 1,000 forest landowners in western Massachusetts that managed their land according to an approved forest management plan. The survey was designed to gauge their interest in a range of forest-related topics and to understand what type of business activities they thought a cooperative might provide for them. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents expressed interest in marketing green certified or Massachusetts sustainably grown wood through a cooperative. This prompted the founding group to set green certification among the highest priorities for the new business. Becoming

HARDWOOD 13 FLOORING FSC certified through an organization FSC-Certified Forests (rather than acre by acre) may be particu- As of December 2003 larly interesting to the thousands of small ownerships in the region because the Massachusetts Entity Acres Certified MA Woodlands Cooperative 3,000 assessment cost can be prohibitive on such small acreages. With this in mind, New England Forestry Foundation 6,212 the MWC has had to develop a protocol Hull Forest Products 8,004 for tracking activity on member lands, MDC—Quabbin 57,000 helping new members meet the standards, Current Total in Massachusetts 74,216 and demonstrating to the third party State lands (in progress) 443,000 auditing team that all is going according to standards. Supported by grants to Expected Total in Massachusetts by 2004 develop this model, the MWC has been 517,216 able to keep the cost to individual landowner members very low. New England/New York 2,743,287 North America 21,300,000 While skeptics may question the added Worldwide 90,900,000 layer of bureaucracy to the FSC system, proponents argue that the system can help to raise society’s forestry standards. For Massachusetts, a state already shouldering a high level of regulation and oversight with its Forest Cutting Practices, Forest Taxation Laws and Forest Stewardship Program, FSC certification isn’t such a far reach for those who are already aiming for the very best forestry.

A Variety of Reasons to Certify For the MWC, FSC certification was a practical way to communicate common high standards among members and a way to recognize those standards in the market place. Through its mission and operating principles, the new Cooperative has provided its members much of the monitoring, local economy and ecosystem management context that accreditation requires. For Hull Forest Products, a landowning and forest products business in Connecticut and Massachusetts, FSC certification was a means to demonstrate its commitment to long term forest management, especially in the eyes of local conservation organizations. For, without these groups’ purchase of development rights, Hull Forest Products could not have afforded to buy over 7,000 acres of forest up for sale in Massachusetts. With this company as owner, and conservation groups holding the development rights, these woods will continue to grow trees in perpetuity. The state of Massachusetts pioneered the use of FSC certification on its MDC-Quabbin lands as a way to demonstrate its commitment to the highest standards of forestry. For many years it has faced controversy from preservationists who don’t believe that forest management is compatible with water quality protection. The independent, third-party monitoring system has helped to lessen the conflict and deepen the trust between managers and the public. The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife has followed suit for similar reasons and is now in the process of certification. A third landowning agency, the Department of Recreation & Conservation (formerly the Department of Environmental Management) has received harsh criticism for its lack of management and many see FSC certification as a way to plan for timely management, as well as to demonstrate to the state’s environmental agency and the legislature that good management requires adequate resources.

Prospects for Our Region As of 2003, global demand for FSC-certified wood products is strong, but the biggest markets are in Europe. There it is more the norm to specify green certified wood in building projects than not. That demand has not appeared here yet, though proponents say it is coming, and that the supply has to reach a critical mass before the demand can be reliably met.

HARDWOOD FLOORING 14 In the New York-New England area, a total of 2,700,000 acres have been FSC-certified. Here in Massachusetts the MDC-Quabbin was the first ownership to become certified in 1997 with several others to follow since then. This will make for a total of more than 500,000 acres in the Commonwealth alone by 2004. Experts report that in some markets FSC certified wood is available, but is siphoned into non-certified markets or not marketed as certified. Does critical mass mean that people willing to ask/search for it can find it within a specific radius from their home? Or that it is available at mainstream retail stores? By virtually any standard, there is room for growth in accessibility to certified wood, but at the same time the opportunities to purchase certified wood have dramatically increased over the last few years. 4. Flooring Today, Fine Furniture Tomorrow? At the beginning of a new millennium, does Massachusetts have the foresight to make near-term investments in its forest landowners and wood economy infrastructure that could translate into a stronger wood economy in the future? Individual landowners who aim to grow valuable saw timber need to conduct periodic thinnings and prunings in the early life of a forest stand, to improve the growing conditions for the best trees to thrive. These “intermediate treatments” may often earn the landowner some income, but there is no guarantee. Sometimes the removal of surrounding trees is just a break-even proposition, or in the case of pruning limbs off pole-size trees to grow clear lumber, it is an out-of-pocket cost. The landowner makes these near term investments with the assumption that the payoff will come later when the “crop” trees have increased in value and volume when they are harvested at maturity. As the accompanying profile on hardwood flooring suggests, an infusion of wood product markets to deal with the lower quality material now, would pave the way for a higher-value industry in the future, for example, fine furniture or veneer. The higher quality the trees, the greater the profit margins along the way, and that would be good for the region’s economy. It would seem to be in the State’s economic interest to foster the development of markets for low quality wood and give incentives for landowners to do the necessary improvement thinnings. One individual in the region was willing to envision the future and act on it. The beloved forestry professor, Dr. David Smith, as director of the Yale School Forests, used to describe to his students the abundance of pole-size hardwood trees that comprised much of the Southern New England forests in the 1940s and 50s. These were the trees that had established themselves underneath the white pine canopy, the dominant timber species at the time. The pine industry had flourished in the early 1900s, but was in decline from heavy harvests and its susceptibility to blowdown during the Hurricane of 1938. Many in the wood industry wanted to use herbicides to try to control the hardwoods and reestablish the then more desirable pine. But Professor Smith saw the hardwoods as healthy young trees, growing at a reasonable rate, and counseled foresters to grow what “wants” to grow there naturally. When some lamented that the region’s sawmills only milled pine, Smith countered that the infrastructure and markets for hardwoods would follow if the quality was good. Many of those hardwood poles that were left to grow are the mature oaks that fetch among the highest prices in the region’s marketplace.

HARDWOOD 15 FLOORING FOREST CULTURE

5. Using Your Own Wood For those who love the smell of freshly milled lumber or the feel and look of a newly planed board, building something from trees growing on their own land can be immensely rewarding. A shed, a floor, a lovely piece of furniture becomes a cherished product, crafted from the surrounding woods. Montague Center residents Ben Letcher and Emily Monosson (and new owners of the MWC cherry floor) had an unusual opportunity to use their family’s own wood resource without even owning forestland. Their village home sits on a quarter-acre lot, and when a high wind brought down one fork of a huge, open-grown sugar maple in the backyard, they wondered if they could salvage any of the massive boles. Following a lead on a local portable sawmill owner, Letcher contacted Andy Peura, also of Montague, who would look the job over. In this case, the small yard and working space made it easier for Peura to load the log onto his truck and mill it back in his yard. For about $.35 per board foot, Peura milled out 500 board feet into one-inch thick boards, ranging up to 14 inches wide. Letcher and Monosson had hoped to build kitchen cabinets and a table in the coming winter, so needed to kiln-dry the maple lumber first. Forest Products Associates in Greenfield, a dry-kiln and lumber retailer that Letcher patronizes, could custom-dry the 300 board feet of lumber that Letcher wanted for their projects, as long as he was willing to wait until his relatively small batch of lumber could be combined with another requiring the same drying schedule. Forest Products Associates charged $0.35 per board foot, which Letcher happily paid. So far his out-of-pocket cost for this windfall was $.70 per board foot—not bad when the going price for unplaned dried stock can be $3.00 to $4.00 per board foot. With a woodworking shop full of tools, Letcher and Monosson would do the rest of the job, and their growing children would see first-hand where wood comes from.

Five years ago, Marcia and Dick Starkey left the encroaching urban sprawl in Worcester County for a quieter rural lifestyle on the outskirts of Greenfield. When clearing brush in the overgrown barnyard of their new home, Marcia discovered a pile of cherry lumber that years before had been carefully stacked and stickered. Sorting through the pile, she discovered that much of the wood had rotted when moisture invaded the old covering. In spite of this, the Starkeys, both thrifty and tantalized by the prospect of a beautiful cherry floor, sifted through the pile to find enough boards for a small sun porch floor in the house. The wood was included in a batch sent over the border to Kerber Farms in Guilford, Vermont. There the boards were sized, planed and molded into flooring. At a minimal cost, the Starkeys had the satisfaction of reclaiming wood that had been harvested nearby and putting it to a new use.

HARDWOOD FLOORING 16 The Forest as Setting

f the first two enterprises depicted here have one thing in common, it’s Iforests with a view. Both Patchwork Farm Writing Retreat and Stump Sprouts Guest Lodge & Cross Country Ski Center are located high on forested or meadowed hillsides, with expansive views over the landscape that we know and love as western Massachusetts. Both business owners are forest landowners with creativity, vision and dedication to land stewardship. Both are enrolled in the State’s current use program (Chapter 61) which makes property taxes on these open spaces affordable. With an ownership emphasis on aesthetics and recreation, the management of these forest properties complements and enhances the livelihoods that are made here.

Patchwork Farm Writing Retreat is a relatively new business that nurtures writers with the forest as a setting. Drawing writers from around the region and beyond, it lives up to the Hilltowns’ reputation as a home to writers, musicians and artists who earn a creative living tucked away in these wooded hills. Stump Sprouts, a business almost three decades old, is emblematic of the hiking and skiing opportunities for which the region is known—not the drama of the mountains to the north, but the pleasure of a more intimate, rolling landscape that was once inhabited by hilltop farms and woodlots. Klaus Land Improvements illustrates the sort of woods business that supports the long term aesthetic, wildlife, and quality timber values that stewardship-minded landowners seek. Yet the enhancement of these values doesn’t always produce a merchantable product, and so developing a viable business is not easy. A maple sugaring operation helps to keep this entrepreneur productive in the sugarhouse at a time of year when most large machinery should be out of the woods.

17 The potential to expand tourism in the region is explored, first by looking at two businesses that blend well with the working landscape. Blue Heron Farm has found success in diversification over its three decades, varying a combination of livestock and crop-based enterprises. With a focus today on maple syrup, Norwegian Fjord horses and meat goats, its owners have added in four rental units for farm stay vacations. High Pocket Farm Bed & Breakfast, a newer business, offers guest accommodations for people and riding horses in the farm and forest-studded landscape where it sits. Then, by looking at other New England tourist regions with reputed trail net- works, the opportunity to develop tourism through regional collaboration is considered. One corner of our region has just begun promoting ecotourism in the North Quabbin Woods with the formation of an Ecotourism Task Force. One strategy identified by this group of local stakeholders resulted in the North Quabbin Guide Training Program. Graduates of this new program are now looking at ways to market their businesses outside of their area.

FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES

1. Nurturing Creativity on a Wooded Hillside When her writing groups gather in the cozy, south-facing cottage, high in the center of her woods, Patricia Lee Lewis wants her students to feel the nearness of trees, sky and earth. The sighting of the cabin and its abundant windows looking southeast to the Holyoke Range makes these elements feel very present. She wants to embrace the many writers who attend writing workshops or retreats with a setting that is “nature in its own terms.” No overly manicured woods, nor freshly cut stumps.

A Writer and Her Business The forested mountainside on which these workshops are conducted is central to the experience writers have at Patchwork Farm Retreat. At the mid-day break, participants typically walk the network of trails that lace the property and often spend reflective time there as well. Urban writers respond to the special qualities of the woods with particularly strong writing. For those who live in more rural areas and are familiar with natural settings, they too, often weave trees, stones, mosses, birds, wind and quality of light at Patchwork Farm into poems, short stories and novels. Writers from all backgrounds are enriched and renewed as they walk, sit, listen and allow their imaginations to be inspired by time in the woods. Lewis hasn’t always earned her living from Patchwork Farm Retreat, though she has owned the land since the mid-1970s. Known in this region for her dedication to social and economic justice through public service, Lewis made a mid-life change in profession to develop her own writing and teaching talents. She turned to the peace and beauty of her own woods as a place to nurture her new enterprise. Today Lewis leads two writing workshops each week for about half the year, and one weekend writing retreat each month. These gatherings are held in her cozy home. The other half of the year, she leads week-long writing retreats offsite in Mexico, Scotland and Costa Rica. Like most beautiful spots with a view, access to Patchwork Farm Retreat is up a long, steep road and can be challenging in the winter. So as not to put her writing students through the terror of an icy driveway, she has held winter sessions at a location down in town, but it just didn’t have the right feel—a testimony to the forest setting and its gentle inspiration. Lewis’ scheduling solution to this dilemma is partly solved by leading the Mexico retreat in the winter, but she would like to find ways of earning additional income in the winter.

THE FOREST AS SETTING 18 The Practical Side of Forest Management The 103 acres of Patchwork Farm have been enrolled in Chapter 61 since 1979, which has made the property taxes on her Tree Farm affordable at $1,200 per year. It is managed according to a forest management plan developed first in 1978 and subsequently revised every ten years. The most recent version—a Forest Stewardship Plan—addresses more than wood production and is a better reflection of her current management goals. Over the past 24 years, management has included: a hemlock harvest to build two rustic cabins; a cordwood harvest of poor quality trees from a 20 acre area; a timber stand improvement cutting over much of the property; and the removal of mature, toppling spruce, originally planted as a windbreak. The enlightened Stewardship Plan called for a series of walking trails that were created and then maintained each year as a cost of her writing retreat business. A clearing created by the 1988 logging operation has been kept open for wildlife. Even though logging and firewood operations have grossed $27,000 in revenue (an average of $1,125 per year), Lewis reports that she has spent more than that on the trail cost-share, repairs needed from road damage and other operating costs. But she is quick to add that if annual property tax savings due to enrollment in Chapter 61 for 24 years were taken into account, that net loss would no doubt turn into a net gain.

Meeting Aesthetic & Wildlife Goals In spite of all the timber-related planning and management, wood production is not Lewis’ ultimate management goal. Although she doesn’t shy away from timber harvesting in general, for her purposes it’s the big trees that she wants to grow—not cut. What Lewis most wants is a man- agement plan in the service of her aesthetics goals. She envisions shifting her plan so that its central emphasis is on special wooded and open areas, such as the pond, meadow, large mature trees, boulder fields and standing stones that are integral to the retreat experience. Around these areas some careful aesthetic landscape design work could be done, including places to sit protected from insects, to write and to observe. Patchwork Farm Retreat integrates trail use with the workshop experience, bringing participants a step deeper into connection with the woods. Not long ago a property trail map was developed for Lewis depicting the network that reaches through her 103 acres to special places that might otherwise be missed. For now she’s conceded some bright yellow signs at trail junctions in the woods so that visitors can readily interpret the map. Her goal is for visitors (especially those

THE FOREST 19 AS SETTING from urban settings) to feel comfortable and willing to take risks—an underlying premise with the writing experience Lewis creates for her students. Wildlife, of course, is part of nature’s aesthetic. Turkeys wander near her cottage and are visible from the spacious windows. Signs of moose were spotted in the clearing at the height of her property. A plan with the central goal of Lewis’ nature aesthetic might propose that her winter firewood needs come from areas where thinning poor quality competing trees would increase the growth on the large specimen or wildlife mast trees. Other habitat-enhancing activities could be woven into her plan, such as reclaiming the fast closing 2-acre clearing that moose have used. Keeping forest aesthetics fully in mind, any harvesting would be scheduled in the off seasons when the nature trails receive little use. Timing with an upcoming flush of spring growth could do much to buffer any signs of woods work. Because Lewis uses her home as her place of business, she can deduct forty per cent of the house costs, including heat, electricity, maintenance and road upkeep when filing income taxes. Many of the land management costs can also be considered business expenses, and this helps when it comes to defraying the costs of woods work (for example, trail clearing and maintenance, pond maintenance, insurance, equipment, mowing and weed whacking).

