and eucalyptus into future product lines. And the
expectation is that other companies will follow suit.
Of course, small woodshops and artisans have long
acquired urban wood through informal networks
and personal relationships, but it's unpredictable,
and the vast majority of good wood is disposed
of by local jurisdictions and the tree care industry
before anyone knows it was even there.
Municipal arborists and urban foresters have the
power to make wood products a priority and begin to
transform their operations in support of value-added
products and economic opportunity for the urban wood
movement. What steps have you taken in this direction,
and what are the biggest challenges and opportuni-
ties that you see? We would love to hear from you.
Please share thoughts: sarah.hines@usda.gov
The findings and conclusions of this article are
those of the individual authors and do not neces-
sarily represent the views of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture or the Forest Service.
Ash logs from the Oak Park, Illinois Park District were
used for interior trim construction in Oak Park's Austin
Gardens Environmental Educational Center, a LEED
Platinum Certified building Photo by Jim Semelka
Recommended Reading
Last April, Andy Hillman retired from a
decade as a business developer for Davey
Resource Group. Prior to that, he was
Ithaca, New York's longtime city forester,
and prior to that he worked for the City of
Oswego in public works and urban forestry.
Previous to that he was a United States
Naval Reserve Commissioned Officer and
Student Naval Aviator. Retirement stirs up
happy memories and reflection—you're
bound to enjoy this blog post with Andy.
Andy Hillman Reflects on Career, What's
Next, and Why UCF Has Arrived
18 CityTREES
