Author Archives: JohnMatel

Researchers use local species to expand market for cross-laminated timber   Wood is the sustainable solution We need to construct billions of new houses, offices and other structures in the next decades. We can to this at high environmental cost … Continue reading →

Sky Islands – In southeastern Arizona, a unique geology has created a ‘sky island’ ecosystem – meaning you’ll find deer, bears and mountain lions in the arid, dry desert.    

I was talking to a couple people about building with wood. They acknowledged wood’s advantages, but asked if we would run out of wood. I told the unequivocally that we will NOT run out of timber in America. The United States is … Continue reading →

Clean water is a forest product. A forest slows runoff and filters the water.  I was reminded of that looking at our stream management zones. These are areas near streams that we mostly leave in natural forest to protect water … Continue reading →

More pictures at the end. Went to visit the burn plus one month. It is looking desolate still, but a few green shoots are coming up. By next month, we will see growth bursting out all over. I checked for … Continue reading →

I have confidence in the science of pine management and my logical mind tells me that there is nothing to worry about, that in a couple of months everything will be better than ever, with my pines growing robustly, better … Continue reading →

I wrote last week about our burning of our longleaf and loblolly grove planted in 2012. I plan monthly updates, but I thought it useful to do one after the first week. The burned longleaf have turned yellow, but the … Continue reading →

We did the prescribed burn under our 2012 planted longleaf. Longleaf and loblolly were planted at the same time. Loblolly are fire adapted but longleaf are fire dependent. I am reasonably confident that almost all the longleaf will survive the fire ant thrive. I … Continue reading →

February is the least attractive month down on the farms. The grass is brown, no leaves on the deciduous trees, pine trees are looking a little anemic just before spring & there is usually a lot of mud. But there … Continue reading →