Wednesday, December 14, 2011

WSI - Hot Brand

Woodland Stewardship Institute
presents
Wood Source Identification
Where the Brand is Hot, because the Wood is Cool!!!
The Only True
Wood Supply of Integrity
In Co-ordination With the;
WSI - World Wide Wood - Registry

Wood that is hot, is no longer cool!!! Not only that, but poached wood is getting harder to come by. Especially exotic imports. When we established the Woodland Stewardship Institute LLC, in 1996, (the WSI-LLC partnership was disbanded a few yrs. later) the certified wood programs were being consolidated and controlled by the conglomerates. They were begun by grass roots initiators like myself. We participated in the Woodnet 98 event in 1998. I gave a presentation there on our ideas for basic principles of sustainability. I was basically told by the newly formed FSC (forest stewardship council) that there was no room for any independent wood brand systems! This resonates with the same vibs as the certified organic food labels that started several years ago. Now they are all under the jurisdiction of the government National Organic Program! In other words it would be illegal for you to grow a true organic crop and sell it as such!

Guess what? We own the only true standard in wood identification and qualification!

Listen to how simple it is. This is the world wide, Wood System of Inventory, of the people, by the people, for the people! The first rule is, we will never qualify any huge company or conglomerate. We Support Independence! This is the first rule of sustainability. This is the first pre-requisite to getting back to the land. This is why people are starving, and this is why we are sick. Everyone thinks they want to be an aristocrat, so they give up the land and go to the city.

It's your wood, and it's tracked from your doorstep! It would be impossible to steal this system away from the people! Like Amazon.com selling books, the World Wide Wood registry is the ultimate networking and marketing tool for small independent wood workers and suppliers.

All you need is a wireless connection to the world wide web. Here is the link for the World Wide Wood registration form. http://wonderfulwood.blogspot.com/2007/12/world-wide-wood-registration-form.html. Also, here is the link to the simple common sense, basic criteria for WSI - What Sustainable Is. http://wonderfulwood.blogspot.com/2007/12/world-wide-wood-registry.html If you are a wood worker, small land owner, or wood collector, who is willing to learn basic safety and environmental principles, you will qualify!

If you produce much wood on a regular basis you will want a WSI - Hot Brand. At least you will need the aluminum metal label maker to make the permanent tags with your assigned numbers.
Each brand needs to have a changeable date feature. That will eliminate the possibility of pirating. All you have to do is look at our data base to get a fair idea of what was branded on that date, to be able to tell if there is a mess of wood that is not accounted for. On specialty pieces of wood, each peace can be assigned a number and of course the date. Obviously, if you are producing a lot of lumber from say, a horse logging operation, you will only tag piles.

A lot of wood suppliers now you will notice advertise the FSC logo, however I have never seen a piece of wood with any actual way to trace it's history. Can you imagine the credibility and notoriety this program will give quality craftsmen?
This also applies to salvaged wood. Imagine if you salvage wood from a thousand year old shipwreck. Then it was crafted into part of a world class violin. I knew a man who did this. His name was Dale Brock. He retired up on the Clearwater River here in Idaho. It must have been 25 yrs. ago that he died. He made violins andf he claimed that every part was over 1000 years old! The nut for the strings was made from Mastodon ivory that (he claimed) was millions of years old! He also claimed that at one time he was acclaimed to be one of the 10 best violin makers in the world.
I for one, will not support any form of plundered wood, or sponsor any form of exploitation. Trees are the answer, getting people back to the land is the solution. EVERYTHING depends on quality natural logging and farming!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Animal Control

Woodland Stewardship Institute
"Aint Gonna Play War No More!"
"Control Freaks Always Loose Control"
Goodness tends to perfection.
Demand perfection and,
Goodness begins to go away.

Is there a better solution to the dog problems than 24\7 confinement? By the way, 24\7 confinement is inhumane and should be illegal. In fact this is the source of all the trouble. This is why dogs bark, and bite, and are out of control. They don't learn anything tied up. A dog that is on a leash or tether has to be considered dangerous. In other words the leash law is counter productive. This is serious. We need to pay attention here. Our society is going to the dogs, so to speak. There seems to be more and more people with more dogs that have no idea how to manage them. I see children and adults drug around by their dogs on a leash with no control. The more trouble they have the more they try to exercise absolute control, which of course is disastrous. Is there a better solution? Naturally, you know the familiar quote from Albert Einstein, "You cannot accomplish peace by force, it can only be achieved through understanding." It's time to quit playing war, and learn about getting along with true freedom.

To begin with, the number one problem is too many dogs. If you don't have time to teach and train and build a quality relationship, you need to downsize or eliminate your stock. Every dog we've had here we have been able to teach not to bark, not to chase the chickens, and to know their place, etc. It seems the large majority of people now are incapable of any of this. Part of the trouble of course is, they think this is what dogs are for. How pathetic. Mean barking dogs are for people who put their faith in mean barking dogs! Having a dog is like having a gun. Too many today aren't responsible enough to have either. There is no way you can justify disturbing your neighbors, disturbing the peace, or risking an attack or bite. A big problem here is, "Love is Blind". I hear this all the time. "Oh they won't bite." or "They wouldn't hurt a flea." While you are being accosted with deafening noise and barred teeth. Nonsense. Dogs are vicious carnivorous killers. Do you know how many people have been scarred for life, bitten by their own dog, or their friend's? You all know they're going to be protective. Here is another danger, "The smaller the dog, the sharper the teeth." Little kids should never be left unattended with the wienie dog!!!

