Woodworking, deforestation, Lot 55, giant sequoia, and guilt

[Alex Franke]

Hi all,

This has been on my mind since reading the "Forest to Farms" article in January's National Geographic. As most of us probably know, the Amazon is getting paved and illegally cleared by some 600 fires per day (largely due to the soy industry, actually), but one of the things that struck me most -- aside from the horrific Lot 55 murder -- was how a 2005 crack-down uncovered "truckload after truckload" of laundered contraband timber. According to the article, "Of the more than 300 people arrested, about 100 turned out to be IBAMA officials involved in a far-reaching conspiracy to sell mullions of cubic feet of endangered hardwoods to the US, Europe, and Asia." (IBAMA is Brazil's EPA.) So I guess to US buyers, the wood appeared to be legal.

I think about what's happening to the Amazon and it reminds me of what happened here in just 70 years (1850-1920). When I visited the giant redwoods several years ago I read about how proud loggers were to fell a 380-foot tree, and it just makes me feel terrible.

I love good woods, but I can't help but wonder if the wood I'm buying is really responsibly harvested -- especially if it's exotic. Whenever I ask, I always get the same answer: "Yes, of course. How many board-feet did you want?" I wonder what I'd see and how I'd feel if I traced the boards back to the trees and how they fell...

Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing some thoughts on this. How do we know we're not getting (our equivalent of) blood diamonds? How do we do our part and be sure we're getting responsibly harvested wood? Is it right to create a market for exotic woods?

On a somewhat related note, I wonder if we're going to start seeing these things go up everywhere the trees used to be...

[LCHIEN]

you ask some very difficult questions.

In an ideal world all the people will take care of all the resources and not cheat or create more damage than they repair.

But at the root of it all may be some poor starving native brazilian who just want to clear the land so he can feed his poor wife and baby...

[cabinetman]

It's unfortunate that there exists factions of self indulgence which affects society by its actions. As for protecting our own resources, some large corporations that are industry based like Weyerhaeuser, have in place programs for the regulation of our reserves and management of our resources.

There is and has been extensive reforestation methods that use natural and artificial growth techniques.

We bought our home about 8 years ago. It is in one of the older sections of the area and in a somewhat historically preserved area. It's a very wooded area, and directly across the street in front of our home was a woods, so to speak. It was a whole city block of pines, oaks and some citrus. Besides our back yard (for our dogs), it was a major point to deciding on this house. Even though it was an extreme fixer upper, we felt compelled to live here knowing it would be an eternal labor of love.

In less than a year, the lot was cleared of most trees and a recreation center for the city was erected. I'm all for improving quality of life, but it is sad. The question I have is the massive developments of beautiful property responsibly going to the erection of drugstore chains every quarter mile, shopping malls, and apartments and condos? I'm not wanting this to be a political discussion, just something to think about.
.

[ragswl4]

you ask some very difficult questions.

In an ideal world all the people will take care of all the resources and not cheat or create more damage than they repair.

But at the root of it all may be some poor starving native brazilian who just want to clear the land so he can feed his poor wife and baby...

I think this points out the reality of what's happening, not only in the forests of the world but many other resources as well.

We can't have it both ways, consume, consume and then tell the rest of the world to preserve their resources.

The only way to ensure that one does not get contraband exotic wood is to not buy exotic wood.

[Kristofor]

The only way to ensure that one does not get contraband exotic wood is to not buy exotic wood.

In this case consumption leads the way to conservation. The only way to ensure that there is a reason to manage and keep exotic wood is to buy it. Otherwise it's easier to burn it when clearing than to harvest it... Raise the prices enough and it becomes more profitable to grow trees than to clear them for cows/whatever. You'll still have the problem with poor farmers and dishonest companies looking to make a quick buck by harvesting too much, but responsible outfits would then begin to look at the lumber as a crop.

The longest living trees are just a few thousand years old, most spiecies live only a few hundred years or less. Sustainable living doesn't (shouldn't) mean doing without resources/materials, but rather that they should be cultivated and used responsibly. Ending up in thousands of pieces of furniture or other uses feels more responsible to me than simply burning the timber.

[prlundberg]

Here in the Red River (of the North) Valley our cities add trees to the enviroment.

Seriously though, I think ragswl4 has a good point. If you are concerned, the best thing to do is to stick to regional woods.

[prlundberg]

... The only way to ensure that there is a reason to manage and keep exotic wood is to buy it. Otherwise it's easier to burn it when clearing than to harvest it... Raise the prices enough and it becomes more profitable to grow trees than to clear them for cows/whatever.

That may also be a good point in theory. I'd be curious to know if anybody has evidence that shows that holds true in practice.

[Ed62]

You can't blame the guy who needs to feed his family. I think greed is the most common factor when things get out of hand. Far too many people will do just about anything for the almighty dollar, and the destruction of forests is only one of them.

Ed

[ragswl4]

You can't blame the guy who needs to feed his family. I think greed is the most common factor when things get out of hand. Far too many people will do just about anything for the almighty dollar, and the destruction of forests is only one of them.

Ed

Yep! You hit the nail squarely on the head. I have been all over this world, courtesy of the U.S. Navy and we have got it SOOOOOOOOOO good here. There are 4.6 billion people who are worse off than the poorest person in Mexico. (Source: from a seminar on immigration).

Most of the people in this world are scrambling every minute of the day just to feed themselves and their family. If cutting down a tree will provide the bare necessities of life, guess what the next sound is that you will hear.

I have to ask myself what I would do?

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Out of curiosity, but to buzzed by 1 beer to actually do research, what hardwoods come from these areas of the Amazon?

[ragswl4]

Out of curiosity, but to buzzed by 1 beer to actually do research, what hardwoods come from these areas of the Amazon?

Did some quick research and couldn't find a definitive list for the Amazon area but here is a list of woods from Latin America. If you look at the specifics of each wood it will tell you where it comes from.

http://woodworkerssource.net/onlinew...hp?region=soam

[Cheeky]

Out of curiosity, but to buzzed by 1 beer to actually do research, what hardwoods come from these areas of the Amazon?

Ipe sure does. In fact, New Jersey is going to use illegaly forested ipe from the Amazon to replace 42,000 board feet of decayed ipe from boardwalks.

nyatoh is another.

It's not just about the commodity. land is being cleared in the Amazon for farming, and the land isn't nutrient dense, so after a couple years, it's cheaper and easier to clear more land via slash and burn.

in countries like this, it's not really about the little guy who is trying to feed his family, it's about corrupt individuals who make a tremendous amount of money at the expense of others.

This NASA rendering really sheds light on the subject (it's from 5 years ago)

[Jeffrey Schronce]

in countries like this, it's not really about the little guy who is trying to feed his family, it's about corrupt individuals who make a tremendous amount of money at the expense of others.

That is kind of what I was thinking. It would be one thing if the locals were getting $25 bf for their highly prized wood, but I am sure they are getting pennies per bf.