Ideas for Business Expansion In addition to an explicit shift in forest management goals and the projects that would ensue, Lewis would also like to create primitive tent sites so that more writers can stay on-site for overnight retreats. Her idea to build a structure on an existing shed site behind her cottage, overlooking the valley is a more involved undertaking. This would be the central gathering place for writing, yoga and other appropriate workshops. This building would have a kitchen, showers and bathroom facilities to serve nearby cabins and tent sites. Although Lewis’ workshop schedule is currently as full as she would like, such a building would allow Patchwork Farm Retreat to be used to a greater capacity by other workshop leaders. This rental income could take the pressure off of having to use the steep hill in the dead of winter. Certainly our region is famous for the many writers who found solitude here. Emily Dickinson, William Cullen Bryant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and Robert Frost all nurtured their creativity in quiet woods of this area. Owing to her talent as a creative writer and teacher, Lewis would likely have a successful business in another setting. Yet she probably couldn’t afford to cultivate the trails and forest aesthetics she has, without being able to justify it as a business expense. Lewis keeps her land undeveloped and healthy, and the woods in return offer a setting that supports her economic productivity. Thus, Patchwork Farm Retreat passes on the region’s tradition of nurturing creativity. 2. Year-round Recreation and More

Creating a Business from Scratch With 25 years of experience in the business, Lloyd and Suzanne Crawford are in a good position to reflect on the use of private forests for recreational enterprises. Established on a 450-acre former hilltop farm in Hawley, the young Crawfords started Stump Sprouts Cross Country Ski Center back in 1977, on land that his grand- parents had purchased the decade

THE FOREST AS SETTING 20 before. After earning a degree in Natural Resources and a few years apprenticing to a family-owned environmental education facility that did cross country ski programs in Northern Michigan, Crawford knew this was the business he wanted to establish in Hawley. The late 1970s was a good time to open a ski touring center because this sport was relatively new in the United States and increasing in popularity. With the Crawfords’ children now reaching college age, they, too, have grown up and contributed to the business. Stump Sprouts is truly an inter-generational enterprise. With a trail system established early on in 1977, the family set about transforming the original barn into a multi-purpose space that could accommodate banquets, large meetings, parties and game space. Using logs harvested from their own woods, they next built a cozy rustic guest lodge with the capacity to house 20 in its bunk rooms, dining room and kitchen. In later years, three more guest rooms were added to the farmhouse and these accommodations have become the bread-and-butter of Stump Sprouts. This is true for several reasons. First, New England winter skiing conditions fluctuate from year to year, even though at its high elevation Stump Sprouts claims some of the best natural snow conditions in the region. Second, Crawford learned pretty early on that while people aren’t accustomed to paying for the actual costs of maintaining trails and a parking lot, they will readily pay for food and lodging, and so these services underwrite the outdoor experience. Finally, Crawford observes that people really like to be with friends in a rustic and open environment. He feels that hotels wall off people from one another and don’t offer enough inviting spaces to simply hang out. The visitors that return year after year like nothing better than to eat tasty food, sleep in simple accommodations, and enjoy the outdoors in each other’s weekend company. Add organic flower and vegetable gardens, a wood-fired sauna and an extensive network of trails, and you have a forest-based business that draws a couple thousand people to the region each year.

Marketing the Business With guest lodging as the primary economic activity, when winter rolls around, Crawford has learned to market winter weekends instead of ski weekends. He wisely promotes nearby attractions —down hill skiing at nearby Berkshire East, skating on state forest ponds, snowshoeing in the surrounding forests—should the cross-country skiing be compromised by weather. In fairer weather, hiking, mountain biking, white-water rafting on the Deerfield River or fishing are popular activities. Many groups return to use the lodge for two or three day Board retreats, yoga and meditation workshops, country weddings, family reunions and other special events. With a store of happy customers built up over the years, marketing consists of an email to each of his loyal clientele to confirm whether they want the same weekend for the upcoming year. Although much of this customer base accrued before internet technology, Crawford says that

THE FOREST 21 AS SETTING the internet is helpful in one particular way: the use of color photography is now affordable, and it greatly enhances his ability to portray the Stump Sprouts setting, for its views and environs are its most stunning asset. Although Stump Sprouts is unique, it is not, of course, the only beautiful hilltop setting in the region. For guest lodging that offers a quiet get-away in an informal and lovely setting, Crawford feels there is an untapped potential. If the ever-accelerating pace of our society is any indication, the urge to retreat to a comfortable place in the country will grow proportionally, and Crawford’s prediction will be proven true.

Forest Management: Trail Clearing & Firewood With 450 acres of hillside, Stump Sprouts is laced with 16 miles of trails that serves both winter and summer activity. Some are double-tracked, some single. All must be maintained each year. Preseason trail work takes about 100 hours each year, usually taking place after leaf-fall. To cut back encroaching growth and remove fallen trees or limbs, a variety of small equipment is used, including a small walk-behind sickle bar mower, chain- saws and brush saws. A small bulldozer is used for stump removal, drainage maintenance and skidding logs. The property is enrolled in Chapter 61, but the fact that trails and aesthetics are the most important goals to this landowner makes Chapter 61 an awkward fit with its focus on timber production. Equally awkward would be enrollment in Chapter 61B (habitat and recreational use) because this outdated section of the law assumes that recreational areas do not use harvesting as a management tool to enhance aesthetics or wildlife habitat. In spite of this, Crawford understands that there is enough flexibility in a Chapter 61 plan to stay in the program. The yearly removal of 17 to 20 cords of poor quality trees to heat Stump Sprouts has slowly improved growing conditions for the once heavily cut-over land. In future years when quality timber becomes mature, perhaps some careful harvests can contribute to the business’ long-term revenue picture.

Perspective on the Business Climate Each forest entrepreneur brings his or her own assets to a new business: an inherited family property, a business passed down, unique talents, a particular vision or philosophy. To create a business like Stump Sprouts today would require a small fortune to purchase such acreage, even in very rural Hawley. The fact that his parents could pass along the land to his generation was a huge hurdle cleared. Crawford also observes that today building codes, water and septic regulations can be prohibitive, and that he likely couldn’t get the required permits for the very same structures that he renovated or built 25 years ago. At the same time that environmental protections limit or forbid development on inappropriate sites, some times they restrict sensible, safe, and low- impact uses of the land (the Crawfords have five buildings on 450 acres). When this is the case, it is a potential loss to a vibrant and lasting rural economy. Asked if any small business support might have been helpful to him over the years, he replied that even though he’s had to “go it alone,” he hasn’t really minded. He did develop a business plan years back and thought it useful even though the business didn’t exactly follow his blue print. As for state programs, he admitted that he’s starting to sound like an old-timer at the relatively young age of 50, but he’d rather be left alone: that is, no more regulations, thank you.

THE FOREST AS SETTING 22 The Future The Crawfords now run a mature business that gives them a decent living and the lifestyle they choose. Raised on the wooded slopes and meadows of Stump Sprouts, the two Crawford children have “come of age” in the family business. Now with the oldest in college, Crawford would love to see one or both of them make a living at Stump Sprouts, but not before taking in more of the world. He wants reassurance that returning here is a clear choice among alternatives, rather than a default decision. This, of course, will be up to them and their vocational and lifestyle leanings. Crawford sees the possibility of other businesses that could coexist nicely with the current one. This would allow his children—or for that matter, others seeking a location for a start-up rural enterprise—some flexibility to make a business their own. So far, he says, it is an open question, but there is time. 3. A Unique Harvesting Niche Not only is Ed Klaus of Leyden a skilled mechanic who earned much of his living in a machine shop, but he also grew up working on farms—repairing ditches, digging stock ponds, clearing land for fields and tending the land. Add his inquisitive mind to this mechanical expertise and sensibility for the land, and you have a vital member of a sustainable wood economy. To manage and protect the complexities of a forest ecosystem and the myriad objectives of its many owners, we need a wide variety of tools to do the job.

Creating a Business Niche with Small Scale Equipment Since 1999 when he left his machine shop job to start his own business, Klaus has been creating wildlife habitat, improving forest stands for timber, processing firewood, sawing boards on his own small mill, building trails and various other projects. At a time when forestry consultants report that it is getting harder to find operators who want to do this range of non-commercial work, Klaus is carving out a niche for himself with an unconventional array of tools. His fleet consists of a 4-wheeler with a self-loading cordwood trailer, a small farm tractor and winch, a small rubber-tired skidder, a small chipper, dump truck, and a small manual sawmill. He’ll also rent crawler tractors and excavators when necessary. This smaller equipment is nicely suited to the job that he likes most: forest stand improvement work. Licensed foresters contract with Klaus to create small clearings for wildlife when that activity is specified in a forest management plan. If the clearing is to be permanent, he can clear and stump the area and plant biannual grasses that are attractive to wildlife. He’ll build trails and do the careful work of leaving slash low to the ground, highlighting specimen trees or clearing some of the understory so people can see through the woods. Another aspect of improvement work is thinning an immature timber stand, with an eye to removing poor quality and crowded trees (unless it is a wonderful old den tree). This is an essential activity if a landowner intends to increase the long-term productivity and quality of a forest.

Service vs. Product Extraction Unlike logging outfits that are equipped to remove quantities of large merchantable logs, Klaus provides a service and as such, has not designed his business around the economics of wood extraction. With an eye to what’s remaining in the stand, his “finished product” is the creation of forest conditions that improve aesthetics, habitat, recreational use or future timber value. To this end, he charges an hourly rate because there may be no stumpage purchase driving the transaction. Are people willing to pay for this service? Over the years, traditional government incentive payments were focused strictly on timber production, but since the early 1990s they have expanded to cost-share wildlife habitat improvements, for example, which do not generate

THE FOREST 23 AS SETTING any wood products. In this sense, society has recognized the value of non-extractive services and become willing to share these costs with landowners. By charging an hourly rate, Klaus doesn’t rely on the removal of products to make a job financially viable. However, when the management prescription includes the possibility of firewood or a few small sawlogs that Klaus can mill back at home, it lessens the cost of the work for the landowner. In this way much of the tree is utilized, the remaining tangle of slash left on the ground is minimal and the aesthetics of the stand is better. Without strong and diverse wood product markets, this type of business will thrive only on landowners’ willingness to pay well for a service. Notably, homeowners have grown accustomed to paying dearly for shade tree removal and other land- scaping services, but when it comes to larger acreages in the woods, folks aren’t accustomed to paying. Yet without the services that Klaus offers, forest landowners cannot realize the full value of their timber, wildlife habitat and aesthetics.

Strategic Cash Flow with Maple Sugaring Most land-based businesses have a “down” time, and for most conscientious woods operators, it is mud season. To keep the income flowing, Klaus began a maple sugaring operation 17 years ago. He and his wife own and live on 13 acres, and most of this is a mature maple sugarbush. In recent years he’s averaged 25 gallons and markets this to both retail and wholesale outlets. Testimony to his stewardship ethic, he didn’t tap out this year because his maples had an infestation of pear thrips and leaf miner on top of drought, though he was able to buy sap in the neighborhood. In 1999 Klaus was an early adopter of the small diameter health spouts for his plastic tubing system. He likes them a lot because the smaller holes are fast-healing, the tap hole injury is less, and more of the sapwood remains available to transport sap instead of being relegated to forming scar tissue. Klaus’ low-impact equipment is ideal for thinning work within the sugarbush. With slash kept low to the ground and room in the canopy for large crowns, the aesthetics of the Klaus’ forest is striking.

Future Directions Eager to make his business thrive, Klaus has already taken advantage of business training courses at Franklin Community Development Corporation and received help from a retiree to build a website. He’s also attended the Game of Logging (a logger training and safety course with a national reputation for excellence) and makes use of the internet to be in touch with others doing related work. What would make a significant difference to his young business would be affordable loans. With banks charging 13% or 14% interest for small business loans, Klaus is reluctant to borrow. For rates under 10% he would take out a loan and make changes to his equipment line-up that would allow him to keep his light touch in the woods, but spend less time on maintenance and building equipment in the shop.

THE FOREST AS SETTING 24 Still in the formative stages of his business, Klaus is not fully settled on which direction to go. He likes doing low-impact improvement work and has plenty of it, but knows that to boost his income he needs to be successful at value-adding. Already he’s experimented with a number of options: lumber, hand hewn beams, rustic furniture, and selling specialty pieces to artisans. As a member of the new Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative, L.L.C, (MWC) Klaus should be able to benefit from this group’s growing network of landowners, wood processors and niche markets. At the same time his flexible and low-impact equipment is an important asset to the MWC in bringing small volumes out of the woods. Feeling more at home in the woods than in the confines of his old job, Klaus intends to disprove his co-workers’ prediction that he’ll end up back in the shop. He’d also like to leave a thriving business for his sons. For the forests’ sake, we need to keep Klaus and others like him productive and thriving in their businesses.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

4. Tourism for the Working Landscape Western Massachusetts has a number of rural bed & breakfasts, inns, farm vacations and camp- grounds that cater to people looking to spend the night in the country. These businesses are often small-scale operations run by resident families, and each has its unique combination of setting, facilities and services. With core assets of abundant public land, even more private land, miles of public trail networks, historic villages and geological formations, the region’s rural landscape could support more tourism. The key question is: what kind of tourism? Would upscale resorts be compatible with working forests and farms? Would a Disney-like theme park fit the brand of tourism that The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people?” Local examples of this so-called “ecotourism” demonstrate particularly well how lodging can reflect the character and traditions of the countryside at the same time that they welcome visitors to enjoy the area.

Two Local Businesses Blue Heron Farm in Charlemont, run by Norma Coli with part- time help from her husband Bill, is an example of a local business that offers farm stays in one of four rental units. At the heart of the farming operation is a 3,000 tap certified organic sugaring business. The majority of the taps used are the new smaller diameter type which cause less sapwood staining and which seal off much more quickly than standard spouts. Other elements of the farm are a 1/3 acre highbush blueberry patch, a Norwegian Fjord horse breeding and training program, and a small but growing herd of Boer (meat) goats. As the Coli’s farm business has grown over the past 29 years, they have been able to invest in four fully-furnished units for farm vacation rentals as a way to increase their overall assets and improve their cash flow. Coli is clear about the unique brand of lodging that Blue Heron Farm offers: “Farm stays are not entertainment—we simply go about our business and visitors are welcome to join in.” Although farm work is not required, the Coli’s have been pleased that many guests, particularly the youngsters, want to help with chores. In the past, guests have helped with sugaring, brush clearing and burning, haying, blueberry picking, and barn chores. So far, enough people think this is just the right way to spend time in the country, and the four units are doing well. Farm vacation rental units have been added gradually over time. The first one materialized when in 1984 the Coli’s decided to build a new sugar house. They realized that with the addition of a kitchen and sleeping area, the new sugarhouse would make a good rental unit for short or

THE FOREST 25 AS SETTING longer term, year-round lodging. The second and third opportunities came when other dwellings on small adjacent parcels came up for sale. The fourth and most recent unit was built for an aging parent who needed extra care and was willing to share the building costs with the family. Because all units were a substantial investment, the Coli’s had to be willing to assume some risk. A key to these business decisions has been a small local bank that knew them personally. Unfortunately, it is getting harder to find this type of personal relationship and stake in the community in today’s banking world. Coli feels there is potential for more of this type of tourism in the area. Over the years she’s seen an increase in the number of people wanting to visit or stay in the hill towns. This has been manifest by over 22,000 “hits” on the web site that the farm launched about three years ago. Coli feels strongly that accommodations need to be of high quality in order to attract a “high end” clientele. Sophisticated travelers have come to expect lodgings that are clean, comfortable, well-furnished and equipped. Although many Blue Heron Farm guests come solely for the peace and quiet, being situated near a variety of activities such as skiing, hiking, river rafting and tubing, concerts, fairs, museums and other cultural offerings is also a plus. Though not every landowner is suited to the interpersonal skills that this kind of endeavor takes, for some it can be a good opportunity for additional income. Like most successful small farmers, the Coli’s have kept Blue Heron Farm flexible and diverse over the years, and the farm stay lodgings are just one example of their entrepreneurial creativity. Recently, they have been able to expand their sugaring operation and improve the efficiency of this and other farm operations, by applying to the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources’ Farm Viability Program. After being approved for the program, the Coli’s worked with a consultant to develop a long term business plan and have placed a 10-year conservation restriction on their land in exchange for funds to carry out the business plan. This conservation restriction and their long-term participation in Chapter 61A are con- sistent with the Coli’s desire to preserve and protect the farm and its prime farmland and healthy woods for future generations. High Pocket Bed & Breakfast in Colrain is another example of a small enterprise that makes the most of its bucolic surroundings by incorporating local trail use into the experience it offers. This aptly named business overlooks the Green River valley, northward into the hills of southern Vermont. With 650 acres of farm and forestland, its owners, Mark and Sarah McKusick, created this new business as a strategy for conserving a traditional farmhouse and the surrounding landscape. What makes their business unique is the possibility for guests to either board and ride their own horse here, or take a guided trail ride on one of the McKusick horses, stabled nearby. The McKusicks have optimized trail riding at High Pocket B&B by having an agreement with neighbors to use their trails as well. With this creative arrangement, they can offer their guests about 50 miles of trail for riding, hiking, skiing or mountain biking. 5. Adding Value to Tourism through Regional Collaboration Western Massachusetts may have strong individual businesses to serve visitors, but a locally- driven effort to create trail, river or road-linked networks for nature- and culture-based activities might be a way to build a regional identity that would draw the right kind of tourists to this bucolic region. A few examples from New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine can prompt further thinking in our own region about what might be complementary enterprises within the working landscape.

