I am not an environmentalist. However, I am a conservationist and strongly believe in good stewardship towards the natural resources God and this planet has provided for us.

Commercial logging of hardwoods in this state (Indiana) is primarily done by farmers and land owners. They log out mature trees for profit and in doing so, the younger trees have room to grow.

Often, re-planting is not required because the land already has a plentiful supply of growing timber that won't mature into big trunks when much larger trees are growing near them. Instead, they would grow tall and slender while competing with the more mature trees for water, minerals and sunlight.

This is a responsible and sustainable methodology which provides generation after generation with lumber and income.

Something that makes me sad is when I see a stand of old growth timber bulldozed for a road or new addition. Necessary for progress? Perhaps but that doesn't make it right.

What is even more maddening is when I go by a few days later and see those hundred year old trees turned into mountains of chip for mulch. A truly sickening waste of a natural resource which could have been turned into beautiful heirlooms that can conceivably with care, last for centuries.

So what can I do? I can't afford to buy and transport every log I see. Even if I could, I wouldn't have the time to saw them all, much less turn them all into things of beauty.

No, that is simply not feasible so I have to be content in doing what I am able to do. What is that? Well, I get all my timber from the city or the electric company who take down these trees necessarily in the interest of safety.

These are trees which would never be accepted by a commercial lumber mill because coming from a roadside or near houses, they are likely to have a nail or two in them. Instead, they are usually cut up for firewood or worse, burned where they fall.

Another source of materials for me is old structures like barns or corn cribs. These are usually in various stages of collapse and about to be burned in place, bulldozed or simply left to rot away over time.

I love working with this type of lumber even if it costs me saw blades and planer knives (and it frequently does) when I hit an undetected nail. Unfortunately, I don't yet have the means to save everything I find but that situation is improving and I do what I can.

Rest assured, when you buy a piece I've created, you can feel good about it knowing the lumber used to build that piece would have otherwise been burned or turned to dust.