Often at the end of the day, one of the sawyers will come through the office and say, “You wouldn’t believe the wood I cut today. It was just so beautiful!”  This line of work is a reward in itself, handling such an amazing product. But there are other benefits besides the aesthetic one.

For one, the trees we harvest have a generational value. Many of the trees were planted 60 – 80 years ago. The front yard, the backyard, the driveway, the street, the city plaza – generations past remember these trees when they were young. There’s something about planting a tree: you will hopefully get enjoyment from it, but you’re ultimately planting it for those that will come after you. There are lots of things you can do with a tree after it comes down. You can make firewood, take it to the green waste, mulch it, let it sit in your yard, or you can give a local sawyer a call. Make a chest. Make a bench. How amazing would it be for your daughter to sit on the tree that your father sat under!

Another benefit is that our trees are responsibly harvested. That can mean a lot of different things; for us it means that the tree was in such a condition that it was better to cut it down than leave it standing. Many of our trees are cut because they have become hazardous due to age or other factors.  Secondarily, our trees are sustainably processed. Our sawdust and waste goes to a co-generation plant. Our sawmills have a small carbon footprint, especially compared to the value of what they produce. We air dry our material, which requires no energy from the grid.

A third benefit is that urban wood is unique. Everybody knows what domestic red oak looks like. A lot of people still have it in their homes. On the other hand, how many people have ever seen valley oak or tan oak? Grocery stores sell pistachios, but even within the woodworking community few are aware of the chinese pistache, pistacia chinensis, a wood with an alluring mix of green, white, tan, and black. Typically this tree is planted as an ornamental and never grows large enough to cut. However, in the rich soils of the Sacramento Valley, the species may reach several feet in diameter. This is just one example of the uniqueness to be found in locally cut urban wood. Nature limits the supply of these trees, and the market for them is small and specialized. If you want a one-of-a-kind wood for your project, than you are in that market!

The projects featured in this gallery were executed using locally cut wood.