Next. I find it hard to understand why people are so cruel. Why are they so worried that some animal other than their own would come in their yard? It's a fact that no matter what policy you adopt, your going to have loose dogs. If they are so worried, about visitors, why don't they put up a fence? Who do they think should camp in their yard and make sure nothing ever goes there!!! Neighbors need to be tolerant if you are going to have a healthy free society.

Now this is important. Puppies need to be free. This is the only way they can learn their boundaries, and to come and begin to learn basic manners. If the neighbors just get after them when they are little, they will learn not to go there.

How do they learn voluntary, unaware, complicity? In other words how do they learn to expect to be tied up without resentment? NEVER tie up a dog in anger or retaliation. This is the time I give my dog a special petting. He looks forward to that affection and he remembers it till I come back.

Now. Why can't dogs and people get along like they used to before all of our great so called intelligence came along? Why don't they address the real problem, confinement and neglect, and ignorance, instead of more Nazi control??? If you want to live like that, move to the big city where you belong! Dogs can be extremely dangerous and vicious. Do you really think a town full of confined, barking, neglected, over populated, uncontrollable dogs is safe? This is what the police should be concerned with. Not an occasional loose dog.

Do you get the picture? Control freaks are everywhere, and they cannot understand that a dog, especially your dog would ever be free. I know people that need to be locked up 24\7, but I am not aware of any animal that deserves it. Instead of being so worried about a dog that might be loose, as if that is the one and only big sin, look at the cause. I guarantee you will start to change things if you start turning people in for neglect instead. No one should have to live in a neighborhood full of incessant barking dogs that are complete freaks when they do get out. Officers should not hesitate to inform people that they are out of compliance when their dogs are neglected, overly confined, and uncontrollable.

If this kind of freedom sounds too scary for you and your dogs, just remember you are not likely to have any trouble if you just learn how to keep them quiet. That will be my next chapter. There are some simple tricks to learn. The most important is to never bark (yell) at your dog. You can always tell a good trainer by their voice.

Chapter 3 will be, TRAFFIC CONTROL. Is your dog streetwise? Should dogs be allowed on residential streets? It's inevitable!!! Small young children will invariably end up there unexpectedly too!!! Kids and dogs and horses are allowed on city streets!!! Streets are not just for speeding vehicles!!! Never apologize for making people slow down!!!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Wood Stock - Part 3

Woodland Stewardship Institute
Presents
Wood Stock Investments
Business Plan

I have realized that you don't need anything to start a business, but a good plan of action. Good ideas, experience, and a strategy for implementation.
As I mentioned in parts 1 & 2. We have a 20 plus year collection of wood that keeps growing, with an unlimited supply where that came from! People pay us to take it! Every kind of wood that grows here, and some you've never heard of.

We have the largest capacity mill anywhere. We can cut logs up to 8 ft. diameter and 32 ft. long! We have one slab of wood here that we cut on this mill that is 7 ft. wide, 5 inches thick and 10 ft. long!
The problem is, we have never sold any, to speak of.
The first order of business, the first step, has been, identification.
Every job is assigned a number, so every log has a number, and therefore, every piece of wood stock. Embossed aluminum tags are attached to every piece. This we have done since 1998.
All the work and expense of hauling, milling, moving, stacking, and stickering, we have done.
We have not implemented any computer inventory program. The wood needs to be cataloged according to species, dimensions, job number, date, and section where it is stored. Also, photographs of the better material. This has to be done to start marketing, which will require a qualified secretary with some knowledge of computer science.
The next big step is, storage. We want to use the mill to produce the material to build the wood shelters. This of course is softwood from our horse logging operations.
I anticipate that the shelters will sell also, and be a good market themselves.

As I said in parts 1 & 2, we need investors. Wood workers who want to be a part of this local co-operative, and financiers interested in a risk free investment with real tangible value, and in supporting local enterprise and jobs. Anyone who purchases stock can redeem it's value in wood at a rate equivalent to the estimated minimal wholesale value. The other option of course is, when the wood they have invested in, at just half that wholesale rate sells, they can make a good percentage on their investment.
You can see the need for capitol to make this work. It will take a few yrs. to get established with enough variety of inventory to attract buyers. Also, it takes 5 to 20 yrs. for certain hardwoods to season and stabilize enough for certain applications. This kind of wood is expensive and hard to find. That is why our many years of head start is so valuable.

Our location here in Deary is the ideal spot for a central wood yard, close enough to the quad cities and all the surrounding towns and their crops of trees. We have over a half mile strip along the old R.R. bed that intersects Main st. Most of it is zoned industrial commercial.
So, the first thing to do, as soon as we have people willing to support this kind of local utilization, and value added, wood project, is to start to inventory the wood here. In other words, the money is not appropriated until the product is listed and confirmed.
The first wood to be counted is the premium large cants that are stacked and stickered. This is because they are the least perishable. Even at the aforesaid half of minimum wholesale value, would give us enough operating capital to start building the shelters and organizing the rest of the wood and of course the new wood that is coming in every week.