Comments regarding the ‘profile’ below may be directed to ozarklumber@msn.com.

 

Who Is Ozark Lumber?

 

Ozark Lumber is a family-owned company located in the Ozark Mountains of NW Arkansas practicing environmental-friendly, sustainable harvesting of hardwoods and softwoods to produce all-natural, chemical-free lumber and wooden products.

 

Ozark Lumber represents a group of three mills. Each mill operates independently; each performs its own specialized function; and, each produces its own particular products. For instance, one mill saws logs into hardwood lumber. The other sawmill harvests aromatic cedar and old-growth Ozark pine. And the millworks uses the sawmills’ lumber to fabricate hardwood flooring, moulding, paneling, decks, fencing, siding, and other wood products. In the end, the combined efforts of all three mills create Ozark Lumber‘s inventory.

 

Why is Ozark Lumber on Flickr?

 

Although some viewers may beg to differ, there is no commercial intent behind placing photos on Flickr.

 

The purpose of posting our photos on Flickr is to display a venerable multi-generational way of life threatened with extinction, to address misguided—but well-intended—environmental concerns, and to show city dwellers sights they would never encounter in their daily lives.

 

Ozark Lumber is not just some faceless corporation. We are an organic entity consisting of mountain people with an old & unique culture that is slowly dying away. We live in one of the last wilderness places where the deer still outnumber the people, where you can still safely drink from a mountain spring, where you can leave the keys in your car without fear of it being stolen.

 

The rugged, choppy terrain of the Ozark Mountains is unsuitable for commercial farming or large ranching. There are only three traditional ways to put bread on the table. We call it the three ‘T’s—Tyson chickens, Tourism, & Timber. Generations ago, my family chose timber…and my family is not unique.

 

Once upon a time, the Mountains were dotted with hundreds of small ‘mom & pop’ sawmills. The huge multinational lumber corporations, except as lumber buyers, did not have a presence here. Sawmilling was as much of a way of life as a livelihood. But, the current economic malaise and misguided environmental concerns are steadily killing us off. And, in the end, what will supplant us are the big corporations that don’t give an owl’s hoot about the land, the forests, the wildlife, the native people, and the Ozark culture.

 

The Perfect Economic Storm has put many ‘mom & pop’ mills out of business. The depression in the housing market has tremendously lowered demand for lumber and wooden products. Prices have dropped to levels not seen since the 1980’s for some species. And thanks to obscene energy prices, the cost of production has soared. So, anemic sales, declining lumber prices, and higher production costs have closed a lot of family mills.

 

Widespread concern for the environment is long overdue. But in the rush to save the earth, zealous environmentalists have embraced some very misguided notions and put forth ridiculous propositions, especially with regard to the ‘impact’ that small mills have on the forests.

 

Because we cut down trees, sawmills are often charged with raping the forests. That is simply not true. The problem is that environmentalists don’t bother to learn and understand how we operate.

 

Consider this fact: we, the small Ozark sawmillers, are harvesting trees from the same forests that our grandfathers did. If we are truly destroyers of forests, how would that be possible? How would we earn our living in the future if we wiped out the forests? It would be like a rancher slaughtering all of his cattle. Nay, we practice selective harvesting that promotes the health of our forests.

 

By selective harvesting, we eliminate old and sick trees, which allows young trees to replace them…which in turn rejuvenates the forest. Big, old trees develop huge canopies that deprive young trees of the sunlight they need to grow. Consequently, scrub brush, which doesn’t need as much sunlight as hardwood trees to thrive, crowd out the young trees and eventually replace the hardwood forest. Like managed fires, selective harvesting prevents the decay of hardwood forests.

 

A recent newspaper article explained the Buffalo River National Park’s policy on selective harvesting of unwelcome trees. A noteworthy part stated: “(the Park Service) noted that loggers are playing an important role in the project (of forest restoration) as they buy and cut trees selected by the Forest Service in its timber sales. Not only are portions of the woodlands cleared of surplus and undesirable trees, but funds are provided to continue (forest) management.” [That article is highly informative about ‘green-friendly’ timber harvesting. It dispels many myths regarding what constitutes environmentally sound sources of lumber. I will gladly provide an original copy of the full article upon request.]

 

There is a practical consideration for not cutting down all trees, especially young ones. It is simply not profitable to cut down smaller trees. Small trees just don’t yield enough lumber to offset the cost of producing lumber from them.

 

The native mountain people of the Ozarks treasure our environment more than any Greenpeace activist sitting in San Francisco. That’s why we prefer long hours of very hard, dangerous work over cushy office or factory jobs in the Big Cities. Personally, I rather earn enough to afford a used Dodge truck but work amongst elk than earn the Big Bucks for a new BMW but fight the rush hour traffic. That’s part of our fiercely independent ‘lumberjack’ culture.

 

The true bane of forests and wildlife is real estate development. As more and more city folks discover our natural Ozark Shangri-la, each year more and more forest land is bulldozed down to make ‘time-share’ places, retirement communities, vacation home developments, and so on.

 

More forest land—and wildlife habitat—is forever lost to development than anything else. But, as far as I can tell, big developers take far less flack from environmentalists than little sawmills do.

 

Lastly, the purpose of posting our photos is show city folks, especially the wood shop students of Kansas City, where their hardwood lumber comes from.

 

Thank you, dear viewer, for your attention.

 

F. Preston Mitchell of Ozark Lumber