For centuries, Real American Hardwood products have been providing beauty and authenticity, warmth and integrity, lasting aesthetic and functional value to countless structures in a variety of applications. As a resource, they are naturally abundant, renewing and sustainable, and an excellent choice for eco-effective design.
In a hardwood forest, trees compete for the water and sunlight, that come through the forest canopy—the leafy “roof” over the forest floor. Single-tree selection reduces this competition. Carefully removing individual trees creates openings in the canopy, allowing more precipitation, sunlight and nutrients to reach the forest floor. No longer suppressed by larger trees, seedlings are free to grow vigorously and saplings sprout out of the tree stumps. A few years later, the forester returns to the site to remove the least-desirable saplings, allowing the hardiest to grow.
Left unmanaged, forests are plagued with multiple problems that can cause catastrophic wildfires. Not only are they a threat to public safety, they also “impair” forest and ecosystem health and severely degrade air quality. And while fire is a natural part of the forest’s ecosystem, a raging wildfire is not. A “controlled burn” can help to make the land stronger and more resilient. But it must be combined with the proper application of land management.
Most hardwood forestland in the continental United States is in the eastern half of the country; the equivalent of hardwood trees covering every square inch of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. It is the home of the oaks, maples, cherry, ash, poplar, and scores of other hardwood species, many of which grow nowhere else in the world.
Of all temperate forests in the world, North American forests have the most diverse hardwood species. They vary in appearance and durability, with some species more plentiful than others because of their natural occurrence.
Once trees are harvested and taken to the sawmill for primary processing, advanced manufacturing technology ensures the least wood waste and greatest yield of lumber. More than 3 million products are made from trees and every part of the log is utilized.
Tree bark is processed into mulch and soil conditioners.
Saw dust fuels the boilers that operate dry kilns or is sold for animal bedding.
Trimmings are chipped and processed into fuel pellets, paper and other products.
Small pieces of wood are recovered and processed into wood components.