STL287: Should you use exotic wood?
We talk to two experts about considerations when using tropical hardwoods, and how to make the rain forest too valuable to burn.For more info about Greenwood’s next Artisan EcoTour, May 7-16 in Puerto Rico: Artisan EcoTour Info & Registration
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Getting to the roots in Puerto Rico! |
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STL195.5: Scott Landis of Greenwood GlobalFor more than 25 years GreenWood has worked with artisans in Honduras and the Peruvian Amazon to produce high-quality wood products from well-managed forests |
About Scott Landis:
Scott Landis is the President at GreenWood Global. He began writing profiles of prospectors, fishermen and snowshoe makers–practitioners of the fading traditions of the Canadian north. He has been writing about woodworking and sustainable forest management for more than 30 years and is the author of The Workbench Book and The Workshop Book [Taunton Press, 1987 and 1991] and the editor of Conservation by Design [WARP and the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1993]. Scott founded the Woodworkers Alliance for Rainforest Protection (WARP), which inspired the certification movement and led to the establishment of the Forest Stewardship Council. He is the founder and president of GreenWood, which trains artisan woodworkers to produce high-quality products from well-managed forests and helps connect their products to good markets. GreenWood promotes appropriate woodworking technology and the efficient use of lesser-known and lower-value tree species, waste wood and non-timber forest products. It has developed training programs for artisan woodworkers in Honduras, Peru and Puerto Rico.
Michael Bashkin brings a unique vision and sensibility to the art of guitar-building – a philosophy that crystalized during his years teaching tropical forestry in Belize, Central America. Michael’s approach is holistic, merging his experience as a visual artist, a musician and a lifelong student of wood.
Michael is also a scientist whose graduate studies at Colorado State University and post-graduate research at Duke University taught him about the mechanics of wood. He knows where wood has come from and how it’s evolving. He has studied the way trees are responding to climate change – and how the wood harvested from them can be sculpted and assembled to respond to energy in certain, very special ways.
Every two weeks, a team of Fine Woodworking staffers answers questions from readers on Shop Talk Live, Fine Woodworking‘s biweekly podcast. Send your woodworking questions to [email protected] for consideration in the regular broadcast! Our continued existence relies upon listener support. So if you enjoy the show, be sure to leave us a five-star rating and maybe even a nice comment on our iTunes page.
Comments
Hey Ben, thank you for bringing Scott and Michael together for this meaningful discussion. It was enlightening to say the least and a good update about the various issues that affect renewable efforts.
Makes me wonder if it might beneficial to the woodworking community to have a regular article in FWW (quarterly, annually?) which addresses the issues of sourcing our woods In responsible ways.
Thanks,
Dave Cook
Fabulous conversation, Ben, well done! It was Fine Woodworking's version of Shannon Rogers. I really hope you have Scott and Michael back again. Maybe you could talk about other species of wood, or more on urban logging, or the importance of understanding how lumber is sourced. I bought a set of those mallets a few years ago, and have since thought of how interesting it would be to have a supply of some of those woods. Wow! they're unlike anything I've seen apart from the turning blanks at Woodcraft.
Once again, Ben, a great episode.
Cheers.
Very glad to see this topic appear on this forum. Hope to see more on the subject and in future Fine Woodworking publications.
I grew up in Miami (live in Colorado Springs) and do know that at least one species of mahogany grows well in S. Florida. I think it is found throughout much of the Carribbean. Are all those sources doing management of this species? And if not why? And if so how does this contribute to or help the problem?
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