THE FOREST AS SETTING 26 What Neighboring States Are Doing Inspired by the European alpine hut system, the Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) hut- to-hut system in the White Mountains National Forest is the only one of its kind in the east. Established in 1922, it has been offering lodging, food and nature interpretation to hikers along the Appalachian Trail for decades. Designed for serious hikers old and young, the hut program makes spectacular, high elevation trails accessible to those seeking a longer hike without having to carry a 60-pound pack loaded with food and shelter. The 56 miles of trail linking eight huts takes the average person about eight days to hike, but two to three day trips are common. Today its strong reputation ensures a steady stream of hikers to this region of New Hampshire. For a different kind of traveler, Country Inns Along the Trail is a trip-planning enterprise established in the mid 1970s. It designs self-guided or guided biking, hiking, skiing and snow- shoeing trips for individuals or groups. A network of 21 Vermont inns located in the Green Mountains and Champlain Valley serve these varied trip packages. The business provides services, including all manner of trip planning, bicycle or car shuttles and tour guides. In the backcountry of northern Maine, Timberland Trails, Inc. of Conway, New Hampshire manages recreational leases on 24,000 acres of International Paper timberlands. Along more than 75 miles of marked wilderness routes, the company has developed a series of 11 yurts and a rustic lodge to support a tremendous diversity of year-round recreational activities: cross-country skiing, dog sledding, snowshoeing, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, swimming and hunting. Why yurts? This traditional round dwelling is used by nomadic herders in Asia, and is wooden-framed, cloth-skinned and portable. When forests are scheduled for harvest in Phillips Brook Backcountry, any hut that might be impacted by the operation can be relocated to a quieter, more aesthetic location. The yurts are equipped with bunk beds and mattresses, a wood-burning stove and a propane cooking stove. A number of outfitter and guiding businesses also support the recreational activity there.

A Massachusetts Example in the North Quabbin Woods Back at home, a new vision for ecotourism is taking shape in a cluster of nine towns just north of the Quabbin Reservoir. Thanks to a major community forestry grant awarded to New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF), a non-profit committed to the conservation of working forests, a new initiative was spawned to support the sustainable development of the area’s forest economy. An Ecotourism Task Force was created as part of this work. Through a series of meetings facilitated by a marketing specialist, community members on the Task Force were able to work together to devise strategies to encourage ecotourism in their region, while promoting envi- ronmental stewardship. One of these is aimed at boosting the region’s infrastructure for outdoor guided tours. Thus, NEFF and the local Athol Bird and Nature Club launched the North Quabbin Guide Training Program.

North Quabbin Guide Training Program With the long-term hope of building and strengthening the cadre of tour guides in the North Quabbin Woods, NEFF staff set about developing a guide training curriculum that could be offered for three consecutive years. They astutely reasoned that if they could draw those with a deep love and passion for the North Quabbin Woods, it would lead to the best promotion of the area. With the help of local educators, MA Fish & Wildlife staff, Athol Bird & Nature Club, hunting and fishing experts, the Task Force mapped out a curriculum covering topics from nav-

THE FOREST 27 AS SETTING igation skills and safety, to natural and cultural history and stewardship; from small business skills and “leave no trace” practices, to teaching techniques and leadership. The first class of six participants spent 150 hours in the classroom and field covering the diverse syllabus. Each was currently a resident of the North Quabbin region or had grown up there. Some sought to start full time businesses, others seasonal ones, and others still wanted to be better equipped to lead walks for schools and community groups. The first North Quabbin Guides graduates have already formed a North Quabbin Guide Association and are now developing a brochure to promote their businesses and the region. Over the next couple of years NEFF staff will help trained tour guides with marketing and find ways to promote lodging and food enterprises—both critical links in the network. With just four Bed & Breakfasts in the nine-town area, a few more establishments would help to strengthen the region’s infrastructure for guided tours.

Why Not Here? Our region has neither the height nor drama of the White and Green Mountains, nor the rugged back country of northern Maine. But it does have a particularly unique blend of nature, culture and working landscape—a balance more reminiscent, perhaps, of western Europe. It also has an abundance of state-owned forests and wildlife management areas, some of which could use some management attention. Why not walking, hiking, riding or biking tours through lovely wooded landscapes, punctuated with fine food, simple lodging and cultural offerings at the end of the day? Can public and private interests cohere to create a fruitful outcome for the regional economy without compromising ecosystem values? Is it possible to successfully market a region for its landscapes in a way that is compatible with the working farms and forests? Can communities in the region agree on what is sustainable for the area? These are the questions to tackle as we seek a sustainable future.

THE FOREST AS SETTING 28 Timbers for Framing Embracing the Past & the Future

here’s a reason we look to past building traditions for ways to Tstrengthen the local wood economy. Two hundred years ago, most people built homes from the ample supply of wood growing nearby. Chestnut for framing timbers, pine for clapboards, oak for furniture. As Massachusetts woods were cleared for farming, the regional wood supply shifted north, south, and west, and today our basic shelter is no more likely to come from here than the food we eat. Most homes are made of pre-fab- ricated modules (a term that hardly evokes the warmth and beauty of wood) and shipped from factory to building site on a truck proclaiming “over-sized load.” Wood is typically grown in an industrial-sized forest, assembled elsewhere, and transported using fossil fuel from very far away.

Timber framing, a building method that has always relied on local materials, is making a come-back. The Timber Framers Guild, an international non-profit organization dedicated to keeping alive this tradition, claims, “The reason for its increasing popularity is clear: timber framing is a building style that unites sound construction techniques with handsome materials to produce a natural, yet beautiful, result. Timber frames offer a feeling of strength, durability, and spaciousness.” In a pilot project for the Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative, L.L.C. (MWC), Dave Bowman, a Cummington land owner and timber framer, explores the market feasibility of framing timbers. His business includes the design, milling and building of timber frames. With thrift and ingenuity that any Yankee would admire, Bowman uses a wide array of local species in his work, as well as portions of the tree that many would discard. Finding uses for the odd burl, an unusual grain pattern, a graceful crook, is a clever way to create value from something that might otherwise become a chunk of firewood. Bowman’s new woodworking shop demonstrates resourcefulness at its height.

29 Another local business—Porter and Noonan’s Draft Horses—applies an old tradition to a growing awareness and demand for low-impact logging on small private forest holdings. Recognizing that the scale of conventional logging equipment does not serve every operation, in the hands of a skilled woodsworker, a team of horses can make a lot of ecological and economic sense. Porter marks his entry into full-time horse logging on the harvest portrayed in this pro- file. A closer look at his business brings to light issues needing resolution for a strong forest economy. Evocative of our region’s history, the timber frame endures in many forms. Cavernous old barns harbor a farming way of life. Covered bridges shelter a road crossing once traveled by horse-powered wagons and carts. Vivid, too, is the cultural symbol of the community barn-raising, in which villagers relied on one another for the final assembly of a home, barn, town hall, or school. The timber frame is a simple and strong construction made visible, that any amateur can intuit. Count the rings on a massive timber spanning the interior of a two hundred year old building, and you might find yourself trying to envision our forests before European settlers arrived—a time when Pocumtuck and Nipmuck people called this land home. Two sister organizations in western Massachusetts—The Heartwood School and the Timber Framers Guild— keep alive this old tradition and find that it can also serve our future very well.

FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES

1. A Pilot Project: The Timeless Process of Making Timber Frames To the customer, a timber frame home is strong, beautiful, energy-efficient and lasts for generations. To the timber framer, this construction technique offers additional advantages. It is an opportunity to rely on locally grown materials. Designs call for green (freshly cut) wood, so the kiln-drying step is eliminated. Because the processing steps to create timbers are relatively few, the costs of moving wood along the production chain are low. Add to that the allure of a centuries-old art and the ability to use traditional tools, and you have the attributes of a building style that ideally suits small business owner, Dave Bowman of Cummington.

A Vertically Integrated Business Bowman lives and creates timber frames from his 80-acre woods and meadow. Getting his start with Jack Sobon, an area framer who helped lead the revival of the hand-tool timber framing movement, Bowman’s first timber frame was his own cabin. He harvested trees from his own woods and took them to a nearby mill to be sawn into timbers. A few years later he joined the minority of framers that also operate their own portable sawmill. By mastering this skill he now has far more control over the quality of the timbers, and now he claims he wouldn’t do otherwise. In the long run, getting high milling quality saves him time and the hassle of trying to return materials that do not meet his standards. Fifteen years and some 30 to 40 timber frames has made him adept at choosing and felling appropriate trees to meet the needs of individual projects. He has developed a keen eye for discerning strength grades and code requirements in the standing tree. A typical timber frame uses anywhere between 2 and 10 thousand board feet of wood; that’s a 22 by 24-foot garage or a 5,000 square foot home, respectively. Timber framers design, create and assemble the frame, with only a handful of work days spent at the building site. Everything else is prepared in the shop. Once the frame is up, contractors usually build everything else, from roof to siding to finish work. Bowman builds timber frames for customers within a 50-mile radius of his home, but would consider travelling further for the right job.

TIMBERS FOR FRAMING 30 A combination of wood business expertise and a passion for sustainable communities lead Bowman to become a founding member of the Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative, L.L.C. (MWC). It wasn’t long before he urged this fledgling business to fill a modest order for framing timbers from the Heartwood School, an “owner-builder” teaching facility in nearby Washington. Knowing about an active harvest on MWC member Antonia Lake’s Worthington property, the time was right for a pilot project to test the feasibility of producing framing timbers from member properties.

Logging, Milling and Error Margins The Heartwood School order called for a total of 6,317 board feet, about 75% of which would be in timbers greater than 5-by-5-inches. The rest was to be dimensional lumber. Medium to low quality white pine from an improvement thinning on the Lake property was suitable for much of this order. Some spruce and hemlock logs (1,672 board feet of 3-by-8s, 18 and 20 feet long) had to be purchased from a logger in Becket, as no other MWC jobs were in progress to supply the order. For this profile, the volume and cost calculations tracked from this point on will only reflect the portion of the order that came from the Lake property—or 63 percent of the total material supplied for the Heartwood School order. When Bowman first went to the harvest site, the trees that were to become part of the Heartwood School order had already been chosen for cutting by Lake’s forester, Lincoln Fish of Bay State Forestry in Williamsburg. In this silvicultural treatment, Fish had marked low quality white pine trees with blue paint. The removal of these lower quality pines would create more growing space for the better quality ones that would make a fine timber crop in the future. With logging just beginning, Bowman met the operator, Kip Porter of Worthington, to discuss a log purchase. Going over the detailed list of material specified by the Heartwood School, they arrived at a price of $180 per thousand board feet, a figure that was $50 more per thousand than Porter had received from another customer. Bowman was willing to pay this price for two reasons. First, Porter was using the common 1/4-inch International Rule for measuring logs, and because the “bite” of Bowman’s saw blade is narrower at 1/8th inch, Bowman routinely yields more boards than this log rule predicts. Second, he knew he could get the exact dimensions he needed by giving the logger a list of specifications before the trees were felled and cut to length. When a logger doesn’t know the exact measurements of the product markets for which he is bucking, there is inevitably more room for waste and an eroded stumpage value. Advanced knowledge of the specific wood market resulted in a better price for Porter and a better raw material for Bowman. Not all waste can be avoided, however. Over the years Bowman has learned that he needs to purchase about 20 percent more wood volume than a job requires, to net the desired amount

TIMBERS FOR 31 FRAMING of suitable material for a job. Even though he frequently uses white pine in his work, Bowman reports that it is the trickiest species to read. If the log opens up to reveal red rot, it would be rendered useless for this order. Herein lies some of the mystery (and therefore, risk) of working with wood, and one of its hidden costs. For the pilot study, Bowman purchased 4,625 board feet of white pine (17 percent more than the Heartwood School order required) from the Lake property. Philosophical about the nature of his raw material, what Bowman can’t use in one job, he’ll use in another. Or he’ll heat his home or shop through the year.

Minimal Processing, Minimal Handling Bowman can mill 175 to 250 board feet per hour on his portable Woodmizer sawmill. This is a typical production rate for these mills, and at $45 per hour, his milling costs average about 26 cents per board foot when the mill stays parked in his own yard. He uses the front loader on his tractor to move logs from pile to sawmill. He prefers to work with an assistant to ease the handling, but can wrestle timbers and boards off the saw carriage alone if necessary. For the Heartwood order, Bowman and an assistant spent 29 hours milling the 5,082 board feet of logs that would be turned into beams, braces, and bents. Within a week, the timbers and dimensional lumber were sawn, and Bowman hand-stacked the wood nearby in preparation for delivery. As a guest instructor at the Heartwood School, Bowman knew well enough to time his delivery around one of the school’s famous home-cooked meals when he could partake of both food and the many hands that make the heavy lifting lighter. For the frames that he builds, Bowman moves the milled stock to his shop where he shapes the mortise and tenon joints, using 1850s vintage chisels and a Millers Falls boring machine. Because traditional timber frames employ freshly cut, or “green” wood, it obviates the need to spend days in a dry kiln, and the tedious and costly steps of handling and stacking materials in between. As a point of interest, some “high end” frames may reuse the seasoned beams from large, old western mills and warehouses, but these carry a price tag of two to four times that of local green timbers. Once the craftsmanship is done, Bowman schedules the timber frame raising, moves the order on a trailer behind his pickup or, for bigger frames rents a sheet rock truck, and hand-loads the product, charging for his trucking costs by the hour.

Satisfied Customer and Satisfied Landowner Later that fall, Heartwood School students transformed trees from Lake’s woods into beams, braces and joists for two school projects. One was a 32-by-48 foot replacement for a 150 year old barn that had burned down in Becket. A picture of this frame is now the cover photo for the 2003 Heartwood School course brochure. The second building is a 16-by-22 foot cabin on a family land trust on Mt. Rega, in northwestern Connecticut. Material remaining from the project “over run” would later be used for roofing boards and siding on Bowman’s new wood-

TIMBERS FOR FRAMING 32 working shop. From Lake’s perspective, the results of this first logging operation on her property were very satisfactory. She also is pleased to know her forest stewardship brought business to three local enterprises—Porter’s logging, Bowman’s milling and the Heartwood School. This business income will certainly continue to circulate through the community.

Results and Discussion As predicted, Bowman’s original purchase from Porter yielded a wood surplus of 1,103 board feet that he sawed into one-inch boards. Seventeen per cent of this surplus volume was a result of buffering the risk of undetectable defect in the logs; in this case Bowman found red rot, so some logs were rendered useless for the order. Another nine per cent was from the gain in yield from the narrow saw kerf. Giving this surplus volume a value of $.50 per board foot, and adding it to the $2,662 from the Heartwood order income, it increased the total project income to $3,213. From this total income, production costs ($2,348) were subtracted, as well as Bowman’s marginal costs ($110). What remained was a profit of $755, or 24 percent of the total project value. For this pilot, the surplus wood went to Dave Bowman who later used it in his new woodworking shop. If this were a routine MWC transaction, some portion of the margin would need to pay for the Coop’s role in the job: administration, marketing, trucking, storage, and fixed business overhead costs. The remaining would become a shared profit between the Coop and it’s members who processed wood during the year. The right-hand column in the table hypothesizes a loss to MWC when using the rule of thumb that for every dollar in production costs it takes another $.50 to cover marginal costs. The MWC would need to keep its marginal cost to $.17 per board foot to break even.

