The Virginia Organizing Project : Real wealth grows on trees

Real wealth grows on trees

By Anthony Flaccavento

The recent meltdown of Wall Street should have made one thing clear: There’s “money,” and then there’s real wealth. In much of rural Virginia, much of Appalachia for that matter, we’re generally short on money, but richly endowed with wealth. What we lack in hedge funds, we have in so-called natural capital: farms, streams and rivers and most of all, forests. Potentially at least, for many Appalachian communities, wealth really does grow on trees.

The mixed hardwood forests of southwestern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley are among the most biologically diverse and economically valuable in the world. The forest and wood products industry contributes $7.7 billion annually to the economy of the Commonwealth. A good proportion of our forests either could or do support non-timber forest products as well: ginseng, goldenseal and other medical herbs.

Unfortunately, much of our forest resource is typically overused but undervalued. When trees are viewed strictly as lumber, and when lumber is then commodified within the global wood products industry, little economic value is returned to either the forest landowner or the logger. Low prices put pressure on loggers and mills to cut corners, not only environmentally, but in terms of wages and safety. The model mimics our approach to food and farming: maximize production, minimize costs, provide abundant and cheap products to “the consumer.”

In April 2007, the Bristol Public Library opened the doors to its new downtown building. Whichever door you enter, you’ll be walking on hickory floors provided by Appalachian Sustainable Development’s Sustainable Woods enterprise. The floors originated on the land of two local landowners of very modest means, one in Washington County, Virginia, and the other in Sullivan County, Tennessee. Two different loggers followed the same set of rigorous ecological standards, created by ASD and based on restoring and sustaining the forest’s health. Fewer trees were cut. More care was taken to protect streams, avoid erosion and maintain wildlife habitat. Some of the most valuable and healthiest trees were left behind, while a much higher percentage of “low value” trees — like the hickory used in the library — were harvested.

This kind of timber harvesting is much more expensive for the logger, and the forest landowner gets less money in the short run because of the lower harvest volume. Thus, ASD pays both the logger and the landowner substantially more for the harvested logs, to compensate for the higher costs they face, and in payment for the critical ecological services which their forest land provides to all of us: water filtration, wildlife habitat, air purification and carbon sequestration.

As a result, Sustainable Woods flooring, trim and other products cost more, as do most other “sustainable” products. Some people simply can’t afford it. But in a typical 2,400 square foot home, utilizing Sustainable Woods on half of the floors would add about $10 - $15 to monthly mortgage payments, something most of us can afford. In return we get unique and beautiful floors, while helping to provide better wages, support forest conservation and fight climate change. What a great way to help sustain the real wealth of our communities and our world.

Anthony Flaccavento is a national Food & Society Policy Fellow and a part-time organic farmer. He is also the executive director of Appalachian Sustainable Development, based in Abingdon, Virginia. He can be reached at (276) 623-1121.

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