Local Wood: Grow, Build, Live
The New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF), the Franklin Land Trust’s Massachusetts Woodlands Institute (MWI), and Northern Woodlands hosted the Local Wood: Grow, Build, Live webinar series.
This four-part series explored how communities can grow, build, and live with beautiful and sustainable local wood products—from furniture to homes to institutional buildings. Presenters shared their experiences working with regional wood, discussed the role forestry can play in a sustainable economy, and highlighted emerging technologies and applications for wood products that can help address climate change.
Across four 90-minute webinars, speakers and staff from Massachusetts Woodlands Institute and New England Forestry Foundation discussed the opportunities and benefits of using local wood across the Northeast.
Woods to People
This webinar explored how people connect with—and make a living from—the forest, with a focus on art, the forest-based rural economy, and the impacts of climate change on timber harvesters and loggers.
Timber harvesting is a critical part of a strong forest economy, creating local jobs, enabling good forest management, and providing a steady supply of renewable wood products for our region. Painter Kathleen Kolb and poet Verandah Porche discussed Shedding Light on a Working Forest, their book and traveling exhibition of paintings and narrative verse celebrating the forested landscape and the people who make a living there. They shared insights into their creative process and stories from communities they encountered along the way. NEFF Climate–Forest Specialist Jennifer Shakun also examined how altered and unpredictable weather patterns are affecting timber harvesting operations and the viability of logging businesses in southern New England, including highlights from a 2020 survey of Massachusetts timber harvesters that revealed the resourcefulness and adaptability of the logging community.
Forest to Cities
This webinar explored how engineered wood products are expanding the possibilities of building with wood and offering alternatives to carbon-intensive materials like concrete and steel.
Featured speaker Dr. Peggi Clouston, Professor of Wood Mechanics and Timber Engineering in the Building and Construction Technology program at UMass Amherst, discussed the design and construction of the John W. Olver Design Building—a flagship mass timber building in Massachusetts. She described how the building serves as a space for education and innovation, and shared research on the types of local tree species that can be used for mass timber. NEFF Chief Operating Officer Frank Lowenstein also discussed where mass timber materials are typically sourced and the potential climate benefits when they come from forests managed with Exemplary Forestry practices that store more carbon while continuing to produce renewable wood products.
Tree to Table
This webinar explored the connections between sustainable forestry and craft woodworking through the story of NEFF’s custom conference tables made from locally harvested wood.
Designer and builder Mitch Ryerson, Professor of Sustainable Furniture Design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, described how his students designed and built a set of conference tables for the New England Forestry Foundation using wood sourced from forests managed according to Exemplary Forestry standards. Ryerson, along with students Marc Guerrero and Nicole Garcia, shared the creative and prototyping process behind the tables and the sustainability considerations that shaped their design. The conversation also included Massachusetts Woodlands Institute Executive Director Emily Boss, who discussed the growth and harvesting practices used for hardwoods in New England and the climate benefits of forests, forestry, and furniture making.
Woods to Home
This webinar explored the process of building homes with locally harvested lumber and the broader benefits of using wood products sourced from regional forests.
The discussion featured Massachusetts Woodlands Institute Board Chair Brian Donahue, board member David Bowman, and Nicole St. Clair Knobloch, Principal at Oliphant, a firm focused on mitigating climate change and protecting biodiversity through climate-friendly building materials. Speakers shared the story of building a timber-framed home using locally harvested lumber and discussed the environmental and economic benefits of using renewable wood products from nearby forests. The conversation also explored how technologies such as cross-laminated timber are expanding the possibilities for building with wood and how responsible forest management can support resilient forests, a strong forest-based economy, and long-lasting homes and buildings.