Local Woods
Real stuff from real people telling the story of every tree while building a vibrant forest.
Local Woods is the OCCFA brand that represents a network of Lincoln County wood lot owners and craftsmen who practice good forestry by adding value stick by stick and board by board while keeping the forest intact and healthy.
The Local Woods brand allows green consumers to track lumber and specialty wood products to their local source here in Lincoln County. In doing so, consumers will learn how Forest Hill and select local family forest owners are creating value and doing right by the land. Local wood lot owners receive a fair value for their wood which, in today’s market, often goes unrewarded. We have labeled this approach the " Fair Share" program. Lumber and artisan products that carry the Local Woods brand document this wood as coming from woodlands managed for good forest health.
Products can be GPS tagged with the exact location of origin.
The purchaser can google it and see the original location of the piece. Whether it is the Black Walnut that grew in front of the Toledo Library, a small woodland property, or Forest Hill, the GPS tag enables people to identify and connect products to place.
Not Just a Brand
Introducing "Fair Share"
Local Woods is OCCFA’s economic program designed to add value to the many products that come from forested land. Our approach is to support the idea that not one branch will leave Lincoln County without some value being added.
By paying attention to even the smallest element, stick, or other products that may be overlooked, we compliment our land stewardship mission by elevating value and utilizing what we already have.
Out of this abundance, timber and non-timber forest products over time become a powerful economic engine for the community. Value-added wood products encompass a wide range of items from specialty lumber to wood products.
Our byline “real stuff from real people” underscores the excitement that is coming out of our efforts. This approach is also underscoring a notion we refer to as "Fair Share".
We are building a network of people to develop and test the functionality of economic fairness from the small forest land owner and wood processing folks all the way to the consumer. This local products dream truly requires a community network of artists and wood processors.
The Local Woods network seeks cooperative ventures with small forest land owners, local towns and other organizations to build in these values and benefits.
We now have a South Beach outlet, and a drying operation will be in operation soon. Most importantly we are building the OCCFA Local Woods brand to market a unique value added approach.
A specific example of this work is the use of coastal Sitka Spruce which has many different looks and is a species that is a central part of our coastal story.
The OCCFA’s commitment to local economic vitality compliments our belief in forest stewardship.
This painting is by Toledo artist Becky Miller. This beautiful work of art was painted on an OCCFA art panel made of Sitka Spruce. The piece sold almost immediately at the Ozone Art Gallery in Newport, and we can’t thank Becky enough for being an early supporter. The Sitka Spruce came from Blue Agate Woods, a Local Woods participating forest owner. Art panels are one product Local Woods is exploring to manufacture.
Douglas Fir Urn by Rodney Lehrbass.
This burl slab table was made from an old Douglas Fir stump found in Blue Agate Woods, a Local Woods wood lot member.
The Value-added Story
Local Woods comes alive
Blue Agate Woods, an early member of Local Woods, donated their own milled Sitka to energize and inspire the connection between forest land and community economic promise while building a healthy forest.
One of our more recent projects was made possible by the generosity of a local forest land owner who saw the merit in our local value focus as a path to creating more jobs. The OCCFA contracted a mobile sawmiller to mill Sitka Spruce and Doug Fir logs donated to the OCCFA by Will Emer. Today we have over 6,000 board feet of lumber drying in South Beach. It is a great start! We hired mobile saw miller, Jim Minter, for the project. In addition to creating some jobs, we have a few Local Woods members capable of hauling and custom milling.
