Environmental Statement

Romancing the Woods was founded with nature in mind. We build using locally harvested Eastern Red Cedar trees cut from the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountain regions. Our process is quite simple. We selectively cut our materials specific for each project and utilize the majority of the tree, from its trunk to its smallest branches. The land we gather from is dense to the point of suffocation, so our cutting benefits the surrounding forest. The trees we choose are far below the forest canopy getting very little sunlight and are doomed to slow growth and an early death. We rarely use trees larger than 6” in diameter and we don’t cut what we won’t use. We find that the small brush piles left behind offer shelter and protection for small woodland critters, as well as a place to escape the harsh winters. The surrounding trees are now free to grow wider and healthier. The ground below gets more sunlight giving way to smaller plants and bushes that produce food for the local herbivores. After returning to our workshop location in Saugerties, NY we work the material unprocessed, with the bark left intact. We utilize a variety of hand tools and we do not mass produce, so little energy is used in creating our structures. All other hardware and materials are purchased locally benefiting our community, and in the very end our excess cutoffs are given away to local builders for small projects and our shavings used for animal bedding.

Outside the workshop we aspire to be a paperless company. With a preference to relay information via the internet we have cut down enormously on paper waste. Contracts, estimates and invoices are sent via email and downloadable brochures will soon be available. In 2008 a brand new web gallery was created with over 200 images. This gave us the ability to showcase our large selection of products to people throughout the world without having to print thousands of brochures. Standard plastic, paper, and glass waste recycling is also practiced at both the shop and the office locations.

Romancing the Woods is a proud member of Catskill WoodNet. Catskill WoodNet is a regional network of businesses that harvest and manufacture wood products from New York's Catskill Mountain Region. Through improved land stewardship in the New York City Watershed, their goal is to encourage a working landscape that connects people with local forest resources.

Members label their products with the Pure Catskills trademark to illustrate a commitment to using watershed friendly practices, buying local and supporting a centuries old tradition of craftsmanship and care for the land in the Catskills. Pure Catskills is a trademark of the Watershed Agricultural Council.

In 2003 the Watershed Agricultural Council, a division of the USDA Forest Services / Watershed Forestry Program, awarded Romancing the Woods with a grant through the funding program available to craftspeople in the Delaware, Greene and Ulster Counties of New York State.

In 2004 the company received additional funding from the Watershed Council. It is unusual for the council to grant a second award to the same recipient for two consecutive years, a show of confidence in the quality and uniqueness of the company, its brand name and its products.