Hurricane Relief: Help Buy a Sawmill to Provide Free Lumber!

My initial shock at seeing so much of my forested mountain land decimated by high winds quickly yielded to horror as I began to grasp the destruction wrought by flood waters down below.

Like my neighbors and friends from afar, I have spent the time since the storm trying to be as helpful as I can.

Amidst the unfathomable destruction, the outpouring of people helping each other has been beautiful, inspiring, and exciting!

The robust community of alternative-minded folks I live among in Barnardsville, very quickly set up a mutual aid center in our town's abandoned fire station. Since the day after the storm cleared, we have had a hub for information, food, assistance, and fellowship; houses have been gutted, roofs have been repaired, people have been located, and supplies have been dispersed.

As the scope of rebuilding that so many of my community members are faced with sinks in, my mind has turned firmly towards this project:

I want to mill logs from fallen trees and give away the lumber to help our community rebuild.

Fresh 1X and 2X lumber will be helpful to people as they erect temporary foot bridges, sheds, and make basic home repairs. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure all the ways this lumber will get used, but after talking to a number of different folks, I am convinced that any lumber we can provide will be put to good use! Additionally, the by-product of milling will offer an easy opportunity to create firewood which many folks are starting to recognize is a need in our community as the weather turns.

The compassionate folks at Norwood Sawmills in New York have offered to help assemble and expedite delivery of a high-functioning saw mill, possibly as soon as the end of next week. In the meanwhile, I will continue conversations with local arborists and clean up groups to coordinate a stream of millable logs to my property from our devastated landscape.

The mill will cost $20,000. I will put $5,000 of my own money in as well as my time, excavator operation (for loading logs), and gas. Using some volunteer assistance I will mill 4 days a week and drop all proceeds at the mutual aid hub each morning for at least the next two months.

While this will be a drop in the bucket in terms of the scale of deforestation that occurred and in terms of the building needs our community has, it will still make a difference and ease our collective burden.

Thanks for listening to my idea and contributing!