Over 30 years ago when I was beginning my woodworking career, the diverse hardwoods of Arkansas were being sprayed with defoliants to allow faster growing and more profitable pines to become dominant. I realized that our hardwoods were being lost and neglected because so few knew either their beauty or their value.

I came to realize that by making beautiful things, I could have a role in restoring an appreciation for our hardwood forests. More recently (about 10 years ago) I discovered a saying by Senegalese environmentalist Baba Dioum that puts in words the role that craftsmen like myself can play in awakening the world to an understanding of our precious resources.

In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.

Woodworking is a means through which students and craftsmen can engage directly and positively with our natural environment. Our use of wood carries the responsibility to respect and preserve our natural resources. If done right, and if done with love, we become teachers, awakening others to understanding, love, and conservation.

The small box at right in the photo below is inlaid with spalted maple, a wood whose patterns come from the natural processes of decay. The one at left has a patterned inlay which I make from a wide range of Arkansas hardwoods, illustrating the beauty, diversity and value of our forests.