Follow the journey of wood from the forest to the products that support local communities. 

In this film, we visit Montana, where our partners at F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. are working on a forest management project in the Flathead National Forest. Their professional crew is selectively harvesting trees to mimic the natural disturbances that have long shaped these forests, including pests, disease, and fire. 

With decades of fire suppression changing the way forests grow and develop, active management can help restore some of those natural patterns. Cameron Wohlschlegel, lands and resource manager and professional forester for F.H. Stoltze, puts it into perspective: 

 “Tending a forest is like tending your garden. You want the best harvest you can get. That’s how we approach forestry when we are thinning trees. We take the weaker, suppressed trees and take our bets on the bigger and more vigorous trees. We tend the forest every 10 to 20 years.” 

But after the wood is harvested, where does it go? The bigger trees and the smaller trees have a different chapter after they leave the forest. They both start by traveling to local mills and manufacturers, where they are turned into products that serve a purpose well beyond the woods. 

The larger saw logs head to a local mill before making their way to SmartLam North America, where they are turned into cross-laminated timber, or CLT, used to create strong and beautiful building materials. 

The smaller-diameter trees and low-value wood take a different path. At Big Sky Forest Products, that material is turned into posts and poles used by farmers, ranchers, the National Park Service, and others across the region. 

It’s one forest, but there’s more than one story to tell about the wood that comes out of it. 

Beyond the Harvest shows what can happen when forest management and wood innovation work together. 

Watch the film below or click HERE!