Does This Market Have A Future For The MWC? Timber Frame Project With a fraction of 1 to 2 per- based on 5,082 bf of Lake Logs cent of the national housing market, the market for timber Actual Hypothetical frame homes is only 2,000 to Dollars $/bd ft $/bd ft

3,000 each year. The INCOME Northeast, though, does have Sale to Heartwood 2,662 0.67 the largest share of the market, Surplus lumber value 551 0.50 with the Pacific Northwest, Total $3,213 0.63 (avg.) 0.63 Intermountain Northwest and Canada being important as COSTS well. Customers are typically Production second home owners in high- Stumpage 208 0.05 0.05 end vacation and resort areas, Harvest 625 0.14 0.14 or they are owner-builders. Mill Heartwood order 1,023 0.26 0.26 Experts report that there are Mill surplus lumber 284 about four times as many log Truck 208 0.02 0.02 homes as timber frames, but Total $2,348 0.47 0.47 that’s because many are less familiar with the latter. Margin Prospective homeowners seek- Sales/admin 110 0.02 0.02 ing an “earthy” or “rustic” look, Overhead (estimated) 0 0.00 0.21 think of log cabins; yet when Total $110 0.02 0.23 introduced to a timber frame, they prefer it. PROFIT $755 $0.14 -$0.07 The market for the project with the Heartwood School came

TIMBERS FOR 33 FRAMING through Bowman’s existing contacts as a timber framer and sawmill operator. The potential for the MWC to further develop this market may be limited by the regional demand for timber frames. As this market slowly grows, it may be possible to supply more framing timbers to “green” building networks and high profile community projects. However, the questionable profit margin suggested by this experiment does not make a compelling case to pursue this particular market aggressively. From his vantage point, Bowman thinks that profit margins could be enhanced in several ways. Additional equipment would make moving and loading lumber during processing and delivery more efficient. An edger would speed up milling and therefore cut down on labor costs. As for marketing support, consistent and larger orders and a market for inferior timber would boost business as well. Bowman is hopeful that the MWC can help with these kinds of improvements to his operation.

The Ultimate in Vertical Integration Bowman’s profit margin is at its peak when he harvests trees from his own woods to create timber frames. Unlike most private landowners these days, one of his chief reasons for owning land is to supply material for his business and to do all the harvesting himself. Because of the pace of his small business and the type of material he needs, some years he has used none of his own wood. When he does, his business has a high degree of vertical integration, controlling the process from stump to assembled timber frame. Profit margins typically captured by middlemen along the way are all his. Although Bowman knows his woods better than most and lives by a strong stewardship ethic, he recently had a forest management plan created for his land when he joined the MWC. Developed by Deerfield forester Michael Mauri, the plan has added value to his business in two particularly important ways. First, a stream and riparian zone that runs diagonally through the property is now well-delineated on a map, with its changing intensity more visible. He will now be better able to work away from that area when bringing trees out of the woods. Clear mapping of timber types will also help to navigate his forest-based business over the years. Second, the planning process has been helpful in that it has given Bowman some new ideas about regenerating cherry. Up until now he has typically removed single trees, here and there in the forest. He now understands that to get good seedling establishment of a sun-loving species like black cherry, he will need to harvest larger groups of trees. This will better support his wood products and wildlife habitat goals. 2. A Small Scale Logging Business

Which Operator? What Equipment? Most harvesting operations in the region are done with rubber-tired skidders that use a cable and winch to bunch, and then drag out logs to the landing. Some skidders use a grapple (a large mechanical claw) to grab and drag logs. On more level terrain, forwarders are relatively common and have the advantage of carrying the logs in a bunk, rather than dragging them along the ground. In the final analysis, though, the operator is the single most important factor in a successful harvest. While the best loggers skillfully maneuver through the woods with remarkably little damage to the remaining trees, in the hands of a poor operator—one who hasn’t planned the road layout

TIMBERS FOR FRAMING 34 and doesn’t follow Massachusetts Best Management Practices to prevent water and soil erosion— this large equipment can make a mess in the near term. What’s worse, in the long term, harvest impacts can lead to slowed volume growth on maturing trees and a longer waiting period for a new stand to establish itself. Having said this, it is helpful to have the appropriate equipment for the harvest size and terrain type. With forest ownership parcel size declining and increasing numbers of landowners with little or no harvesting experience, smaller can be smarter. In some cases, it can also make the difference as to whether a harvest occurs at all. One particularly appealing form of small scale logging is horse-powered. Whether from nostalgia or love of animals, it seems that everyone loves to watch a draft horse at work. With very few horse loggers in business today, this cultural tradition could be gasping its last breath. Yet the need for a light touch in the woods could resuscitate this time-honored tradition. Kip Porter, one of only a few horse loggers in the region, is establishing a place for himself in sustainable forestry work. Just a couple of years ago, Porter quit a machine shop job in Westfield where he’d worked for 23 years. The last 5 of those years he put in long hours as a foreman and brought home a good paycheck and benefits. With advances in technology, Porter found himself spending a lot of his time in front of a computer screen, an outcome that ran counter to his Hilltown roots and love of horses. With his family grown and his financial obligations easing, Porter felt the time was right for a change. He left his job, reaching for a lifestyle and work that would be more satisfying to him. The weekend horse logging, wagon rides and regional pulling contests that had consumed his free time had taught him the skills he needed now to make his Belgian team the center of his livelihood.

Early Lessons for a Fledgling Business As it turns out, Antonia Lake, owner of the white pine that became framing timbers for the Heartwood School, is a neighbor of Porter. She’s known him for years and shares a love of horses, so when she was scheduled to have a pine stand thinned, Porter was the logical choice. It is here that Porter got the first contract of his new horse-logging career and the earliest lessons in his business. Lesson One: How to price a job. Traditionally, loggers pay a stumpage value to the landowner based on the quality of the wood coming out, site considerations such as terrain, number of crossings, etc., and how badly they want the job. When the value of the wood is low, there is

TIMBERS FOR 35 FRAMING pressure to get the job done quickly and minimize time in the woods. But horse-logging is less about high-speed production and more about small scale operation and low-impact on the forest. Tim Carroll, president of the North American Horse & Mule Loggers Association writes that the horse logger should work for the landowner because it is she, not the mill, who owns the greatest stake in her forest’s future productivity. She is in a position to most appreciate the care taken in the woods. If a landowner is looking for rapid timber liquidation and cash flow and no thought to future productivity, a large mechanized system will do the job most efficiently. Porter’s arrangement with Lake was to give her 25 percent of the price he received for selling the logs at roadside. This might have been reasonable, but Porter had to pay for the trucking and a load of gravel needed to keep the log truck from getting stuck at the landing. By the end, his percentage of sale income was effectively 57 percent instead of 75 percent. Next time he would make the 75–25 percent split with the landowner on net revenues, not gross. Lesson Two: Site requirements for a cost-effective horse-logging job. Porter knows that not every job is suitable for horse logging, but it takes some practice to get proficient at sizing-up a woodlot before agreeing to operate there. For starters, the skidding distance has to be short. Tim Carroll recommends that anything over a 100 yard skid will probably lose money. He advises that a portable sawmill as part of a horse logging operation is a nice way to shorten the skidding distance and to add value to the wood products coming out. At the same time that not every woodlot is well-suited to horse logging, there are some sites too wet or ledgey to accommodate a skidder or tractor without causing harm. A team of horses may be a particularly valuable tool for their ability to maneuver through these areas with low ground impact. The Lake property involved a skid that took about 20 minutes for each round trip with, unfor- tunately, the biggest trees at the greatest skidding distance. Because the job included a slight uphill skid to reach the landing, the horses could only drag out one or two logs each time. In contrast, the next job that Porter has scheduled involves higher quality timber with a downhill or flat terrain skid. These two factors will allow for a greater profit margin within which to operate. Lesson Three: People like horses in their woods. For Porter, one of the most valuable aspects of the Lake job was the new business that it generated. Who can resist stopping by a horse-

TIMBERS FOR FRAMING 36 logging job? Many didn’t, and he was able to line up a good six months of work on three woodlots that range from 30 to 50 acres in size. There he’ll continue to apply the lessons he learned on the Lake property. Today’s landowners value their land for its privacy, quiet, beauty and wildlife, and it would be remiss to ignore the fact that many people feel their sensibilities assaulted by large, loud pieces of machinery, however well-handled in the woods. If harvests are to be allowed, the wood products must be removed as carefully and inoffensively as possible, especially when landowners are in residence. After one year of working full-time with his draft horse partners, Porter has managed to stay afloat and acquire some valuable experience in running his business. His financial strategy is to use logging jobs to cover his expenses, and wagon rides to cover the $3,800 of horse expenses that include hay, grain, oil, salt, vitamins, vet bills, equipment, shoes, dues, donations and advertisements. The busiest months for hayrides are November, December and January, when private parties usually hire the team in nearby towns. His fee schedule increases as does the distance from his barn. Porter notes that he probably could draw more business for summer and early fall private events, but then it would conflict with horse pulls on the fair circuit. These annual events help balance the hard work in the woods, and it is here that Porter gets to have some fun and camaraderie with other draft horse lovers. Though it’s not about winning that first place prize, overall Porter does well enough in the pulling contests to cover his travel expenses for this yearly tradition of meeting with his tribe.

Business Needs As a new business, Porter finds that it would be strategic to have access to a firewood processor for use during times when he can’t be (heavy snow cover), or shouldn’t be (soggy ground) in the woods. Located at a convenient site, a processor would allow him to add value to the tree- length firewood logs that he now sells at the going wholesale price of $200 per six cord truck load. At this price he only earns part of his daily income goal required to keep the business going. By developing his own retail markets he could gross between $350 to $400 per six-cord load, an amount that comfortably exceeds his daily goal. Cash flow is another issue for start-up businesses like Porter’s. In logging, the landowner typically requires a performance deposit, which can amount to a significant sum early on. Affordable health insurance, liability insurance—all those essentials that came with his last job. As a new business owner, Porter would like to get set up with a good accounting system and some business planning to help keep things on track. Luckily, Porter started his business with all the horse equipment (trailer, skidding rig, etc.) that he needed, but he could use a back-up chainsaw, for instance. Low interest business loans could make a difference to the survival and success of this outfit. Finally, Porter is eager to attend the Game of Logging—a valuable logger training and safety course—and other workshops, but he’ll need to carve out valuable time away from the woods. Supporting Porter’s horse logging business is supporting green business.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

3. Diversity in the Work Place: A Wood Shop Made from Many Species In our region, the most commonly specified wood for timber framing is: red oak, white pine, and hemlock. Dave Bowman, however, likes to use a wider range of species and grades in his work. In a pile of log-length firewood destined for the stove, Bowman will find curved logs, branch crotches and other useable shapes. The proof of his scavenging is in his stunning new shop. Bowman’s ingenuity and skill creates the kind of specialty use for local wood that can give his business a reputation among framers and add value to an otherwise marginal piece of wood. After working outdoors and under a huge white canvas tent for three years, Bowman had decided to build a shop to house his tools and take the chill out of the winter air. He designed a 21-by-34

TIMBERS FOR 37 FRAMING foot frame with a second floor on one end to accommodate a storage loft, and two cruck bents with sweeping cathedral-like arches in the shop’s center. Bowman used 22 species of native wood (see list at side) in its construction, and the energy effi- cient technique of insulating with hay bales and clay. The project was part of a Heartwood School design course in the summer of 2002.

FOREST CULTURE

4. Two Organizations Conserve a Tradition, Serve the Community

The Heartwood School 23 Species Used in the Bowman Wood Shop The white pine logs that became two timber frames and a woodshop roof were ordered by a small school located in the butternut woods of Becket—the Heartwood School for the Home- black walnut building Crafts. Directors Will and Michele Beemer assumed white birch leadership of this school 26 years ago. It offers week-long yellow birch workshops to mostly inexperienced owner-builders who want white pine to learn the skills and knowledge required to build an energy- red pine efficient house. Their workshop offerings include timber hemlock framing and conventional light frame construction, super- red spruce insulation techniques and passive solar design, and the use of black cherry resource-efficient materials. The School’s website states that “the people who come to Heartwood, varied as they are, white oak together share a clear determination to empower their red oak hands, to train their eyes for quality and beauty in the design chestnut oak of things, and to question and explore the ways we might sassafras live in a more honest relation with our planet.” Here is a shadbush small institution in our region that has been working quietly white ash and diligently for years toward a sustainable future. American elm More on Timber Frames and Conventional sugar maple Construction shellbark hickory To appreciate what this school and its building tradition can shagbark hickory give to us today, we need to know more about conventional balsam fir construction methods. First: longevity. Light frame stick res- American beech idential buildings have a lifespan of 50 to 75 years, certainly big tooth aspen adequate for any one homeowner. But where would our rural black olive* character be without the 150 and 200 year old buildings that * This wood is from the Caribbean, a favorite still grace our towns? Timber frame houses last a couple hundred wintering spot of this hearty New Englander. years because the frame is inside the skin (sheathing); it is better protected from the elements, kept warm, and doesn’t get as rapid deterioration in the wood. Next: beauty. Because the frame is visible, it is appreciated and there- fore better cared for. Although a timber frame uses comparable board feet in construction, the pieces are fewer and larger, and there is less saw kerf wasted (sawdust) in creating those pieces. Timber framing logically requires more skilled labor than conventional construction, and that’s the reason it is more expensive to build in the near term. Looking at the full list of its advantages, a timber frame is the ultimate reusable structure: it can be taken apart and reassembled on a different site. Lest one think that the timber framing movement is driven by nostalgia and times gone by, there is evidence that it is a style that changes over time. Since the mid-1970s, a new technology

TIMBERS FOR FRAMING 38 called “SIPS,” or struc- tural insulated panels, has increased the demand for timber frames. This sandwich of foam and particle board creates an effec- tive sheathing, over- coming the problem of having to build a whole extra interior skin to hold the insulation. These panels can span up to 24 feet, and now 95 per cent of timber frames use these labor- saving panels.

The Timber Framers Guild With the purpose of promoting the cen- turies-old craft of timber framing, The Timber Framers Guild was cre- ated, in part, by framers working in western Mas- sachusetts. This 501(c)3 non-profit organization was founded amidst a “resurgence of interest in exposed structure [that] has led to the modern timber frame revival.” Today, co-directed by Will Beemer and Joel McCarty, the Guild hosts workshops and conferences, conducts research, publishes technical and training materials and organizes community service projects—all for the purpose of passing on the knowledge and skills needed to maintain the tradition of timber framing.

A Celebration of Forest and Community The Timber Framer’s Guild has a rather remarkable tradition that speaks volumes about its place in our culture. Each year it organizes several projects, inviting its members to join in and donate their skills and energy to this community service, or Rendez-vous. The Guild has an international membership, and projects may be located around the world. Yet western Massachusetts has been lucky to have hosted three Rendez-vous in recent years, bringing together Guild members, local businesses and other volunteers to help in their communities. Gould Farm, the oldest therapeutic community in the nation for adults with mental illnesses, was blessed with a Guild project in 2000. Guild members and others built a new 56-by-36-foot barn to house a full-scale food processing operation, including licensed commercial kitchen, root cellar, classroom and marketing office. As the Gould Farm folks say, “The barn will stand as a showcase to convey our mission: to provide people with mental illnesses daily opportunities to build more meaningful lives for themselves as members of a community, not in isolation. Another local group, The Massachusetts Portable Sawmill Association, also took a major part in the project, sawing up the needed timbers for the barn.

