Advantage Trim & Lumber promotes the Lacey Act through responsible forestry.

What is the Lacey Act?

Signed into law in the year 1900, the Lacey Act is a century old United States law that makes it a federal crime to buy, sell, or trade any wildlife or plants that were procured and transported by illegal means. This includes the import and exporting of both domestic and exotic lumber. For the lumber industry during that time, The Lacey Act was a wake up call. Conduct business in a responsible manner that doesn’t destroy the very resource you depend on, or face a federal court. While the battle still rages on against illegal logging across the world, it is companies like Advantage Trim & Lumber that are leading the way when it comes to sustainable forestry.

What does the Lacey Act mean for you?

You can rest assured that the decking, lumber, or flooring you purchase has been thoroughly sourced. By doing our due diligence, we can guarantee that the lumber you buy complies with all international and national trade laws. As a FSC wood and lumber supplier, we continually perform our due diligence and have a crystal clear record of compliance.

Why the Lacey Act is a good thing for all of us?

When previously discussing what makes our inventory of eco-friendly hardwood dependable, the topic of “worth” came up. Again, it bears repeating here as well. It makes ZERO economic sense for lumber companies to destroy the forests. Even the most reputable environmental organizations from Greenpeace to the Sierra Club have said time and again that there is a place for responsible and sustainable forestry practices. These organizations realize a critical fact that has proven true in all cases. If you remove responsible forestry and logging from a forest, the local population must and will use that forest for other means. Whether they become soy, coconut, banana, coffee, or palm oil farmers, or cattle ranchers, the result is the same. The deforestation of natural forest for the production of some other agricultural good. Check out this report from Monagabay. Notice how, when you break down the sources of deforestation in the Amazon Cattle ranches account for 65-70%, and cumulative small and large scale agriculture account for approximately 25%. Logging (legal and illegal)? Just 2-3% (and declining!).

Pardon the cliche. But the proof is in the pudding. Those statistics clearly show that when you have a healthy and vibrant lumber industry that embraces these kinds of regulations, the overall effect is a positive one that gives you peace of mind, and the ability to use lumber that has been responsible cultivated, harvested, and shipped. I think we can all agree, the alternative is something that should be avoided at all costs.

Want more info? Check out the links below. Have a comment? Drop us a line in the comments section. We’d love to hear from you.

It’s not enough to say that you’re product is eco-friendly. People want, and deserve, proof. However, it is getting harder for all of us to cut through the marketing hype to see products for what they really are, not what you are told they are. So….with that said, what does that have to do with decking?

We received a phone call the other day from someone who was fed lies. They were told by someone trying to sell them thousands of dollars in composite decking that “anyone who buys hardwood decking from countries like Brazil are helping kill off the rain forest. ” This person was shopping around and asked us point blank, “How can I be sure that the hardwood you sell is really eco-friendly?”

At Advantage, we LOVE getting questions like this. Here’s our response:

Dear Ms. Concerned Customer,

Thank you for your question. At Advantage Trim & Lumber Co., Inc. we appreciate questions like yours because it gives us the opportunity to shed some light on some surprising truths as well as share with you what makes the products we sell compliant with all international trade laws.

The first thing you need to know is that, in countries like Brazil, the forests are heavily regulated. The land, as you might imagine is extremely valuable. We would argue that the land in those countries might be worth more long term than any oil-field. How? Well, for starters, the trees that grow in places like the rain forest give us something an oil-field cannot, oxygen. Trees have been mankind’s go-to resource for thousands of years. You name it, whether it’s for shelter, food, protection, or the air we breathe, trees are a treasured resource that must always be protected.

This is why, when you told us that you were told that buying hardwood decking from contributes to the destruction of the rainforest, we had to respond.

The lumber we buy and mill in countries like Brazil are controlled by the regulatory body known as IBAMA. This is agency is run by the Brazilian government. They pretty much control the lumber industry in that country. I say “pretty much” because each state in Brazil also has their own state-run agencies. For instance in the Brazilian state of Para, the agency that monitors and regulates lumber mills is known as SEMA. You can find many states that actually create and enforce more stringent laws to control the production of lumber in their respective states.

Proper forest management ensures the health of the forest, not its destruction.

The attached picture is from a recent trip to a managed forest in South America. The person holding the clipboard is instructing the mill not just which trees can be felled, but the actual direction that they have to fall. The meticulous nature of these plans ensure that the growth around those trees get to prosper and new trees get to grow in its place. A great number of those trees on that management plan are what’s known as “wolf trees” or “mother trees”. Basically, those trees have hollowed out from the inside, and don’t produce seeds. Their presence in the rainforest actually depletes resources from surrounding plants and foliage. We have a post on our website that details more information about how felling these wolf trees is a great sustainable forestry practice.

