Wood webs

Fine WoodWorking - June 2001

www.tropicalhardwoods.com

    Feeling guilty about using tropical hardwoods for your furniture making? Here is a way to assuage those feelings and, hopefully, turn a profit at the same time.

    Since 1991, Tropical American Tree Farms in Costa Rica has planted more than one million hardwood trees from 45 different species, with the help of outside investors. Trees destined for harvest are grown on land that was previously farmed. Areas subject to erosion, such as steep slopes and watershed land, are planted to be forest in perpetuity.

    The trees experience a remarkable rate of growth. At the IWF show last year, the company displayed a section of a 7-year-old teak tree already nearly a foot in diameter. Although the growth rings were widely spaced, the heartwood was already assuming the dark color so prized by furniture makers.

    The web site contains financial projections of owning trees that compare favorably with the past performance of other investments. The minimum investment is about $3,000, and tree owners receive regular updates on their investment’s growth. I am looking forward to spending my retirement on a garden bench made with my own teak.

-Mark Schofield, assistant editor

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