TIMBERS FOR 39 FRAMING A second barn-raising by the Guild occurred in 2002, this time a replacement for a 100-year- old structure destroyed by fire at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield. The original barn had been built by its high school age students, and in keeping with tradition, the new one was, too. This 45- by 80-foot timber frame was constructed using traditional carpentry methods and hand tools for a particularly enriching student experience. W.D. Cowls, a sawmill and forest management company from North Amherst, provided timber from local forests. Finally, when a well-known maple sugaring operation lost its sugarhouse to fire, the Guild mobilized to replace it in another Rendez-vous gathering. This coming together to give, to labor, to learn, honors our neighbors. Through the good work of the Timber Framers Guild, we reenact our region’s history while helping neighbors, and the power of the community barn-raising endures.

TIMBERS FOR FRAMING 40 Understory Crops Useful Products, Culture, and History

here’s nothing new about cultivating forest plants for food, medicine, Thousehold objects and decoration. What is only a few generations old is our society’s rapid industrialization and light-speed technology that has distanced so many of us from the land and its lore. Thus, forest products other than logs seem like a new idea. In the last two decades, forestry communities within the industrialized world are reviving the growth and marketing of so-called special forest products or “non-timber forest products (NTFPs).” This recent trend began as an economic alternative to tropical rain forest destruction. By rediscovering markets for forest products growing beneath the sheltering canopy, the ecosystem remains healthy and the wildlife that depend on it thrive.

Examples of Understory Crops in Western Massachusetts

Decorative & Food Products Medicinal or Handicraft Products Nutraceutical Plants Maple syrup and candy Wreaths, greens, cones Witch hazel Nuts Floral greens Ginseng, black cohosh, Fruits Landscaping plants goldenseal, etc. Mushrooms Basket splints, birch bark Slippery elm, black and other wood/vine Game animals cherry bark, etc. products Recreational Access & Tourism Rustic furniture, broom handles (seeThe Forest As Setting)

41 When we bring these concepts back home to our temperate New England forests, we rediscover some old traditions and new possibilities to diversify economic activities. By far the best known and most delicious understory crop today is maple syrup. Both an historic use of the woods and one that is eco- nomically strong today, the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association, a non-profit dedicated to preserving and promoting maple sugaring statewide, lists over 60 commercial operations in the four western Massachusetts counties. Whether for love of the golden elixir or for the joy of ending cabin fever in late winter, many more families enjoy backyard sugaring as well. Paul Lagreze, owner of New England Wild Edibles in Colrain began a small business foraging for wild edible mushrooms a few years ago and took up shiitake mushroom growing to even the flow of his production. He has now been raising shiitakes for three years, with expansion plans for an ingenious set-up in an old cider mill near his home. Lagreze points to ways that the local economy could better nurture enterprises like his. A renaissance in herbal medicine in this country spurs the demand for medic- inal and nutritive uses of plants that grow in the area. Chris Marano, owner of Clearpath Herbals in Wendell, began to make his own herbal preparations for use in his clinical herbalist practice. He and his wife, Laura Maples, grow a variety of native and non-native herbs around their home site and wildcraft from forest plants growing on their 27 acres. Kathrin Woodlyn Bateman of Worthington and Paul Waite of Chester, both landscape designers and forest landowners, are beginning to experiment with establishing colonies of shade-loving herbaceous plants as well as woody perennials in the understory. Growing there for a few years, the plants will increase in value and can later be used in the landscapes they design for clients. Bateman also has a business making medicinal flower essences and is well-positioned to cultivate some shade-loving medicinal plants in the forest. Another class of understory crops is decorative and handicraft products. Northeast examples include rustic furniture, birch bark boxes, broom handles and ash splint baskets. Milton LaFond, proprietor of The Basket Shop in Chesterfield crafts these from log to finished basket, using the same tools and molds as his father-in-law who started the business back in the early 1900s. Stepping back even further into our forest use history, the Freeman Family of Brimfield brings us closer to those who once peopled this land. Making their living almost exclusively from their woods and fields, the Freemans discovered original ash splint baskets made by itinerant Native Americans of the Nipmuc nation, in the attic of their eighteenth century home. The Freemans’ land-based lifestyle and active pursuit of Native and Early Colonial history give us a compelling link—via the land—to our cultural roots.

FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES

1. Mushrooms in the Forest

Beginning with Wildcrafting Paul Lagreze’s interest in fungi began with roaming the watershed of Foundry Brook in Colrain to gather wild mushrooms growing throughout his area. In time he established relationships with a few restaurants in Northampton where chefs could appreciate the distinctive and varying flavors of morels, chicken of the woods, hen of the woods, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms and more.

UNDERSTORY CROPS 42 They also bought fiddleheads and wild leeks from him in early spring. With restaurants paying wholesale prices of $5.00 to $10.00 per pound, this gave Lagreze some income for an activity that he loves. The appearance of wild mushrooms is a bit mysterious, though Lagreze has learned the qualities of forest microclimate in which each species is likely to show. Some mushrooms are found on only one species of tree; others are more apt to associate with several. For instance, hen of the woods is found only on oak trees, but oyster mushrooms like several “soft” hardwoods such as basswood and poplar. A couple of very good and very bad wild mushroom seasons showed Lagreze the fickle nature of wildcrafting, or harvesting from the woods what nature produces on its own. This prompted him to experiment with buying shiitake mushroom spore, inoculating oak logs, and growing this popular mushroom in the forest understory where light and moisture conditions are just right.

Growing Shiitakes Lagreze likes to select his own oak logs from nearby harvesting sites. For $50 he can fill his pick-up truck with straight, consistent-diameter pieces ranging from three to five feet in length. Drilling holes is the most tedious part of his shiitake operation, and may be the limiting factor in how many logs any one person can manage. The drilling, inoculation and hole-plugging has to be done within days of tree harvest so that the inoculant has enough moisture to grow. Then the shiitake spore need 8 months at 70 degrees Fahrenheit to permeate the log with mycelia before producing a mushroom fit to harvest. Given New England weather, this waiting period can be 1 to 1.5 years. Once mushroom-bearing, the logs usually flush several times between April and late November in some years. Now at a production level of about 5,000 logs, he can expect four to five pounds of mushrooms per log, or 20,000 to 25,000 pounds of mushrooms. But that’s over the lifespan of the log which is two to four years. So, on the lower end of a projected yield that’s 5,000 pounds per year; on the higher end, 12,000 pounds. Of course this is all subject to the variability of the New England climate. The creative twist to Lagreze’s set-up is the old cider mill next door that was formerly powered by Foundry Brook. With the roof and inner structure destroyed by fire some time ago, the mill foundation and surrounding out-buildings are now mostly shaded by the forest canopy. The foundations and floors support the leaning oak logs, and the partially dammed brook makes a handy tub in which to periodically soak the logs to stimulate fruiting. At some point in the near future, Lagreze has plans to retrofit sections of the mill to more efficiently store, move and soak logs, once again using diverted brook water channeled through the millworks. Who could have predicted this latest incarnation for a hundred-year-old cider mill?

UNDERSTORY 43 CROPS Relationship with Private Lands Although Lagreze doesn’t own woods, he always asks permission to use private land when wildcrafting. He’s also worked out an arrangement with a local farmer to let him use a stream- side pasture as a laying yard for more shiitake cultivation. Here the logs sit under the proper moisture conditions while the mycelia develop. With easy access to water, Lagreze can soak the logs in the river every couple of weeks during the mushroom season. Privately-owned forest stands with good access to pine and hemlock groves especially, could make mushroom growing possible for other entrepreneurs in the area. Perhaps long-term leasing agreements could be crafted that would be mutually beneficial to both parties.

Markets and Competition When mushrooms are in season, Lagreze makes weekly trips to his restaurant buyers when he goes to Northampton for his “other” job. Local natural food stores and farmers’ markets are also receptive to local mushroom growers, though some find that this latter outlet can be too time-consuming and sales too weather-dependent. Since there are a limited number of these local outlets, Lagreze thinks cooperative marketing and trucking to city markets could strengthen his business, as well as make room for others in the region. This may be the only way to compete with the larger, year-round, greenhouse grown mushroom businesses. Using a sawdust medium in place of oak logs, the big growers have the advantage of a more consistent production environment. As with other farm produce and wood products grown in our area, the forest-grown mushroom sector can carve out a specialty niche by mar- keting its products as certified organic and locally grown. Another strategy that Lagreze considers is renting commercial kitchen space in Greenfield to concoct an irresistible and high- priced gourmet delight, made with the mush- rooms he grows. The value-adding model of production will likely produce better economic results than drilling more holes in more logs. 2. A Storehouse of Herbal Medicine A walk in the garden and woods with Chris Marano and Laura Maples is reassurance that centuries of plant lore and knowledge from many cultures will not be lost. Wild lettuce is a pain reliever, a mild sedative and an antispasmodic; sarsaparilla is a tonic and blood purifier; white pond lily root and raspberry leaf are excellent female reproductive herbs. Thanks in part to a high-tech, corporate-driven, western-oriented health care system (that many agree is broken), conventional medicine has disregarded thou- sands of years of knowledge of the healing powers of plants. Today more and more Americans look to herbal medicines for treatment of chronic illnesses, spiritual maladies and even cancer. Marano and Maples blend traditions as far ranging as Native American Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Buddhist/Taoist philosophy, and Euro-Western Herbal traditions, as well as being grounded in conventional allopathic medicine. Their work addresses the spiritual dimensions of healing as well as the physical.

UNDERSTORY CROPS 44 Bringing Together Many Traditions For 12 years Marano has worked as a clinical herbalist, treating people and sometimes animals with herbal medicines for a wide range of health issues. He came to wildcrafting because he wanted to prepare his own medicines, believing he could improve the quality and efficacy of the tinctures. Having received two university degrees in pre-medicine, science education and Chinese philosophy, he went on to study herbal medicine with some of the foremost herbalists in North America, trained with Native American teachers and even lived and practiced in a Buddhist monastery. For her part, Maples grew up in the hills of North Carolina, a region known for its richly wooded mountains, folk arts and lore, and resilient people who live close to the land. Delivered into the world by the midwife who became her mentor, she wandered the hills with this wise woman throughout her youth, learning about native plants and their medicinal qualities. Knowing from a young age that she was born to be a healer, she received her registered nurse training as a young adult, adding a dif- ferent perspective to the herbal tradition she’d been raised with. This pair of herbalists brings a fitting synthesis of healing knowledge to our time and place. Who would know the plants and their healing qualities better than the people that lived here and used these plants for healing over the millennia? Taxonomically speaking, many Chinese plants (Eurasian, for that matter) are close relatives to Northeastern American ones, sharing the many well-known genera such as maple, birch, elm, oak, pine, hemlock and more. And of course, there’s western medicine’s contribution to healing, whose merits Maples acknowledges as treatments for catastrophic illness and injury and radical high-tech therapies. However, when it comes to dealing with chronic disorders and ones with a spiritual component, she turns to herbal medicine for its time-honored tradition of success.

Making Medicine In their household, Maples oversees cultivation, while Marano oversees the alchemy of turning plants into medicine. Together they sow, tend, harvest, dry and wildcraft well over 200 species of plants from flower beds, woods, garden and meadow. They tend wild plants and grow many from seed. Their plant knowledge includes knowing at precisely what part of the growing cycle the desired portion of the plant—roots, stem, leaves, bark, flower, seed—has the best nutrition or healing power. For example, medicinal perennial roots such as burdock and dandelion are most potent at the beginning or end of the growing season, during a waning moon, and their medicine differs somewhat depending on whether the root is harvested in the spring or in the fall. Flowers such as mullein and calendula are picked during a waxing moon at the height of their freshness. Sweetfern leaves, on the other hand, become more potent as the leaves begin to discolor. Every plant has its own particular set of rules. After a careful harvest and drying, Marano uses his knowledge to prepare the tinctures, in various mixtures of water, alcohol, or glycerin. Herbs steep in this liquid for at least one lunar cycle, and then are strained and discarded into the compost pile. Marano was motivated to make medicines for his own practice so that he could control the quality of the tincture by using the freshest, purest and properly harvested plants. He can also ensure that medicines are made with the proper spiritual intention, a value that the pharmaceutical companies certainly don’t recognize.

Conscientious Harvesting The Native American practices of wildcrafting that Marano and Maples follow incorporate an ethic toward plant harvesting, referred to as “conscientious harvesting.” If taking an entire

UNDERSTORY 45 CROPS plant—that is, including the root and seed—they’ll harvest no more than 10 percent of a given population. If trimming leaves or harvesting seeds such that the plant can continue to live, 15 percent is the rule. For monitoring plants which are threatened or endangered, United Plant Savers is an important resource for Marano and Maples. This non-profit organization was founded in 1994 by Rosemary Gladstar, a great Native American herbalist and visionary, and is dedicated to native medicinal plant conservation. Its mission is “to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.” As the art of herbalism regains its place in conventional medicine, concern about over-harvesting and habitat destruction has compelled this organization to research, educate and protect this valuable native resource. Valuable medicinal plants that are on the Massachusetts endangered list due to over-harvesting— ginseng and goldenseal, for example—are now being reestablished in the wild through their ranges. Some propagators collect the seed from known wild populations and sow them back in a suitable natural habitat. Perhaps the strong economic demand that once eradicated it from our area can be the catalyst for its return. Ginseng cultivated in the woods in tilled up beds can bring $100 per pound in the market place. Plants grown without tilling in the woods bring about $200 per pound. In other states where permits are available to harvest wild colonies, these fetch a premium of about $450 per pound. For those with a “get rich quick” scheme in mind, site conditions, weather, time, slugs and deer can be limiting factors. Like other forest enterprises such as maple sugaring and shiitake mushroom growing, it may be neither possible, nor desirable to develop a large scale operation. Perhaps these are best suited to small-scale, diversified enterprises.

Relationship to Neighboring Lands Clearpath Herbals grows or wildcrafts much of the plants it uses from right off their own property. By now they have a network of friends and neighbors that allow them access to various plant colonies when the supply is particularly abundant and accessible, such as partridge berry, raspberry leaf, or black birch bark. On other private lands, permission is always requested. Marano and Maples are committed to teaching others about the healing properties of plants, and so they are beginning to offer weekend workshops at their home site. With numerous gardens and wooded trails, they envision creating tent sites on their property and more of a trail system to access various micro-sites where a range of different plants grow. With dedicated practitioners like these two, perhaps more of us can learn to tap this rich healing dimension of our native woods.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

3. Growing Landscape Plantings in the Understory The landscaping industry has done booming business in the Northeast for years. Many people spend a surprising amount of money to beautify their own small corner of the earth—digging, planting, tending and reaping a harvest of greenery and bloom. A small, but growing sector of this industry concerns itself with native plants—those that were found here before European settlement, according to the New England Wild Flower Society’s definition. This organization, dedicated to all aspects of native plant conservation, believes that using native plants for landscaping fosters regional identity and increases connection to habitats around us, including the wildlife on which it depends.

UNDERSTORY CROPS 46 Two Hilltown forest landowners and landscape designers see the possibilities for gradually expanding their businesses into the forest understory. Kathrin Woodlyn Bateman of Worthington and Paul Waite of Chester each have extensive knowledge of wild and cultivated plants, and each cherishes a rural lifestyle living close to the land.

Wild Colonies of Herbaceous Perennials Bateman’s home site is surrounded by woodland landscaping, which is the main source of her small international business, Flower Essences of Fox Mountain. This enterprise currently produces and distributes a form of internal medicine to 10 countries, using the 370 varieties of plants from her land. She is also an experienced landscape designer who has felt the burgeoning demand for native plants within the domestic landscape. Her vast knowledge of forest understory plants, combined with her network of contacts within the landscaping and alternative medicine fields, point to a logical next step for her business. Bateman is keen on growing colonies of plants in the understory. Squirrel corn, Dutchman’s breeches, wild ginger, and maidenhair fern are just a few examples of shade-loving plants that she would like to cultivate. Key to such an enterprise would be suitable access to her 25 acres of woods. Some years ago when a neighbor’s property was harvested for cordwood, she agreed to the same. Unfortunately, the felled tops that were to have been firewood were not removed as promised, and Bateman was left with an unacceptable amount of logging debris in her woods that obstructed trails. Like so many landowners, both aesthetics and good access to her woods greatly enhances her enjoyment of it. Once woods trails are reopened, Bateman envisions using her small four-wheel-drive tractor to widen and create planting beds along suitable portions of the trail. These easy-to-work shoulders would serve as her woodland nursery, as well as showcases for various species combinations. Bateman sees these naturalized settings as a savings bank of plant material for future work. She plans to add value by growing them for one to five years, but the beauty of this set-up is that the plants can last indefinitely, as long as the site conditions are stable. Costs for this business expansion would include preparing the site, the start-up plant material, and labor. With retail prices for perennial plant material ranging from $6.50 to $15.00, Bateman would need to cover her labor and plant material costs with roughly two-thirds of this amount.