Also, contrary to popular belief, most exotic hardwoods don’t originate from the rainforest; they are grown and produced in specially designated and monitored non-rainforest areas. The great majority of the wood we purchase comes from those protected areas.

Lumber companies are not oil companies. Our company doesn’t pillage the land and leave a husk of the earth in our wake. It makes sound economic sense for us to see the forest survive and thrive. In addition, it also makes good economic sense for trees to be harvested for lumber. Remember, land is a valuable asset. If the demand for trees is steady, landowners have every reason to keep the land as it is. What’s the alternative?

Buying eco-friendly wood prevents clear cutting and burning of the rain forest by cattle ranchers.

This picture shows what happens when a landowner decides to make more money raising cattle for leather goods and hamburgers instead of cultivating trees. If no value is placed on the forest, landowners have no economic incentive. Likewise, you might also be shocked to learn (as were we), that in Brazil it’s easier to burn a forest down for cattle of soy farming than it is to get a permit to cut down a tree. That’s right. You don’t need a permit to burn a forest, but you do to cut down a tree. The money that comes from the agriculture industry is flooding countries in South America at a furious pace. So much so that people still falsely assume that harvesting lumber for decking and flooring is the primary cause of deforestation in Brazil and other South American nations.

In conclusion, know that the wood decking we sell here at Advantage only comes from forests that are sustainably managed and heavily regulated. One final note, another reason you benefit from buying hardwood decking instead of composite decking materials is that you’re also choosing quality over hype. Hardwoods like Tigerwood, Cumaru, and Ipe are proven materials that, thanks to sustainable forestry, also produce a higher grade material that has enduring qualities.

We hope that this information helps shed light on a very important topic for all of us. At the very least, we also hope that it cuts through the misinformation you previously received.

Thank you again for your inquiry.

Best regards,

Advantage Trim & Lumber

Removing a Wolf Tree from a Forest is eco-friendly and promotes growth. The removal of these trees helps define Sustainable Forestry.

There are a lot of bad actors in the lumber industry. However, to lump in every lumber company as a villain of the Earth is both unsubstantiated and very misinformed.

Case in point, we recently received a letter from someone who insisted that we were not an eco-friendly lumber company. This person was concerned about a picture they saw of a felled tree on one of our marketing pieces. Our response was not to ignore this person.  Below is the response that our CEO sent that dealt directly with this person’s concerns.

“Our industry, like any other, does have some bad players. But let me explain why my company is taking the lead in being a part of the solution, not the problem.   I understand your concerns but let me assure you that the tree in question was selected by a Forest Engineer because it no longer produced seed, such a tree is known as a wolf tree. A wolf tree is a tree that literally dominates its immediate surroundings and, because of its advanced age, can no longer reproduce seeds.  Contrary to ill-informed and, sadly, popular assumptions, a tree of this status is, in fact, not healthy to a forest. These excessively large trees starves smaller trees of light.  You will see in future publications of our newsletters how these trees decay from the inside out and become hollow.  This is a perfect tree to cut as it is dying from the inside out but is caught at the right time to still yield a lot of usable lumber.

Moreover, a full 30 year management plan was instituted for the patch of land and certified by the Brazilian government agency IBAMA. This agency ensures only trees that are removed are a benefit to the forest. They allow only a few trees per acre to be cut. They also develop plans to allow the improvement of less abundant struggling species which are sun starved under the canopy of wolf trees.  It is one of the best sustainable forest plans that I have seen. They are so meticulous in their planning that they even plan the direction the tree will fall when cut so as to minimize damage to smaller trees and to minimize extraction damage.  Replanting of various species in other areas in a 5 to 1 ratio is also implemented.

Proper forest management improves the life and value of a forest when done correctly.   I would be happy to speak to you about any doubts you have on our forest management practices, as it is something we take great pride in.   Many steps are taken to ensure a positive effect on the forest; for instance unlike any other operation only 10 trees are skidded on any path out of the forest.  This ensures quick regrowth on the logging path of new trees and undergrowth. Unlike other operations do not take these measures, our skidding paths are nearly impossible to see after 3 to 6 months.   The methods that we employ cost a substantial amount to implement and are anything but profit driven.   The felling of these wolf trees improves the future of the forest, improves the diversity of the forest by allowing younger trees of various species to grow that where struggling around it, and provides the native people in a struggling area with food, as well as many other benefits.

These kinds of sustainable forestry projects is being used by the Brazilian government as a example to other forest management sites and to implement new standards.”

Recently the Brazilian government has highlighted that these methods have led to a significant drop in deforestation. In fact, sustainable forestry has led to the Biggest Drop in Deforestation in 20 years.

With these facts in mind, it’s important that people realize that companies like Advantage Trim & Lumber and organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council are working closely to ensure the health and long term sustainability of the rain forest.

With a full inventory of FSC wood available, Advantage Trim & Lumber will continue to lead the way as one of the world’s leading suppliers of eco-friendly wood.