Working With the Trees


A scientific approach to the management and understanding of our woodlands has brought about a great number of advancements in commercial productivity, but reductionism only has so much value when it comes to truly knowing the forest. There is more going on there than can fit in a textbook.

“Their work is not so much with wood, but with trees,” he writes, “Through discussions with foresters, these carpenters recognize that they have access to new knowledge and a broader understanding of what forces act on and through a growing tree, forces that will affect their woodwork.” An understanding of these forces does not arrive through mastering scientific knowledge, but through regular engagement with the woodland: shouldering an axe or saw and venturing out under the canopy to see what is to be seen.