Tribal

At Old Wood, who we work with is just as important to us as what we do or how we do it. Having the right partners, doing the right thing, is vital to maintaining a business that we can be proud of. Working with native peoples is hugely important to us, and through the years we have found that the opportunities for meaningful collaboration are vast.

​

 

Our goal is to create jobs for tribes, villages and groups of people who already live and work in the woods by creating viable markets which will sustain our mutual efforts to bring value to what is often the lowest grade of wood, but which can be effectively used in new and clever ways by combining Design and Technology.

​

These people are often masters in the woods, and it benefits both of us to work together. They know the mountains and the deserts that they live in, and they have a reverence for wood and natural resources that is wonderful and unparalleled. Special woods like Piñon, Juniper and Mesquite can bring value to desert land restoration and aquifer regeneration efforts, while at the same time providing much needed jobs to rural areas and beautiful products to our clients.

​

Your purchase of a wall system, floor covering or panel may well be the job that keeps that person working in their rural home area. Piñon pine in particular has great social and economic potential, as it is abundant in tribal areas and makes an excellent wood block floor.

​

​

 

Some of our tribal partners:

 

Alamo Navajo
Old Wood has had a close working relationship with the Alamo Navajo Band through an agreement to collaborate on a variety of projects with the School Board, which is the fiscal agent for most matters in the tribe.

We have partnered in several Collaborative Forest Restoration Grant efforts going “both ways”. We have trained their crews in the field to operate a variety of sawmills and forestry equipment, and they have sent us crew members to train on site at our facility. Acting as a firewood broker for Alamo Navajo, Old Wood’s high-volume firewood sales have helped lead the tribe to the point of self investment and the purchase of a new firewood processor in 2013. The effort helps sustain over 16 full time jobs!

​

​

Ramah Navajo
We have worked with forestry crews from Ramah Navajo Band on our own ranch and tree farm for a number of years, and these guys are masters in the woods. Most recently, they did a large part of the work on thinning over one hundred acres of our Douglas Fir covered mountainside. Unfortunately, that area was severely burned in the Tres Lagunas fire of 2013, which burned over 850 acres of our tree farm.