Farming the Forest for the Trees
Last fall, the Boston Architectural College began planning a new building. The College is founded on the principal of integrated academic and practical studies for prospective architects, interior designers, and landscape designers, and they made the design for the new building a student project. And not surprisingly, the students wanted to design a green building. "We got a phone call from the college," says Suzanne Webber, Acting Executive Director of the Massachusetts Woodland Cooperative. They said their students had done tons of research, and they wanted to use our flooring in their new building because we were 'the greenest of the green.'"

Environmental benefits are a good reason to buy locally grown wood for building projects or fine carpentry. And those benefits take many forms--good forest stewardship, decreased transportation energy, and, in some cases, low-impact processing. When you buy from a local landowner or sawmill, you can ask them directly about management practices that are important to you--wildlife habitat, forest health, biodiversity. Many local wood producers are also certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

There are lots of other good reasons to buy locally grown wood products. "People come to us because we make what they want, right here, to their specifications. They say 'I want knots the size of quarters,' or whatever it is, and we can give them what they want," says Gerry Lashway, of Ponders Hollow Custom Moulding and Flooring, of Westfield. Bob Novick, of Bob's Everlasting, notes that he can process smaller custom orders than many larger mills.

And, of course, buying local wood products helps keep your dollars in the local economy. No one knows this better than the Cowls Companies, an Amherst employer since at least the mid 19th century. Cowls manages extensive timberlands, a sawmill, and a retail building supply store. And since it's right here, you can go watch the sawmill in action from their observation deck.

We often praise the farm fields, orchards, and rolling pastures of western Massachusetts. But our state is 60 percent wooded, and we treasure the forested landscape as well. Forest landowners face a variety of challenges, both local and global in scope. See, for example, Field Note's 12/29/08 story on the invasive wooly adelgid beetles and The Recorder's coverage of the December ice storm's impact on woodlots and sugaring operations. Buying local wood helps these important businesses to thrive--and supplies sturdy and beautiful building materials, to boot!

Visit our online Farm Products Guide to learn more about the local wood products available in your area of western Massachusetts.

Photo submitted by Massachusetts Woodlands Co-operative.