Understory Shrubs Several miles to the southwest, lives Paul Waite of Chester, a friend and collaborator of Bateman. Having grown up in these hills and roamed their wooded flanks, Waite knew he wanted to own his own property. Six years ago, he found 185 acres that had just been heavily logged. The homestead dates back to the mid 1800s, and below it is a maze of old stone walls and foundations with a lively stream and waterfall running through at run-off time. This lovely quiet spot has an old feeling to it and makes a natural garden area for this landscape designer. Waite has planted some colonies among the young pole-size trees in one section and talks of establishing others inside the stonewall enclosures. What native plants he does grow in his woods or nursery don’t meet the demand he encounters. His clients seem to be especially interested in striped maple, maple-leaf viburnum, huckleberry, a native honey suckle, and serviceberry (shadbush). To augment the small trees and shrubs that he can dig up from the woods, Waite has planted some trial plots of rhododendron, mountain laurel and huckleberry in the shady understory of a low-quality hardwood stand near a woods road. Were he to expand this part of his business, Waite would invest in a large order of bare root stock ser- viceberry and grow them in his nursery beds for one or two years. Then he’d transplant them out to the woods for further growth. There they can sit in the woods until needed, up to about 18 to 20 feet tall. An initial investment of $300 to $400 in bare root stock (2002–2003 price list) could launch the project. Waite would need to factor in the costs of labor to plant, transplant, harvest, deliver and install each plant.

UNDERSTORY 47 CROPS Supporting Access, Deer, Rescue and Protection Innovation: Access to planting sites in the woods is critical to making this sort of Learning Communities enterprise cost-effective. Waite’s woods, which are managed according to a through Cornell 10-year plan, have a decent network of skid roads that will accommodate One of the difficulties of his small four-wheel-drive tractor and dump truck. As already noted, establishing a new busi- Bateman’s access needs some improvements, which may be one of her ness using understory biggest project costs. crops today is that it Deer can be a serious problem and strategies for dealing with these creatures hasn’t been done to any must be considered. On the one hand, Waite has created a permanent great extent—at least in the context of today’s two-acre clearing in his woods, seeding it with clover to attract the economy. Re-creating a wildlife that he loves to see. On the other hand, they eat his nursery plants, vibrant, local forest which are his livelihood. Like many organic gardeners, he seems to be economy requires opting to share some of his bounty with the native residents. blending new and old Bateman intends to use wild plants to start colonies, but then actively ways to find solutions that work. propagate more by distributing seed in new locations. She also finds that new building sites in wooded areas can be a source of wild plants. In this case, Cornell University, a long-distinguished these doomed plants can be rescued for use in another wooded landscape. New York Land Grant The New England Wild Flower Society cautions against the commercial institution in upstate wild collection of plants, especially when they are rare or sensitive species. New York, began working Aside from being illegal in some cases, this practice can have a negative with forest landowners in a unique way. With the impact on wild populations. They recommend that the public buy nursery- goal of experimenting propagated native plants. As native plant landscaping increases in practice, with cultivation tech- it will be important to keep abreast of these and related issues. niques and sharing 4. Enduring Household Goods experiences, ideas, resources and market- A visit to Historic Sturbridge Village or Plimouth Plantation gives us insight ing strategies, Cornell to the lives of the early European settlers of this region. We recognize the Extension staff developed simple machines and tools that were the mainstays of household and village, Agroforestry Learning providing people with the goods they needed to create shelter, grow food Communities. and weave clothing. At the same time we marvel at the convenience of Comprised of farmers, modern technology, we worry that our children won’t know that milk forest owners, educators comes from a cow, that paper is made from trees or how to mend a pair of and scientists, these groups test the feasibility trousers. In an economy where it is so often cheaper to buy new than to of practices that might repair, we use up household goods, then throw them away. hold some promise The ash splint baskets that Milton Lafond individually crafts at The Basket for economic use. Shop in Chesterfield are testimony to different values. He produces his baskets Elements of the Learning Communities from log to finished product, just as his father-in-law, Benjamin Higgins, did include training work- for most of the 1900s. The baskets are beautifully made and will last at least shops, trial practices a lifetime. All the more enriching is the opportunity to visit his small woodshop monitoring, listserv to see and understand first-hand, the process from start to finish. discussions via the Lafond chooses the clear white ash logs from nearby woodlots, splits the log internet, site visits and a website. Today dozens into four wedge-shaped lengths, then roughly shapes each of these with a of growers and resource drawshave. When pounded, the unique arrangement of wood cells between professionals around growth rings makes this species easy to separate into the strips that make up the northeast are testing Lafond’s baskets. cultivation practices for When he took over his deceased father-in-law’s shop in the late 1980s, ginseng, goldenseal, mushrooms and sugar Lafond continued to use the same hand and machine tools and the molds maple improvement. around which the baskets are shaped. A visit to the shop is a glimpse of a

UNDERSTORY CROPS 48 local enterprise that served the community in a time when wood was used for a much wider range of household products. Thankfully, the tradition is carried forward today. While on the potluck circuit, keep a lookout for an ash splint basket designed to hold two pies. Chances are it was made in Chesterfield at The Basket Shop.

FOREST CULTURE

5. Tracing Cultural History through Forest Products: Native Baskets in an Attic The Freeman Family of Brimfield is an unusual forest landowner by today’s standards, because far more than most, their woods and fields directly support their livelihood. Over the years, the enterprises on their 300-acre property have evolved to include: custom sawing on a stationary circular sawmill, a 500-tap maple sugaring operation, Christmas trees and greens, firewood, bundles of campfire wood; vegetables, cut flowers, herbs, and wildflower bunches; lamb, wool and eggs. Three adults— mother Harriet, daughter Jane, and son John—shoulder this work, with just one earning part- time income as a substitute teacher in town. This humble and hard-working family’s store of knowledge and history, gained empirically from years of working with their land, is a rare treasure in our uprooted, excessively mobile society. Unlike an armchair historian surrounded by books, the Freemans are immersed in their land’s history each day. For them history is unearthing Stone Age artifacts while hoeing in the pea patch; walking in the footsteps of the Nipmuc Tribe, when following the Bay Path Trail that winds through their woods; interpreting glacial features on their property when geology students visit on a field trip. Tending their land, the Freemans bring us closer than ever to the history of our home region.

A Kindness Returned The Freemans came to their property through serendipity and friendship. They lived in Warren when an old family friend, Rose Dore, could no longer live alone. Dore invited Harriet Freeman, whom she’d know for years, to come live with her at the old Allen homestead in Brimfield which she’d single-handedly farmed for years. Already committed to caring for a handicapped foster child at the time, Harriet instead persuaded her friend to come live in Warren with them. When Rose Dore died, she left no survivors, and willed the Allen Homestead and land to the person who had shown her great friendship throughout her life—Harriet Freeman. In 1976 when the Freeman family first moved onto the 50-acre property, they set about reclaiming overgrown fields and fixing up the two hundred-year-old homestead. John worked at a local sawmill, but eventually bought it from his retiring employer and moved it to their new home. There he rebuilt and refurbished it and constructed a shed to protect the mill from the elements. Jane headed up the livestock enterprises, while everyone pitched in on the gardens, Christmas trees and maple sugaring.

UNDERSTORY 49 CROPS Early European Families Over time, interesting bits of history surfaced at the Allen Homestead. While making repairs to the kitchen fireplace, they discovered an old scythe blade embedded in the throat of the fireplace —a 17th century practice believed to keep witches from the house. Several arrowheads were unearthed from the pea patch (later dated at 3,000 years old from the Brewerton period) and a hoe stone (dating around 4,200 BC) was found in the vegetable garden west of the house. While cleaning out the attic one day, Harriet came across a bundle of old items that would have belonged to the family that built the house: Elijah Allen. From deed research done in their spare time, the Freemans learned that Elijah Allen had four children. One of these, Charles, owned the farm and then sold it to Jenny Dore, Rose’s mother. This made the Freemans only the third family to own the house since the 1700s. Tracing the early settler history back even further, they found that the Allen property was part of a 1,000 acre grant made to Reverend John Eliot in 1655, by the Mohegan Indians. John Freeman has since found the original stone marker to the southwest corner of this grant, placed there more than 350 years ago.

Warren Herald Links to Native People More treasures in the attic made another connection to these earliest inhabitants of this forest region. First, an old newspaper clipping from the Warren Herald, dated 1897, was written by the then 77-year old Emily Allen Woods (sister to Charles, above), who was born in the Freeman’s house. The article recounts Emily’s childhood memories of the Mohicans and Nipmuc people that lived in the neighborhood around 1820. She recalls that some native families lived in the woods in a shanty and wandered to nearby farms from time to time. Here they helped with farm work in exchange for food or sold baskets to the settlers for various household uses. Emily reports that her family kept a separate pile of old blankets and quilts so that in cold weather the itinerant natives could sleep by the hearth when work kept them several days at the Allen homestead. Emily notes in her article, “There are few now living in Brimfield who have seen real Indians in their native condition, except as we see them at Niagara Falls or the seashore, and they are nothing like the old families I have written about. One generation more and their memory will be obliterated.” When we encounter today’s homeless people at the margins of our own culture, whether in urban or rural settings, it becomes possible to imagine what disease, war, genocide and dislocation did to the Native American people that once lived here. Accompanying the newspaper story from the attic, the Freemans found several ash splint baskets, presumably the same ones made for the Allen family by the disenfranchised Mohegans. One of the rarer ones employs a technique called “porcupine” where the ash splint is twisted into a loop to give the basket a unique texture. It may be that the “mushy” quality of black ash splints permits this manipulation, in contrast to the rigidity that Milton Lafond seeks in his white ash splints. Regardless of species, the Ash genus is well-suited to splint-making. When Harriet shares these baskets with visitors, we touch something expertly crafted by a people that knew these trees, these forests, these hills—and wonder at what knowledge we have lost about living in balance with nature, in this place.

UNDERSTORY CROPS 50 Medicine from the Land Not long ago, Harriet Freeman was diagnosed with colon cancer. Tests turned up further com- plications that made doctors reluctant to take on her case. In the following three months that it took her to find a doctor, she, like many others, did her own research into alternative treatments. Harriet reasoned that the land has yielded treatment and cures for all kinds of disease, and so was open to seeking an herbal cure. She learned of a Canadian nurse, Rene Caisse, who in the 1920s used an Ojibway Indian herbal mixture to successfully treat many cancer patients in the course of her career. The preparation uses sheep sorrel, burdock root, slippery elm bark and turkey rhubarb root. A registered nurse herself, Harriet decided to make her own preparation of Essiac and took it each day for three months. When she did find a new doctor and had follow-up tests done, the results showed that the tumor was now benign. With lifestyle, work and outlook so closely rooted in the land, the Freemans believe that it only makes sense that antidotes to disease come from the living world around us. Even western medicine knows of taxol, a chemical from the woody plant yew, that is successfully treating breast cancer today.

UNDERSTORY 51 CROPS The Future In spite of rapid development occurring around them, the Freeman family doesn’t seem bitter— or perhaps they’ve learned to take things in stride. In the 1950s, the Massachusetts Turnpike permanently bisected the original Eliot Grant, and the sound of cars and trucks streaming by is constant. They are comforted by the fact that they have added to the original 50-acre parcel so that now the homestead is buffered by more than 300 acres. This allows them plenty of room for their forest and farm-based enterprises, and with the Army Corps along one boundary and a large swamp along another, they feel well-protected from encroaching development. Like others who are successful in land-based enterprises, the Freemans have been willing to change with the times. For example, the growing number of summer cottage families that occupy the shores of Little Alum Pond to the south, are now the consumers of fresh produce from the Freemans’ new farm stand. This family demonstrates the flexibility and resilience that comes from a diversity of enterprises. It is with these enduring qualities that they will endow the next generation.

UNDERSTORY CROPS 52 The Black Locust Project Rethinking Conventions on One Acre

ccupying center stage in this project is the tree species, black locust O(Robinia pseudoacacia). Desirable wood characteristics and an aggressive growth habit have led to the conflicted status of this non-native tree. Brought here by early European settlers from its native range further south, is it a troublesome invasive or useful and long-lasting building material? This case study is a challenge to reconsider underlying assumptions about the right species for an end use, the size of trees that can be processed into useful materials, and the scale of harvest operation. It also challenges us to look closer at the diversity of plants, including exotic invasives, and their many uses. One aspect of strengthening the local forest economy is finding markets for our native species.

In the third pilot project of the Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative, L.L.C. (MWC), members Walter Wright and Sarah Buie of Worthington offered up a small stand of black locust for this experiment, to see if the wood could be marketed to capitalize on its strength and durability and cover the costs of a careful harvest operation that would occur in their front yard. As forest operator and buyer of the black locust, Peter Jensen of Openspace Management, a trail designer and builder with a regional reputation, took up this unusual opportunity to harvest, utilize and purchase building materials to his exact specifications. Dave Bowman, portable sawmiller and timber framer from Cummington, milled the material on site. From this project, MWC gathered data on harvesting costs, tree and log volumes and sawmill yields. They also explored uses for the wood beyond posts and lumber and were able to utilize surprising amounts of the tree for products more valuable than firewood.

53 Walter Wright shares his perspective as a new forest landowner who had never sold wood products from a harvest. He describes his reaction to best manage- ment practices, small-scale equipment, working with professionals and the aesthetic results of excellent tree utilization in the woods. In the same vein as using black locust for trail building, Kathleen O’Rourke, owner of Oxalis, a naturalist and herbalist consulting business in Shelburne Falls, writes about the commercial possibilities of using other invasive plants— Japanese barberry and Japanese knotweed among them—at the same time that we attempt to eradicate them from our native landscapes. These invasive plants that encroach on native plant habitat have medicinal and nutritional value that should not be overlooked. Two cultural institutions put black locust wood to uses that make the most of its rot resistance and strength. The Laurel Hill Association of Stockbridge, as the nation’s oldest village improvement society, contracted with Openspace Management to build an accessible trail along the Housatonic River, in honor of a beloved citizen, Mary V. Flynn. This project is the first of several to use the black locust posts, railings and bridge lumber from the Wright/Buie project described herein. This public work-of-art embodies the best of what our forests can give us: useful building materials and a place to renew our connection to nature. A volunteer parent group from the Greenfield Center School, a small private school of 140 students in kindergarten through 8th grade, chose black locust for their parent-designed and built play structure constructed in 2000. Looking for an alternative to copper chromium arsenate (CCA) treated lumber and interested in using their own design, the project team found a local business, Colrain Tree Service, that could supply them with black locust. 1. Introducing Black Locust: Its Wood Properties & Growth Characteristics Black Locust is a very dense, strong hardwood species, native to the southern Appalachian and Ozark regions. As a member of the legume family, black locust has the ability to fix nitrogen and thus improve the condition of the soil. It thrives in full sunlight and is an early colonizer of open areas. Its ability to resprout vigorously from cut stumps and underground roots can create a thicket of growth. The species is easily identified when clusters of its white flowers open in June, a time when most other flowering hardwood trees are past their bloom. Honey from these flowers is highly prized.

Historical Uses Because of its useful qualities, early European settlers to America transplanted black locust, extending its range north and west. Black locust is one of a few rot-resistant hardwood species in the Eastern United States. This, combined with its strength and rapid juvenile growth, made it ideal for fence posts and other homestead applications. Many people planted these trees in their door yard, which over the years, spread into field edges. Because of this ability to rapidly colonize open areas, in the 1960s and decades to follow, black locust has been used extensively for land reclamation projects, particularly the mining spoils of coal regions. Able to grow on poor soils, the black locust grows rapidly, physically binding the soil with its roots. The soil nutrition of these spent sites improves as nitrogen is fixed by this legume.

Present Day Pest Today black locust is on the Massachusetts Invasive Plant Working Group’s unwanted list, as well as others in the region because it is an “exotic invasive”—a non-native species that can

BLACK LOCUST PROJECT 54 encroach on the native flora, thereby impacting the web of biological relationships between creatures that have evolved together over the millennia. This is a threat to native ecosystem resilience. Some feel that black locust is less of a nuisance than some exotic invasives because it doesn’t seem to spread easily into the deep forest, and its wood has unique properties. Even if we wanted to rid the region of black locust, it may be nearly impossible, if not impractical to do so. Like other prolific sprouters (aspen and beech are two others), the harder you cut it, the more vigorously it can reappear. Of course there are chemicals that can poison the plant, but it takes a licensed applicator, vigilance and repeated applications to completely kill that underground root mass supporting the clones of the parent tree.

The Right Species for the Job And, speaking of chemicals, Copper Chromium Arsenate (known as CCA, the compound that turns pressure-treated lumber its greenish hue) is now under review by the United States government to determine whether it poses an unreasonable health risk. In response, industry is voluntarily phasing out its manufacture and sale of the product by the end of 2003. After that, it will not be allowed in residential use for boardwalks, fences or playground equipment. While manufacturers will develop chemicals to replace CCA, others will look harder at naturally rot-resistant species. Redwood and western cedar are excellent examples and will continue to be valued for their longevity. Our beloved chestnut (still present in our forests but reduced to a shrub-sized tree by an exotic insect/fungi complex) once provided strength, rot-resistance, flexibility and relatively light weight all in one species—a combination of traits difficult to surpass in building materials. There are some northeastern conifer species that make good fence posts— northern white cedar, Atlantic white cedar and eastern red cedar (actually a juniper)—but these all grow in limited amounts on specific sites. Though not occurring in great abundance, black locust is a good alternative to pressure-treated lumber in certain applications, particularly because of its “unwanted” status.

FOREST-BASED ENTERPRISES

2. The Pilot Project: A Harvest of Trail-Building Materials If the early bumps and jogs of this project were a foreshadowing of its value, it should not have left the starting blocks. The wet spring followed by a wet summer kept the operator on another job and the Black Locust Project delayed five weeks later than hoped. The portable sawmiller, who remained flexible throughout the delay, saw his busy season kick in with a vengeance just when the operator was finally available. Luckily, the landowners had flexibility that summer, or surely the project would have been stymied for good.

BLACK LOCUST 55 PROJECT The Landowners and Their Woods Walter Wright and Sarah Buie moved to Worthington five years ago in search of a quiet primary residence in the Hilltowns. Here they purchased an 85-acre property with fields and woods under a long term management program through Chapter 61. Early on they met another forest landowner and Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative (MWC) member from Worthington who approached them to join the group. Wright and Buie soon found that they shared values of excellence in forestry standards, wildlife and aesthetics goals, and the support of the local wood economy. Their professional and per- sonal lives had led them to ask themselves: how can we live sustainably on this earth? As new members of the Coop their commitment was evident. Buie, as Director of the Studio Art Program at Clark University, enlisted her senior design class in the task of developing a design identity for the MWC. Wright made time in his busy professorial schedule to join the Coop Board of Directors and participated in the Massachusetts Coverts Program. This intensive four-day educational workshop for forest stakeholders is held each year for local leaders who, after the training, agree to return to their home communities as advocates for forest conservation. After these visible offerings, Wright’s and Buie’s willingness to sponsor an MWC pilot project in their woods was no surprise. The one-acre block of black locust in question sits about 150 feet from the house and is bordered by stone walls. The large black cherry, sugar maple and elm along the perimeter are the parent trees for the interior of the block, which was once a small pasture or hayfield. Shade does deter this species, and it was the hope of Wright and Buie’s consulting forester, the late Karl Davies of Northampton, that removal of the black locust from the stand would allow the pole-sized elm, ash, cherry and maple that were scattered in the understory, to more fully occupy this one-acre site. It’s likely that the black locust won’t have enough sunlight to regain a foothold, but if it does, Wright and Buie are inclined to let these black locust stump sprouts grow to fence post size and then use them around their fields—not a bad strategy to keep options open. Because this stand is so small and is close to the house, the aesthetics of the stand is an important issue for the landowners. This block of woods is essentially in their front yard, and the “wall” effect that the tall trees created so close to the house was less than ideal. Wright and Buie envisioned some openings in the stand through which the setting sun could be enjoyed and one could better see into the woods. For some landowners, one of its highest and best traditional uses might be firewood for home use, especially for the do-it-yourself types. But with their full professional lives, the recommended treatment would most likely get scheduled in combination with other forestry work that needed doing. The stand was hardly large or valuable enough to justify the overhead costs of a conventional harvesting job.

Black Locust Put to Its Highest and Best Use Peter Jensen, of Openspace Management in Stockbridge, is one who appreciates the virtues of black locust. A licensed forester with an educational background in soil science, Jensen’s specialty is trail building and design. Much of his work is enjoyed by the public, and his clients are typically public or non-profit organizations. Berkshire Natural Resources Council, the National Park Service, the State of North Carolina and many others know his careful engineering and graceful design of woods trails. He’s used black locust in only one other trail building project in 1998, but would use more if he could get the dimensions and quantities that he needs. It only makes sense that Jensen likes black locust for its strength and rot-resistance, and that the prospect of stockpiling material for future projects would tempt this careful planner. When

BLACK LOCUST PROJECT 56 broached about a small MWC black locust harvest, his interest was piqued. But several other opportunities made this project enticing to him: as builder/designer, a desire for quality material cut to his precise job specifications; as forester/steward, the desire to operate in the stand so as to protect the young trees left to grow; as thrifty consumer, a desire to find as much use as possible for the trees marked to cut. Jensen signed on both as woods operator and wood purchaser—a rather unique situation. To remove any conflict of interest from Jensen’s work, Wright and Buie hired John Clarke, of Bay State Forestry, to mark and tally the trees to be cut in advance of the harvest. Jensen was interested in exploring the economic viability of such a small harvest, knowing that some of his land trust clients might only be persuaded to harvest timber if they could start small. This pilot project could be a unique opportunity to track costs, yields, and examine questions about the flow of wood in the local economy. Years of experience and a range of skills have led Jensen to participate in the many aspects of woods work: ecological/economic assessment, planning, silvicultural treatments, felling/bucking, equipment operation, and transport of wood products. His vantage point allows him to question the underlying assumptions of the traditional wood economy and the ways that it can pit harvester against forester, landowner against buyer and wood production against the long term health of the land. Dave Bowman, of nearby Cummington, agreed to bring his portable sawmill to the meadow adjacent to the black locust stand and mill the logs that Jensen recovered from the woods. Bowman was the right person for the job because he lives five miles away, his sawmill is efficient and routinely exceeds predicted yields, and he is willing to mill the small logs down to a 6- or 7-inch tip diameter. With a work crew assembled, the project came into sharper focus. Could the silvicultural objective be accomplished at no out-of-pocket cost to the landowners? Can the wood product extracted support the hourly costs of lower efficiency, small scale equipment and crew? How does foreknowledge of customer specifications influence wood utilization, economic viability of the project, and the condition of the forest?

Figuring and Planning Before the harvesting was to begin, a logistical meeting was held on site with Wright, Jensen, and Bowman to discuss details about access to the stand, portable sawmill location and milling dimensions. The equipment would have to be driven over the lawn to the field, but with August typically the driest month of the year and equipment on the small side, landowner worries over a rutted lawn faded. The sawlog pile was to be situated on a gentle slope and perpendicular to the spot where Bowman would position his portable sawmill. This arrangement let gravity and a shove with the peavey send the logs downhill and onto the hydraulic lifts of the saw carriage. With Jensen interested in 2-by-6 stock for boardwalk joists, Bowman was willing to mill logs

BLACK LOCUST 57 PROJECT as small as 6.5 inches diameter at the small end. From each of these, he knew he could mill a few 2-by-6s and surplus boards. Another key outcome of this early logistical meeting was Bowman’s recommendation to use a 1.5-by-6 inch dimension for the joists because for Jensen’s purpose, the lumber would sit “on end” and the strength needed in the vertical dimension would be adequate. What’s more, Bowman rationalized that when purchasing dried, planed lumber, a 2-by-6 inch board has actually shrunk to 1.5 inches, and Jensen would not be drying the wood. This adjustment in product dimension didn’t change the board foot yield of the project, but is a good example of how the milling was tailored to the buyer’s specifications. In the end it would net Jensen a greater number of joists for his own use. At the outset, Jensen committed to pay $1.70 per board foot for black locust dimensional lumber, based on what he once paid in the past for this material. With an expectation that the project would yield about 1,700 board feet, this gave an anticipated project income (budget) of $2,890. He also estimated that it would take 2 days to complete the harvest, and at $530 per day for labor and machinery, he was willing to contract to do the work for a total of $1,060. That left $1,830 to cover milling, project coordination, and stumpage payment to the landowner (from which the landowners would pay their forester). It appeared that the project could cover its costs with a margin left to pay the Cooperative’s cost of doing business (see Hardwood Flooring for more details on projecting this margin).

The Harvest Jensen and his assistant Charlotte Crittenden arrived at the job site in a flat-bed truck with a tractor and forwarding trailer tidily stowed on deck. Because of his trail building bent, Jensen owns small scale equipment that was particularly appropriate on this one-acre job. He uses a small, but powerful (64 horse power) four-wheel-drive, articulated tractor that pulls a trailer with a hydraulic loading arm. In this way, the tractor carries logs from the forest instead of dragging them. Outfitted with two chainsaws, safety gear and an array of wedges, axe and measuring tape, the pair was set to work. Through the most sultry of summer days, Jensen and Crittenden worked hard felling, limbing, bucking and forwarding material out of the woods and into the brush-mowed field. There Jensen operated the hydraulic arm to unload each piece onto piles for sawlogs, posts, rails and bog bridge sleepers1. As the piles grew, early concerns that there be enough lumber product to cover the cost of the crew were allayed. Jensen and Crittenden kept bringing out more and

1 These are 3 to 4-foot chunks of log with one side slabbed off. A pair of these supports two planks, making an 8- foot section of bog bridge that can rest on soggy ground.

BLACK LOCUST PROJECT 58 more material, beyond the estimated 1,700 board feet of logs and four cords of firewood. In fact, as time went on, it was looking more like twice that volume would come out of the woods.

Products, Costs and Income Jensen recovered a surprising amount of useable wood from the harvested trees. Even so, the site looked neither denuded nor damaged. Just under 100 eight-foot sawlogs came out of the woods to the portable mill, ranging from 6.5 to 18 inches in diameter at the small end, though most were in the 8 to 11 inch range. With 3,197 board feet of this material at $1.70 per board foot, its total value to the buyer (Jensen) was $5,435. As the projected volumes were exceeded, so too, were the predictions of labor—taking six instead of the predicted two days to complete the work. Luckily, the increased log volume proportionally supported the increase in labor costs. Had the additional product been only firewood, this would not have been the case.

A Tricky Comparison to Make To explore how local niche markets and foreknowledge of Economic Activity from customer specifications impacts the economic viability of 59 Black Locust Trees the project, it is helpful to ask, what if this job were operated Wholesale under conventional market conditions? To do this, we have to start Product Price with some assumptions. First, this single acre of black locust 3,197 bf dimensional lumber would have been operational only if it were a section of a for trail bridges and boardwalks larger harvest area. Second, without a strong established @ $1.70/bf $ 5,435 market for black locust, the predicted 1.7 thousand board 156 8-foot posts @ $8/pc $ 1,248 feet of logs would probably have been sold for low grade 100 bridge sleepers @ $8/pc $ 800 pallet stock, and conventional minimum standards would 50 8-foot railings @ $.50/lineal ft $ 200 dictate that any log with a tip end smaller than 10 inches in diameter would go into cordwood. For the conventional 6 cords of firewood @ $65/cd $ 390 scenario we use a hypothetical value of $225 per thousand Total $ 8,073 board feet ($120/mbf and $105/mbf for average harvesting and stumpage costs, respectively), which is the cost of getting the wood to the landing. For the Black Locust Project, we use actual costs: $417 per thousand board feet which comes from dividing the total labor costs by the total volume to yield $312/mbf, and to this adding the stumpage cost, $105/mbf. When the log value for each scenario is multiplied by the two different project yields, the logs on the landing are worth $248 in the conventional scenario and $959 in the Black Locust Project scenario. The scaled log yields for the Black Locust Project were twice as much as the conventional scenario because the portable bandsaw mill operator had agreed to cut logs with a minimum tip diameter down to 6.5 inches—logs that in the conventional scenario would have become cordwood. Even though the table above only compares the value of the logs at the landing, the Black Locust Project sawyer further increased the yield of these logs by 18% due to the small saw kerf on his mill. We can project that if the logs go into the commodity market as pallet grade lumber, their eventual wholesale value is signif- icantly lower than the $1700 per thousand board feet that Jensen is willing to pay for a local niche

BLACK LOCUST 59 PROJECT product that puts black locust wood properties to their highest and best use. The power of this niche market to generate greater volume and value in the local marketplace is real. Now, looking at the yield and value of the cordwood that came off this harvest site, let’s assume for comparison’s sake, the conventional scenario yielded the same estimated 14 cords of firewood. (Realistically, it is quite likely that much of this would have been left lopped on the ground because the cost to the operator to pull it out of the woods is often not economical.) With the right fire- wood market connection, an operator without an efficient firewood processor himself might sell 14 cords of tree-length wood by the truckload for about $65 per cord, or a total value of $910. From the same 14 cords of wood, the Black Project Volume and Value Locust Project yielded an array of more in Two Marketplaces valuable products. Eight-foot fence posts, (measured at the log landing) ranging in diameter from about four to Conventional Black Locust seven inches, contributed $1,248 to the Scenario Scenario total value. Priced at $1.00 per lineal foot Sawlog volume (mbf) 1.1 2.3 or $8.00 each, this is consistent with Cordwood volume (cds) 14 14* another local black locust post producer. Sawlog value ($/mbf) $225 $417 Bog bridge sleepers were a handy use for logs that were too crooked to mill and too Cordwood value ($/cd) $65 $185** thick for posts. Jensen’s experience in Total Sawlog value $248 $959 building these walkway sections suggested Total Cordwood value $910 $2,588 a value of $10 per “slabbed” sleeper, so the PROJECT VALUE $1,158 $3,547 value at the landing was projected at $8.00 * Six cords of firewood plus value-added posts, sleepers, and railings. each or a total of $800. Jensen also needed ** $185 is an average; the actual values ranged from $65–$400/cd. long, narrow pieces for walkway railings and salvaged these two to four inch pieces from the firewood pile. Without a market comparison, we assigned a value of $.50 per lineal foot, for a total of $200. Finally, what wasn’t used for any of these purposes went into the firewood pile—a total of about 3 cords of round wood and three cords of slab wood from the milling. This would stay with the landowners for their own use. For the purposes of the comparison, it will be assigned the same unit value as the wholesale firewood, for a total of $390. The bottom line for the Black Locust Project was good on several accounts, as it ultimately generated three times the dollar value of the conventional scenario. The landowners received twice as much for the stumpage than they might have under the conventional scenario, and, as

BLACK LOCUST PROJECT 60 important, the high utilization of cordwood left the stand in a more aesthetic condition. The additional volume processed for this project also increased harvesting, milling and management costs. However, the increase in project value more than made up for these added costs. Local businesses benefited as project income was spent within the community. And finally, hikers in Stockbridge and surrounding areas can enjoy a new handicapped-accessible trail along the Housatonic River (see Section 4 of this chapter) for years to come.

The Role of Project Coordination Coordination was a key element of this project’s success, and because this was a pilot, the cost of coordinating a one-time (and first-time) project was difficult to assess. With numerous people and types of equipment needed to get a standing tree from its stump delivered to a final customer, the timing and flow of activity is complex, especially when dealing with independent contractors. Less of a hierarchical process and more of a collaboration, communication and knowledge of each player’s assets and limitations will be critical to this type of local enterprise.

A Neophyte Owner’s Perspective by Walter Wright Although our “Black Locust” cut was very small, it we were concerned for the job’s environmental has been an eye opening experience, one that and aesthetic impact. Peter’s small, low impact contradicted the horror stories we had heard from equipment and his meticulous attention to every other landowners about what can happen while detail quickly allayed our concerns. He and his harvesting forest products. Sarah and I are new assistant Charlotte worked carefully and deliber- landowners, and we have no prior experience ately. They removed the marked trees efficiently, with cutting wood. We had many questions and while leaving smaller poles of maple and ash concerns about the impact of what we were undisturbed. As a result, the woodlot has been left doing, environmentally and aesthetically. So, for us, in good condition to regenerate. David Bowman’s the project’s most important element was our full portable saw mill was positioned in a field directly participation with Susan Campbell and Peter Jensen behind the stand of trees. His milling operation in planning and overseeing the work. Participating went very smoothly, and at the end of the job, the fully helped us learn what is involved and enabled woodlot and field showed virtually no signs of the us to identify our needs along the way. As a result, activity they had seen, beyond two neat piles of we saw first hand what good planning, “best prac- slabs and end pieces ready to be bucked up for tices,” and value added can mean on the ground, firewood. and we came to appreciate how important explicit Two very important reasons for the project’s understandings and good working relationships superior aesthetic results were (1) on-site value- can be on such a project. added processing, and (2) the high percentage of In a series of communications we planned every the cut trees that Peter was able to use. Because aspect of the cut, discussing finances, equipment, the trees were milled on site, we did not have to access, aesthetic issues, and even end use of the truck whole logs across the yard, minimizing the trees. Before any work was done, we had clear disturbance. Further, David’s efficient, small scale mutual agreements about all aspects of the project. milling enabled him to saw smaller diameter Susan Campbell’s involvement was crucial. She was materials than might ordinarily be the case. Peter on site at key points, and her presence convinced was also able to take some larger twisted lengths us that having professional supervision for a wood of trunk as foundation pieces for bog bridges. sale is indispensable. Both she and Peter were excel- Material that ordinarily might have been cord lent collaborators. They communicated effectively; wood became posts and railings for Peter’s trail they had forest conservation values compatible making. These various efficiencies meant that we with ours; and they seemed to be having as much doubled the final tally of milled lumber beyond the fun with this project as we were. total projected by the forester who marked the cut. As it unfolded, the project impressed us with At the end, we came away with a better appreci- what “best practices” can mean. The area being cut ation for what it means to work in the woods, and was close to our house, and the access for equip- real gratitude for the skilled and thoughtful peo- ment and hauling went over our lawn. Naturally, ple who do it well.

BLACK LOCUST 61 PROJECT OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

3. An Alternative Use for Exotic Invasive Plants As the Black Locust Project demonstrates, it may be possible to find some uses for the unwanted invasive species that threaten native biological diversity. Market forces can contribute greatly to the extinction or decline of some native species (passenger pigeons for the use of their feathers in fancy hats; ginseng for its prized use in medicinal applications), but perhaps these same forces can be harnessed to reduce the numbers of unwanted invasive species.

A Local Advocate Kathleen O’Rourke is a naturalist and herbalist from Shelburne Falls. She started her business, Oxalis, after a career in nursing and eight seasons working in National Parks, when the need arose to stay closer to home to care for an aging parent. She teaches classes and workshops, leads naturalist hikes and conducts herbal inventories for property owners who want to learn more about what their land has to offer. This work has led her to think about the development of commercial uses for exotic-invasive plants as a way to reduce their presence in our ecosystems and pay for this labor-intensive work. Her own words follow.

Adapted from “Taking Good Care,” a West County News column written by Kathleen O’Rourke for the October 23–29, 2003 issue.

the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the Sierra Club, Audubon and local towns have been working hard, but they cannot keep up with this very aggressive plant. They cut the prickly shrub at ground level and then spray the root to kill it. But we could be using this root for medicine. Barberry is a substitute for the well known and respected herbal medicine golden seal root. Since golden seal has been endangered for years and should not be harvested in the wild, doesn’t it make sense to use its invasive cousin, barberry root? Both contain the biochemical berberine The axiom “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade” (although barberry root has less of it), and the applies well to a problem in the plant world. Want to herbs may be used for similar conditions. Here are get rid of invasive species? Eat them. As advocates of some of the ways barberry root has traditionally biological diversity work to eradicate these aggres- been used: It helps stimulate bile flow, eases liver sive plants, many can be used as valuable medicine congestion, and is useful for treating gall stones. It and nutritious food. has been used for malaria, arthritis, cancers, hepatitis,

Japanese Barberry as cholera, skin diseases, candida, bronchial congestion, an Alternative to Golden Seal and to lower blood pressure. It is considered anti- bacterial and may be antiviral (more studies are Japanese Barberry is an invasive shrub that becomes needed on this). So why aren’t we using this valuable a huge problem when it takes over the forest and, yes, pesky root? understory. It is so adaptable that it will spread from garden into fields and become especially thick Golden seal sells for over $300 a pound and bar- along the edge where forest meets meadow. berry root sells for about $17 a pound. However, Eradication programs sponsored by groups such as none of the health food stores I checked have a

BLACK LOCUST PROJECT 62 source for supplying them with barberry root. In able food product, the money earned could go the long run, eradication groups might be able to back into funding their programs which so often financially sustain their programs by harvesting are halted because the funds and the volunteers and selling it. Perhaps they could even pay people needed are unavailable. a good wage for the work instead of relying on Other Edible Invasive Plants volunteer efforts. It would take a bit of ground work, but it can be done. I’ve only discussed two invasive plants, but there are several others that grow around here that are First, health food stores and herbal product com- good herbs and edibles. Goutweed is a plentiful panies would need to be educated so they, in turn, early spring salad green. Garlic mustard’s young might educate their customers about the value of leaves are good in salads. Black locust flowers can using barberry root instead of golden seal (or be used to make tea. Mugwort can be dried and Oregon grape root, a similar and at-risk plant in the used for tea to drink during flu season. Multiflora west). Second, the invasive species eradication rose petals can be used to make tea and the hips agencies would dig the roots, wash and grind the can be used to make a pectin high in vitamin C. product, sell it, and put that money right back into And by the way, black locust blossoms are edi- the loop. The program could then be self-sustaining. ble—they have a mild sweet flavor and can be Japanese Knotweed used to make tea, for salads, or simmered for five on the Dinner Menu minutes in soups. Mystify your friends! The bamboo that you see lining river banks Make a mental note or draw a map of where these throughout the region is Japanese knotweed. We invasive plants grow near your home so that next cut, spray, and dig this nasty invasive in a failing spring you can eat wild salads and make your own effort to eradicate it, but we could also sauté it in teas, juices, pectins, and herbal remedies while you a stir fry or steam it with a little salt. In the spring, tend to the important job of reducing their numbers. when the new shoots are only a foot high, it can be cut at ground level and cooked up as a deli- cious vegetable that has been shown to lower cholesterol. It tastes similar to rhubarb, but milder and not as sour. In Japan, knotweed has been used for centuries to treat cardiovascular disease. We now know why. It contains resveratrol, which has proven to be beneficial to the heart. Like most sour foods it is high in vitamin C. In addition, the mucilaginous texture of this vegetable is soothing to the stom- ach and intestines, and it will help metabolize fat and stimulate healthy digestive processes. I have read that it can also be used as pectin to help set up jams and jellies. I haven’t yet had much suc- cess with this, but I’m sure some creative and dedicated cook could figure out how to use it effectively for that purpose. Perhaps a natural pectin company could experiment and finally this invasive plant would be used in large quantities. If local, state, and regional eradication programs could sell large quantities of knotweed as a desir-

BLACK LOCUST 63 PROJECT FOREST CULTURE

4. Mary V. Flynn Trail in Stockbridge Put black locust lumber and posts in the hands of a talented trail builder who was contracted by a 150-year-old community organ- ization, and you’ve got a public work that will give great pleasure to residents and visitors for decades to come. Boardwalk lumber, posts and railings all came from the Black Locust Project in Worthington. With the talent and hard work of Peter Jensen and his work crew, now people of all ages—especially parents with children in strollers and seniors with a walking stick or wheelchair—will be able to partake of these woods along the Housatonic River in Stockbridge, thanks to a community group that loves and stewards its forested landscape. To celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2003, the Laurel Hill Association gave the community a wonderful and lasting birthday present: a new walking trail. Named for a beloved teacher and citizen, Mary V. Flynn, this accessible trail begins just after crossing the Goodrich Memorial footbridge over the Housatonic from a small trailhead parking lot at the end of Park Street. This is also the starting point for two other popular trails maintained by the association, Laura’s Tower, and Ice Glen. The Laurel Hill Association is the nation’s oldest village improvement society. It was founded in 1853 by Mary Hopkins Goodrich who sought to address village problems such as the unkempt cemetery, trash disposal, muddy streets, and untethered cows that wandered willy- nilly through town. With her leadership, Goodrich organized a group of townspeople and raised $1,000. With this ample beginning the improvement society planted street trees around the village. The Laurel Hill Association has endured for a century and a half thanks to a com- mitted board and a generous endowment that has built up over the years. Today it owns and cares for 386 acres in town, most of which are open space for public use. 5. The Greenfield Center School Play Structure When a group of parents took on the project to build a play- ground structure at their children’s school in Greenfield, Rich Sweitzer, a builder among them, brought up the subject of Copper Chromium Arsenate (CCA). Ever since creosote was taken off the market, CCA has been the pressure treating substance of choice for extending the life of wood. As it turns out, it is particularly toxic to the workers that make it. Nonetheless, CCA-treated southern yellow pine was built into play structures all over the region. This parent group, however, decided that they would only use CCA-treated wood as flooring joists where children would not be in contact with it. For the exposed supporting posts they would use black locust. Completed three years ago, the play structure was designed by an architect/parent, Kiki Smith. It is a series of three slightly slanting platforms, much in the shape of a ship’s decks. The black locust posts, around which the decks are assembled, reach 20 feet in the air to make the ship’s masts. The local power company augured the post holes at no cost, and the posts became firmly lodged in the ground. Blue Sky, of Colrain Tree Service, provided the locust posts at $1.00 per lineal foot. He cut them from a lot in Shelburne from which he continues to market a supply of black locust products for local use. The Greenfield Center School’s play structure, with its tilting decks and tall masts, resembles a tree house as much as a ship at sea. Whatever the fantasy, the sturdy structure will support years of children hard at play.

BLACK LOCUST PROJECT 64 Author’s End Note

Trees and wood are elemental. As children we climb them, collect colorful fall leaves, learn to build a campfire and make that first building project from wood. Later on, a forest walk consoles us, our woodstoves warm us, and our fireplaces urge us to look inward. Connecting us to all stages of our cultural evolution, trees and wood have been used in the same ways over the millennia. For these reasons, I will always treasure this diverse, complex and precious natural material. From my own love of forests comes the hope that these profiles will allow people to consider ways of cultivating our local forest economy. After all, this region has a blessed abundance and diversity of trees. Researching and writing about people who work in and steward these woods renews my love of this geography and the potential that its natural wealth might hold for its cultural well- being. It also reminds me of what all people require: food, shelter, love, decent work, creative expression and nurturing communities. This work embraces the vision that a thriving local forest economy is compatible with forest ecosystems and good for its human communities. It is intended to counter in a human way, the constant and accelerating press of technology and information, environmental set-backs and shortsightedness, rampant materialism and consumption, and political arrogance when humility would better serve. There comes a time when focusing on one’s own corner of the earth— integrating professional skills with personal values—may be the best way to dig in and work for a meaningful future. If the ideas and aims of this work strike a chord with you, I invite you to contact us at the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute with feedback, ideas, resources, and most importantly, other individuals and businesses that can help bring to fruition a sustainable forest economy for our region.

Susan Campbell December, 2003

65 Resources Businesses Featured More Forest-based Cornell’s Agroforestry In These Case Studies Businesses & Learning Communities Associations www.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/ Blue Heron Farm Stays agroforestry/sare Norma and Bill Coli Appalachian Mountain Club www.blueheronfarm.com Hut system Forest Stewardship www.mountwashington.com/ Council USA Clearpath Herbals www.fscus.org Chris Marano amc/huts/ [email protected] Forest Stewards Guild Franklin Land Trust www.franklinlandtrust.org Dave Bowman www.foreststewardsguild.org Timber Framer Massachusetts Licensed Heartwood School [email protected] Forester List www.heartwoodschool.com Hall Tavern Farm www.mass.gov/dem/programs/ Highland Communities Initiative Jay Healy forestry/service/prifor.htm www.highlandcommunities.org [email protected] Massachusetts Association Hilltown Land Trust High-Pocket Farm Bed of Professional Foresters www.massland.org/pages/ & Breakfast www.massforesters.org neartrust/landtrusts/ Mark and Sara McKusick Massachusetts Forestry hilltowns.html www.highpocket.com Association Laurel Hill Association Hull Forest Products www.massforests.org www.vpis.org/LAUREL.htm www.woodfibre.com/trade/ Massachusetts Maple MA Dept of Food & Agriculture’s aa010240.html Producers Association Farm Viability Program Kathryn Woodland Bateman www.massmaple.org www.mass.gov/agr/programs/ Landscaper Portable Sawmill Businesses farmviability/index.htm www.floweressencesoffox www.mass.gov/dem/programs/ New England Forestry mountain.com forestry/utilmark/Sawmill Foundation Klaus Land Improvements Directory2003.pdf www.newenglandforestry.org Ed Klaus Primary Wood New England Wildflower Society www.mtdata.com/ede Producers Directory www.newfs.org Massachusetts Woodlands www.snefci.org/woodirect.cfm North Quabbin Woods Project Cooperative, L.L.C. Secondary Wood (and Guide Training Program) www.masswoodlands.coop Producers Directory www.northquabbinwoods.org New England Wild Edibles www.snefci.org/woodirect.cfm The Trustees of Reservations Paul Lagreze Sylvan Botanicals www.thetrusteees.org www.newedibles.com www.catskillginseng.com Openspace Management Timber Framers Guild Peter Jensen www.tfguild.org Technical Resources [email protected] Vermont’s Inn to Inn system Fungi Perfecti Oxalis www.inntoinn.com www.fungi.com Kathleen O’Rourke National Park Service’s Plant (413) 625-9426 Conservation Alliance’s Alien 7 Warren Court Relevant Plant Working Group Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 Organizations www.nps.gov/plants/alien/ & Programs Patchwork Farm Writing Retreats New England Wildflower Society Patricia Lee Lewis Berkshire Grown www.newfs.org www.writingretreats.org www.berkshiregrown.org United Plant Savers Porter & Noonan’s Draft Horses Brooklyn Botanical Garden www.unitedplantsavers.org Kip Porter www.bbg.org [email protected] USDA-Forest Service Certified Wood Silvics Manual Stump Sprouts Guest Lodge & www.certifiedwood.org www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/ Cross Country Ski Center Community Involved In silvics_manual/table_of_ Lloyd Crawford Sustaining Agriculture contents.htm www.stumpsprouts.com www.buylocalfood.com USDA-Forest Service The Basket Shop www.fs.fed.us Milton LaFond www.hidden-hills.com/ basketshop/

66 About the Author Susan Campbell, a Massachusetts native and professional forester for 20 years, spent a decade of those years shaping the state’s Forest Stewardship Program which supports thousands of landowners in making informed decisions about their forests. During the researching and writing of this book, she was Research Forester with the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute, and recently has become the Associate Director of the Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative. She makes her home in Montague. To contact her, please e-mail [email protected] or write to P.O. Box 301, Montague, MA 01351. P.O. Box 301 • Montague, MA 01351 www.masswoodlandsinstitute.org

The Massachusetts Woodlands Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps forest landowners and the general public maintain the environment and character of the forests of western Massachusetts, promotes conservation and enhancement of forest resources, and fosters community development.